Tony Romo and DeMarcus Ware helped
Dallas end its December doldrums and the Cowboys held off a frenzied
rally by the Saints for a 24-17 victory Saturday night.
The loss by the Saints (13-1) left the Indianapolis Colts (14-0) as the NFL’s only unbeaten team this season.
“We’ll digest this. It’ll sting a
little bit going down,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “Nonetheless, it
is what it is and we’ve got to get back to work next week. We have two
important games in front of us and we’ll take that approach.”
The high-powered Saints trailed 24-3
going into the fourth quarter, then scored two fast touchdowns. After
Dallas kicker Nick Folk watched his 24-yard field goal try clang off
the right upright shortly before the 2-minute warning, Brees got a
final chance to tie it.
Brees quickly moved the Saints into
Dallas territory. But on second down, Ware sacked Brees and forced a
fumble that was recovered by the Cowboys with 6 seconds left.
“As poorly as we played, we were
fortunate just to have that chance on the final drive,” Payton said.
“But we couldn’t get anything going, really.”
Romo passed for 312 yards, including
a 49-yard touchdown to Miles Austin. Ware returned from a neck injury
that left his status in doubt and was part of a relentless Dallas pass
rush that pressured Brees all night.
Marion Barber had two short touchdown
runs for the Cowboys (9-5), who ended a two-game skid and proved they
were good enough to beat the top team in the NFC in front of a
charged-up, hostile crowd.
The Cowboys’ troubles in December
had been well documented — they are 4-8 in the month in three seasons
under coach Wade Phillips — but this win provided a dramatic boost to
their playoff chances. They’ll hold on to a wild-card spot for at least
another week.
The Saints did not score a touchdown
until Mike Bell‘s 1-yard run with 12:35 to go. Brees followed by
capping a seven-play, 70-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to
Lance Moore with 8 minutes left, cutting New Orleans’ deficit to 24-17.
That left it up to the Saints’
defense to hold once more. Dallas faced a third-and-7 on its own 23 and
the crowd was going so wild Romo had to call timeout a moment before
the play clock expired.
The noise was still deafening when
Romo returned to the line of scrimmage, but that didn’t stop him from
finding Austin on a short crossing route for a 32-yard gain. On the
next play, Romo spun away from the rush and hit tight end John Phillips
for a 23-yard gain to New Orleans’ 22. From there, Dallas went
conservative and set up what looked to be a game-sealing field goal
from nearly the same distance as Shaun Suisham‘s miss two weeks ago,
which allowed the Saints to come back and beat Washington in overtime.
When Folk’s kick bounced off the
upright, the crowd erupted, sensing the Saints were simply destined not
to lose. And it looked that way after Brees converted a frantic fourth
down on a pass over the middle to Marques Colston, who made a
one-handed catch.
The Saints marched to midfield in
the final minute, but the Cowboys held firm. Ware stripped Brees for
the second time in the game and lineman Jay Ratliff recovered,
silencing the packed Superdome while the Cowboys leapt in the air and
embraced one another.
Ware had to be taken to the hospital
only a week earlier after what looked like a serious neck injury in
Dallas’ loss to San Diego. He didn’t practice fully all week, but said
he was feeling better and was cleared to play. He certainly looked
rested and healed.
He sacked Brees twice, forcing
fumbles that the Saints’ lost both times. The first one set up a field
goal that gave Dallas a 17-3 lead at halftime. Linebacker Anthony
Spencer also had two sacks.
Very little went right for Brees,
who was intercepted once, sacked four times and pressured all night.
Even what looked like a certain 36-yard touchdown pass in the third
quarter slipped through Devery Henderson‘s hands in the end zone. Brees
was sacked by Spencer soon after and that drive ended with a punt.
The Cowboys outgained the Saints,
439 yards to 336, holding the Saints 90 yards and nearly 19 points
below their averages in those categories. The Saints, who came in
converting nearly 48 percent of third downs this season, converted only
one of seven.