New Orleans Saints barely hold their own against Dallas Cowboys
The New Orleans Saints started off the game in spectacular fashion and showed the colours of true Champions. But then the Cowboys were out to prove that they were a team reborn. Since the head coach change, the Cowboys had won twice in a row after losing
5 times straight. But their turnaround met with a Saintly impasse.
The Saints were dominant early on. They started the first quarter on the offensive and were simply put, explosive. Saints quarterback Drew Brees started the drive with a 14 yard pass to tight end Jimmy Graham and followed it up with a 12 yards pass to Devery
Henderson to get to the 46 in just two plays. After a 10 yards penalty set them back a bit Brees compensated with a 57 yards pass to Henderson right into the Cowboys’ red zone.
The Saints’ offensive line covered Brees until Henderson was deep and ready to receive. He caught the ball on Dallas’ 12. Chris Ivory rushed 3 yards for touchdown.
Cowboys’ offence wasn’t as successful. On the 40 yard line Joe Kitna threw an interception. The pass was intended for Dez Bryant but New Orleans’ defensive end Will Smith intercepted and ran the ball 4 yards before he was stopped by Bryant.
Smith fumbled the ball but it was recovered by New Orleans again. The Saints got back on offense on the 31 yard line. Brees got sacked in the second play for 12 yards. The quarterback threw a 7 yard pass but the Saints still fell short of the yellow line
and had to attempt the field goal. The field goal was good and the New Orleans led 10 against nothing after just over 5 minutes of play.
The Saints had possession again in the 7th minute on the 42 yard line after a fumble that put the Cowboys on 23 and 3rd on the 7 yard line and forced them to punt. Brees threw a 16 yard pass on Dallas 44 and then threw a 28 yard touchdown
pass to Henderson.
However, the play was reversed. The quarterback threw 22 yards to Henderson and running back Chris Ivory finished off the drive for his second touchdown with a 6 yard touchdown pass.
After the touchdown the two teams entered an offensive lull. Neither teams scored for the next 14 minutes. The drought was broken by a Cowboys’ field goal in a 14 play drive. New Orleans was no quicker. After the field goal New Orleans moved up to the 27
yard line from the 19 in a very slow paced 11 plays.
From the 27, Brees couldn’t make the next down and the Saints had to settle for the field goal. The attempt was good and just 47 seconds remained in the quarter. The Cowboys would now mount their come back. They scored a field in on the remaining 37 seconds
they had after New Orleans’ kick. Dallas took three timeouts and New Orleans took one in that drive.
The Cowboys scored again as soon as the 3rd quarter opened. Kitna passed 8 yards from the 32 yard line and then out of nowhere Miles Austin rushed the remaining yards in one play. The Saints had Austin boxed in on the left but Austin slipped through
the defences and ran to the end zone for touchdown. In the next drive the Saints could only manage a field goal as the Cowboys continued to cut down the Saints lead.
Dallas caught a break when New Orleans’ Reggie Bush fumbled a punt return on New Orleans 20 yard line which the Cowboys recovered on the 15 yard line. The Cowboys made full use of the turnover and scored a touchdown.
New Orleans now had just a 3 points lead, which they would also lose in the 4th quarter. Cowboys’ safety Gerald Sensabaugh intercepted Brees in the fourth quarter on New Orleans 49 and ran it to the 39 yard line.
The Cowboys scored another touchdown off the turnover. The two mistakes cost the Saints the lead and now they had to play catch-up with less than 6 minutes remaining. It was mistakes that turned the game in their favour and it would be a mistake that would
lose them the game.
In the 12th minute of the 4th quarter New Orleans’ free safety Malcolm Jenkins forced a fumble off Roy E. Williams and recovered the ball for the Saints on the 11 yard line. Brees completed just 3 passes but that proved to be enough.
He threw 22 yards in the first play and followed it up with a 55 yards pass to Robert Meacham setting up the 12 yard touchdown. With the extra point the Saints led with 3 points.
The Cowboys still had two minutes to score. They managed to move up to Dallas’ 41 yard line and attempted the field goal. The ball flew left and sealed the fate of the Cowboys. New Orleans won with 30 against 27.
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