Just when it appeared that Jason Garrett would be heading to 3-0 as interim coach of the Cowboys, Roy Williams had victory stripped from him by Saints’ safety Malcolm Jenkins.
With the Cowboys up 27-23 late in the fourth quarter on Thanksgiving night, Williams caught a short pass from Jon Kitna and raced up field. But Jenkins, who had taken a bad angle initially in coverage, caught him from behind and ripped the ball away from the Dallas receiver at the 11-yard line. Naturally, Drew Brees marched the Saints up field and eventually threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Lance Moore in a blink of an eye.
Just like that, you could add another win to the Saints’ season tally and another loss to the Cowboys’.
“It’s late in the game,” Williams said. “That’s the nail in the coffin right there. The nail in the coffin. We had the momentum swung our way. We were there headed to a ‘W.’ That’s a ‘W’ if I just get tackled or just long jump my way into the end zone. Somehow, some way, we win the ballgame. Just fall down, we win.”
It was an unfortunate play for Williams but a brilliant one by Jenkins. Nothing says the Saints couldn’t have come back and tied the game 30-30 had Dallas wound up with a field goal on that drive, but if the ‘Boys gain 11 more yards and put six on the board then the game is over.
Instead, the Saints are now tied with the Falcons for eight wins in the NFC South. Atlanta plays Green Bay on Sunday and if the Falcons lose, then all of a sudden New Orleans is back on top in the division (although the Bucs are also 7-3 so if they beat Baltimore, they would have a share of the South lead). And with the way Brees and Co. looked on that final drive, no team in the NFC wants to breathe life back into a Saints team that is starting to fire on all cylinders again.
