by David ElfinFiled under: Cowboys, Saints, NFC East, NFC South
Dallas (3-7), which has come off-the-mat with consecutive victories over the New York Giants and Detroit under interim Head Coach Jason Garrett, welcomes defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans (7-3) to Cowboys Stadium for the first time in its annual Thanksgiving game. The Cowboys are 27-14-1 on Turkey Day with four straight victories.Although Dallas leads the series 15-8, New Orleans had won five in a row before the visitors built a 24-3 lead and held on to win 24-17 in the Superdome last Dec. 19. The Saints started off a little slowly, but have won three straight, beating Pittsburgh 20-10 and whomping Carolina and Seattle by a combined 68-22 to remain with a game of Atlanta in the tight three-way race in the NFC South.
Injuries at running back have been a problem for New Orleans although Reggie Bush, who had 162 yards from scrimmage in the 2009 matchup, is back.. Quarterback Drew Brees (2,969 yards, 22 touchdowns, 93.3 passer rating) and receiver Marques Colston (62 catches, 705 yards) continue to excel. Brees passed for 384 yards and five touchdowns in his only start at Dallas back in 2006. Tight end Jeremy Shockey set career-highs with 12 catches for 129 yards in his last game against the Cowboys when he was with the Giants in 2007.
After being shredded for 121 points in Weeks 7-9, the Cowboys have allowed just 39 points the past two weeks. Outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who has 8-1/2 sacks this year, remains the big-play man while cornerback Terence Newman had four interceptions in the past six Thanksgiving games. Additionally, rookie corner Bryan McCann has become the first Cowboy to win Player of the Week honors in two straight regular season games and the first to do so in two different aspects (defense and special teams).
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