THIS WEEK: Coming off a 34-19 win over the Seattle Seahawks, the New Orleans Saints will seek to improve their win streak to four as they make their Thanksgiving debut against the Dallas Cowboys. The game, New Orleans' first trip to Cowboys Stadium will kick off at 3:15 p.m. and will be nationally televised by FOX.
TELEVISION: The game will be nationally televised on FOXwith Joe Buckproviding play-by-play, Troy Aikmanhandling color analysis and Pam Oliveron the sidelines.* The game will air in the New Orleans area onFOX 8 and in Baton Rouge onWGMB Channel 44. The game also airs onKADNin Lafayette,WDBDin Jackson, MS andWXXV *in the Mississippi Coast.
RADIO: Jim Henderson and Hokie Gajan will call the game on the Saints Radio Network with Kristian Garicon the Saints sidelines. The game will air live on Saints Radio Network originating on WWL 105.3 FM and 870 AM, with pre and post-game analysis. The radio pregame and postgame shows will feature former Saints Steve Korte and Bobby Hebertas well as host Deke Bellavia.
SPANISH RADIO:Saints 2010 games air in Spanish on*radio stationLa Fabulosa, WFNO 830 AM. Emilio Peralta andMarco Garcia *handle announcing duties.
SERIES:Dallas leads the 23-game series, 15-8, though New Orleans has won five of the last six meetings. This will be New Orleans' first trip to Cowboys Stadium. The Cowboys won eight of 10 from 1973 to 1994, and 13 of the first 16 meetings between the two clubs. Seven games in the series have been decided by a touchdown or less, including last year's 24-17 Dallas win. The Saints recorded the lone shutout in the series, a 28-0 win at the Louisiana Superdome on Sept. 10, 1989 where New Orleans held Dallas to 20 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
LAST MEETING: Dec. 19, 2009: Dallas 24, Saints 17 @ Louisiana Superdome – Playing in their third nationally-televised, primetime game of the year, the Saints saw their bid for an undefeated season come to an end at the hands of the Cowboys in a 24-17 Saturday night tilt.
The Saints got off to a slow start as the Cowboys jumped ahead 14-0 in the first quarter. New Orleans finally got on the board in the second quarter when K Garrett Hartley kicked a 34-yard field goal. However an interception and a fumble recovery by Dallas halted a pair of New Orleans drives inside the two minute warning. The fumble recovery by Dallas set up a 44-yard field goal by K Nick Folk for the Cowboys to take a 17-3 lead into halftime.
The Cowboys added to their lead on the first drive of the second half, which ended with RB Marion Barber scoring on a two-yard touchdown run.
The Saints rallied in the fourth quarter though as RB Mike Bell scored on a one-yard TD and QB Drew Brees found WR Lance Moore for a seven-yard TD with eight minutes left and cut Dallas' lead to 24-17. The Saints then received a huge break when Folk missed a chip-shot 24-yard field goal attempt with just over two minutes left that gave New Orleans, who didn't have any timeouts remaining, new life and a final opportunity to tie the game.
However, the Dallas pass rush extinguished the Saints' comeback chances when Cowboys LB DeMarcus Ware sacked and stripped Brees of the football with ten seconds left in the game.
CONNECTIONS:Head coach Sean Payton served on the Dallas coaching staff from 2003-05. His first two seasons, Payton served as assistant head coach/quarterbacks. In his last season with the Cowboys, Payton was promoted to assistant head coach/passing game coordinator and was responsible for the team's play-calling...Owner/Executive Vice President Rita Benson LeBlanc is a graduate of Texas A&M…RB Chris Ivory prepped at Longview HS...RB Julius Jones was a second round pick of the Cowboys in 2004 and was Dallas' leading rusher from 2004-06, playing four seasons in Dallas…LB Scott Shanle played for the Cowboys from 2003-05 until being acquired by New Orleans in a trade at the end of 2006 training camp...Secondary coach Dennis Allen is a native of Hurst, Texas, who played at Texas A&M from 1992-95 and served on their coaching staff from 1996-99…QB Drew Brees prepped at Westlake (Austin, Tx.) HS...TE David Thomas prepped at Frenship (Wolfforth, Tx.) HS and played at the University of Texas where he was a member of the 2006 BCS Championship squad. Thomas and Cowboys WR Roy Williams were teammates with the Longhorns...Cowboys G Montrae Holland was a fourth round draft choice of New Orleans in 2003 and played for the Saints from 2003-06…LS Justin Drescher, K Garrett Hartley and QB Chase Daniel prepped at Carroll (Southlake, Texas) HS…DT Remi Ayodele prepped at Grand Prairie HS and spent parts of the 2006 and 2007 seasons on the active roster and practice squad of the Cowboys, appearing in seven games for them in his final season there...Dallas T Jermey Parnell spent the 2009 season and part of the 2010 campaign on the New Orleans practice squad...Dallas head coach Jason Garrett spent part of the 1989 season on the Saints practice squad and also played for Payton with the New York Giants from 2000-02. Garrett was a teammate of TE Jeremy Shockey in New York in 2002. Garrett and assistant defensive line coach Travis Jones served in the same staff in Miami from 2005-06. Garrett's father Jim, served on the New Orleans coaching staff under Hank Stram from 1976-77. Garrett's brother, Judd, the Cowboys' director of pro scouting, served on the Saints staff from 1997-99, also serving on the same Dolphins staff with Jones in 2005...Dallas LS L. P. Ladouceur went to camp with the Saints in 2005...Cowboys DE Jason Hatcher prepped at Jena HS played at Grambling...Dallas LB Bradie James prepped at West Monroe HS and was a standout at LSU...Spears was college teammates with WR Devery Henderson...Defensive line coach Bill Johnson served in the same position at Texas A&M from 1992-99...P Thomas Morstead handled punting and kicking duties at Southern Methodist University from 2006-08...Dallas secondary/safeties coach Brett Maxie patrolled the New Orleans defensive backfield from 1985-93....Cowboys quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson played for New Orleans from 1993-94...RB Pierre Thomas and Dallas DB Alan Ball were college teammates at Illinois...DL Anthony Hargrove and Dallas T Alex Barron were teammates in St. Louis from 2005-06...CB Leigh Torrence and Dallas LB Keith Brooking were teammates in Atlanta in 2005...T Charles Brown, DT Sedrick Ellis and Dallas K David Beuhler were teammates at USC...DE Alex Brown and Cowboys T Marc Colombo were teammates in Chicago from 2002-05...Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams tutored Dallas S Gerald Sensabaugh in Jacksonville in 2008. S Pierson Prioleau and Sensabaugh were teammates with the Jaguars...Secondary coach Dennis Allen, Defensive line coach Bill Johnson, quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi and Dallas special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis served on the same staff in Atlanta. Johnson and Cowboys defensive backs coach Dave Campo served on the same staff at the University of Miami (Fl.) in 1987.
What to look for:QB Drew Brees has 224 touchdown passes to rank 22nd all-time in NFL history. With two touchdown passes, he would move into a tie for 21st with Donovan McNabb...RB Reggie Bush has 1,958 rushing yards to rank 11th in club record books. With 101 yards, he would move into tenth past Archie Manning Manning. Bush has 269 receptions to rank seventh on the club's all-time list. With two grabs, he would move into sixth past WR Quinn Early. Bush is tied for seventh place on the club's all-time list with Tony Galbreath with 33 touchdowns. With one score he would move into sole possession of seventh...WR Marques Colston has 37 receiving touchdowns to tie for third on the club's all-time list and fifth on the list for total touchdowns with Danny Abramowicz. With one receiving score, he would move into sole possession of third and fifth respectively. With 4,779 receiving yards Colston is ranked fourth in Saints record books. With 97 receiving yards, he would surpass Abramowicz and move into third...DE Jeff Charleston will play in the 50th game of his career today…DT Sedrick Ellis has four sacks in 2010 to tie his career-high set in 2008. With one more takedown he will set a new career-best. G Jahri Evans will start the 75th game of his career...CB Jabari Greer has two interceptions to tie a career-high. With one more pick, he will set a new high. Greer has two interception returns for touchdowns as a Saint to tie for fifth on the club's all-time list. With one more pick returned for a TD, he would move into a tie for second…RB Julius Jones has 999 yards receiving. With one more receiving yard he will have 1,000 for his career...LB Marvin Mitchell will play in the 50th game of his NFL career today…WR Lance Moore has 19 career receiving touchdowns to rank ninth in club record books. With two more, he would move into a tie with TE Hoby Brenner for eighth...WR Courtney Roby has returned one kickoff for a touchdown as a Saint. If he has one more runback for a score in 2010, he would join former Saints DB Tyrone Hughes (3) and WR Michael Lewis (3) as the only three Saints to have run back multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns during their careers in New Orleans. Roby will appear in the 50th game of his career Sunday...TE Jeremy Shockey has 500 career receptions to rank eighth all-time among NFL tight ends. With five catches he would move into a tie for seventh with Frank Wycheck….S Darren Sharper has 1,412 career interception return yards to rank second all-time in NFL history. With 72 return yards, he would move into first place past Rod Woodson. Sharper has 11 career interception returns for a touchdown to rank second behind Woodson. With one return for a touchdown he would move into a tie for first with Woodson. With 13 touchdown returns on fumbles and interceptions, Sharper is tied for first all-time with Woodson. With one more, he would have sole possession of first…With 52 sacks, DE Will Smith is in fifth place on the club's all-time list. With one sack, he would move into fourth place past DL Frank Warren.
NEXT WEEK:The Saints will go on the road for the second consecutive week when they play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, December 5 at Paul Brown Stadium. Kickoff is Noon CT and the contest will be televised by FOX.
