WEEK 10: Saints 49, Dallas Cowboys 17; November 10, 2013 @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome – On a national stage on Sunday Night Football, the Saints improved to 7-2 with a convincing victory over Dallas in a clash between two clubs who entered the contests leading their respective divisions.
The Cowboys took a 3-0 lead on a 37-yard field goal by Dan Bailey. But fueled by the hot hand of QB Drew Brees, the signal-caller led the Saints down the field on a nine-play, 80-yard drive with an effective mix of four runs and five-of-five completed passes that ended with a 22-yard scoring throw to WR Marques Colston. After the Cowboys took the lead again on a seven-yard touchdown run by RB DeMarco Murray, New Orleans would run up 28 straight points to take a commanding 35-10 lead.
New Orleans would control the clock for 39:32 in the game. The defense also came up strong, holding the Cowboys to 193 net yards, the lowest total surrendered to an opponent since 2006. The unit also had three sacks and did not allow Dallas to convert one third down (0-for-nine).
The Saints took the 35-10 lead on four touchdowns scored by the running back trio of Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas. Both Sproles and Thomas had scoring grabs from Brees.
In the fourth quarter, Brees connected on a 52-yard touchdown with rookie WR Kenny Stills and Thomas closed out the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run. The rushing attack combined for 242 yards, New Orleans' highest total since 1990. Ingram carried 14 times for 145 yards with one touchdown, the first 100-yard game of his career. Thomas carried 17 times for 87 yards with one touchdown and also had seven grabs for 24 yards with one score. Sproles had a touchdown run and also tied for the team lead in receiving with seven grabs for 76 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown catch on a dazzling run where he eluded several defenders.
New Orleans set an NFL record with 40 first downs in the contest and set a franchise record with 625 total net yards. Brees completed 34-of-41 passes for 392 yards with four touchdown passes, zero interceptions and a 139.0 passer rating.
