The Cowboys have been finding a way to win of late, with three straight victories and five of six heading into Sunday’s game with the Saints. And it appeared they would do it again when they rallied to tie and force overtime.
But in the end, the ball didn’t bounce their way, and the Saints prevailed 34-31 in overtime.
Offense: C
The yards were there, with Tony Romo’s 414 yards passing and four touchdowns and a monster game from Dez Bryant, who had 224 yards and two scores. But the offense could only get 40 yards rushing. And the Cowboys left too many yards on the field in the middle of the game. Although they rallied to tie the game, they stalled in overtime. Previous game's grade: A-
Defense: C
The defense gave up too many plays on third downs (11 of 19) and 562 yards of offense. Although they’ve had plenty of injuries, with as many as seven projected starters out of the game or on IR, the Cowboys had trouble making plays. They forced a fumble late but couldn’t recover and it led to the game-winning field goal. Previous game's grade: B+
Special Teams: B
Dwayne Harris nearly lost a fumble on a kickoff return that was recovered by James Hanna and saved a disastrous situation. Harris then came back with a 28-yard punt return to set up his game-tying touchdown. Brian Moorman has struggled punting but had a solid game with a downed punt inside the 3. Previous game's grade: B+
Coaching: C
The Cowboys wasted a chance before the half by calling timeouts to save some clock, but since they didn’t get a first down on the next drive, it ended up leading to three more points. The Cowboys still managed to piece the defense together with tons of backups, but defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had trouble generating any kind of pressure on Drew Brees. Previous game's grade: A
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