SPORTSDAY

Bring them on (remember, this is a family blog) ...

He said it "never crossed his mind." He said one of the coaches told him to challenge the play and that's what he did."

Just said the team "took a good lickin'."

On Romo:

"When you play as bad as we did, you get pretty one-dimensional," he said. "He didn't have much of a chance."

Did the Cowboys' defense actually stop the Saints?

Folks, this was a meltdown of epic proportions. Just when you thought you knew this team. But you'd rather it happen now than in the playoffs...Not that I'm trying to be positive.

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On Kyle Kosier. We did see the hottest team in the NFC tonight...Just not the team we thought...INT Saints...Jason Craft with the pick...This city will be in a state of depression tomorrow...I'll leave you in the capable hands of Pete Aldrich for a little while...I'll check back periodically...Thanks for your support.

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The Falcons took care of an awful Tampa Bay team today and have a 7-6 record. The Cowboys could leave Atlanta tied with the Falcons in the NFC.

Maybe the Saints are for real. Romo follows a Saints timeout with another timeout.

Cowboys may have had 12 men on the field. Lot of blame to go around in this one...Just an awful effort.

Cowboys going for it on fourth-and-5.

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TD Saints...Sean Payton trying hard not to smile on the sideline...Sean's in the middle of stepping on Parcells' throat right now.

Little Billy Cundiff exacts his revenge...Miles Austin tries the Fumblerooskie on the kick return...Anyone still with me?

Tony's fairytale hasn't ended, but it now includes a dark chapter...Should T.O. catch that deep ball?

Three touchdowns for a guy who'd never sniffed the end zone. Just unbelievable.

After a second look, I'm thinking Karney got in.

Cowboys defense had no answers this evening.

I have to break away at some point and bang out something for our print product.

Devery Henderson burns the Cowboys for 50 yards. Roy Williams bit on the play-fakes by Brees. This isn't looking good.

Saints score, but called back because of an illegal substitution...Reserve tackle Zach Strief failed to report.

Third-and-goal at the 1.

Michael Lewis returns it 29 yards. The noted author/return specialist is having a good night.

I'm guessing we have at least 3,000 Saints fans with us tonight.

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Luckiest thing I've ever seen...CB Fred Thomas let that one slip right through his hands.

T.O. was alert enough to make the catch off the deflection. Romo dodges another bullet. Cowboys had to have a score on that drive.

I'm still not convinced they can get a stop against Bush and Karney, though.

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Haven't seen much of him...Cowboys going for it on fourth-and-8.

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This kid is putting on a show. Bush takes it 61 yards to the house.

The Saints just keep dumping the ball to Bush on whatever side DeMarcus Ware lines up on. Bush did a great job of setting up his blockers. Then, he just made everyone look stupid.

Bradie James was the only guy who really had a chance. Great downfield blocking by the Saints.

Payton is embarrassing his mentor right now.

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In case you missed it, former Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox was in for a workout the other day. Parcells isn't comfortable with two quarterbacks on the active roster and wanted to give Maddox a look.

Maddox and Tony Romo are good friends and play a lot of golf together at Trophy Club in Roanoke. Romo birdied three of the final four holes to beat Maddox in the club championship if memory serves correct...Karney strikes again!

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Romo just threw it sidearmed, across his body to Witten. He could've caught it...Oops and McKenzie just jumped the inside route to Patrick Crayton.

McKenzie should've had pick. Gramatica connects on the short field goal. They really needed a touchdown there. Moral victory for the Saints' defense.

Cowboys trail, 21-10, if you're scoring at home.

Just finished watching a holiday extravaganza that ended with some fireworks and the arrival of Santa in a horse-drawn carriage.

Parcells arrived just in time to almost get hit by the carriage. Pretty heady stuff.

Cowboys need to score, like now, to get back in this game...Here comes Cundiff.

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Has the ghost of Mike Vanderjagt inhabited Marty? Wide right from 43 yards.

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Payton has to be pleased with the taunting penalty on Mike McKenzie. Just a bone-headed move. Terry Glenn makes the catch at the 25-yard line and Romo will have a look at the end zone. No timeouts.

Looks like Roy took the wrong angle on the touchdown pass to Jamal Jones. Got caught behind him and then ran right by him.

Jamal Jones has his first NFL TD...Karney and Jones dominate the first half...Cowboys desperate for a score...What else does Sean have up his sleeve?

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Pretty big play. Devery Henderson went out of bounds at the 19. The PI pushes the Saints back to their 42-yard line...Big catch by Jamal Jones down to the Cowboys' 15 yard line. At least that's the initial ruling. It's being reviewed.

Bradie James and Roy Williams delivered the hit...Cowboys Cheerleaders have changed into some interesting holiday costumes. Don't recall Mrs. Claus showing midriff...Incomplete pass, but Parcells hit with a 15-yard penalty for throwing the red flag at an inappropriate time.

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Just in case you're not getting enough of it during commercials ...

Marques Colston appears to have injured his right leg. He's had an ankle sprain that has forced him to miss time.

He's limping off right now. He'd be a big loss because he's Brees' best possession receiver. Doesn't appear to be limping too much as he reaches the sideline.

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We've had several REG-GIE chants break out over the past few minutes...I'm seeing quite a few Archie Manning throwback jerseys...The Saints have done a nice job of setting up Reggie Bush in one-on-one situations.

Payton does not want to give the Cowboys another possession, but he'd like to end up with at least a field goal...Oops, there's another play to Bush. He just seems to be about 10 times faster than anyone else on the field. And with the exception of Newman, that's probably the case.

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He has 109 yards this half. Starting the game with a 77-yard TD certainly didn't hurt things.

Big third-and-6. Cowboys roll Romo to the right and Mike McKenzie does a nice job of breaking up the pass intended for Crayton.

And Miles Austin just got away with a 15-yard facemask penalty. Can't believe no one saw that.

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Saints didn't have on the field on first down. BTW, anyone remember tight end Billy Miller from his days with the Texans.

I seem to recall him scoring a TD in the Texans' 19-10 victory...Hate to admit this, but Steve Weatherford may be winning the punting battle right now.

Still not sure why it took 10 minutes for officials to mark the running into the punter penalty.

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Let's give a quick shoutout to Cliff Brown from the Old Gray Lady...Back to action, the Cowboys have gone back to Julius Jones, and that seems like a reasonable thing to do.

SACK. Looks like Will Smith beat Mr. Kosier on that play. Came with an inside move.

Holding on Gurode. Saints decline it. Cowboys offense struggling all the sudden...Smith applying the pressure...And McBriar draws a 5-yard running into the kicker penalty. The officials can't figure out where to mark this one.

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Mike Karney came into this game with 29 career rushing yards and zero TDs.

I guess Payton's been waiting for just the right moment to unleash him.

Might be a good idea to account for him at some point. Looks like an Alstott starter kit.

How are Madden and Michaels performing?

I couldn't hear the pre-game show, but Pink appeared to do a nice job.

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LB Bobby Carpenter applying the pressure a minute ago.

Judging by "Deuce" chants, we have some Saints fans in the house.

Deuce is doing some damage in the red zone right now.

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Former Cowboys kicking great Billy Cundiff is the Saints' kickoff specialist.

By the way, that was Karney's first career TD...Oops. Another former Cowboy comes up with a big play. Omar Stoutmire was sitting on that route.

Romo tried to hit Glenn on a deep out, but he threw it behind him. And he didn't put enough on it.

Could this man be mortal?

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DeMarcus Ware had been faking the whole game. That time he was called for causing the offense to move by simulating the snap.

The call is delay of game on the defense.

Karney does it again...This just in: Karney came into the game with 10 yards rushing and his biggest game had been two carries for five yards.

Like I said before the game, watch out for Mike Karney and Mark Campbell!

End of the 1st...For the guy who always gets mad at me for not putting the score, it's 7-0 Cowboys.

Saints hold it for 11:41 of the first quarter.

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After fighting his teammates all week, defensive end Chris Canty makes a nice hit on Reggie Bush...On third-and-10, Colston beats Anthony Henry to the inside.

Fourth-and-1 reverse by Payton. Ware had great penetration but he broke containment. Looked like your guy Canty got a little turned around after I was trying to compliment him.

Bush pretty fun to watch...Unless you're a Cowboys fan. Some of Canty's work again...Sorry.

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You have to account for fullback Mike Karney at all times.

Cowboys punter Mat McBriar hasn't been helping his gross average lately, but he just did exactly what he's supposed to.

He made the Saints fair catch the ball at the 12-yard line.

It's hard to remember the last time the Cowboys were able to down one of Mat's punts inside the 10...His location is just too good for that to accidentally happen.

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Looks like Zimmer has been instructed to make things uncomfortable for Drew Brees.

Ware's bringing consistent pressure and Williams came on the safety blitz on the last play.

The Cowboys are paying a lot of attention to Reggie Bush, and for good reason. They'll let him have the short pass, but they're trying to contain him once he makes the catch.

Cowboys score here and Saints could be in big trouble. Check that. Saints already in trouble.

Ramiro and Joan Romo in the house...Look for at least 25 shots of them during the game. I'm told the NBC folks found out their seat locations about three hours before the game began.

Flo took out his man on the Jones TD run and T.O. did a nice job of blocking down on the safety Bullocks.

Not the way Sean Payton wanted this thing to start.

Scott Fujita and Scott Shanle both have an opportunity to reach 100 tackles for the season by the end of the night.

Does it make anyone else nervous when Terry Glenn carries the ball like a loaf of bread?

There's that home run you guys have been asking for? Jones takes it to the house for a 77-yard score.

Those linebackers I was talking about never had a chance.

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Empty backfield on the first play. Look for the Saints to dink and dunk it down the field.

They'll try to exploit the middle of the Cowboys' defense. Ware with the sack and then Newman with the nice open-field tackle by Newman...Not sure why Newman just fair caught that ball.

He appeared to have some time. May be gun shy after that shot he took on the sideline earlier in the season.