Why the Cowboys’ 13-10 win vs. the Saints was the messiest NFL game of the year

The Dallas Cowboys pulled off the upset Thursday, snapping the New Orleans Saints’ 10-game winning streak with a 13-10 win.

Dak Prescott completed 24 of 28 passes for 248 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He and Ezekiel Elliott combined for 98 rushing yards. And yet, the Cowboys only won by three points against a Saints team that floundered most of the night.

That’s because the huge win for the Cowboys also happened the messiest, ugliest game of the 2018 season. It’s a win all the same for Dallas, but it sure wasn’t pretty.

Drew Brees never looks as bad as he did Thursday night. He was a frontrunner for MVP, but after struggling as much as he did against the Cowboys, his case for the award took a serious hit.

Brees finished 18 of 28 passing for 127 yards with one touchdown and one interception. His 71.6 passer rating is the lowest he’s had in a game since 2016. He opened a game with four consecutive incompletions for the first time in his 18-season career.

His interception came in the final minutes and put a fitting bow on his turd of a game:

But it definitely wasn’t all Brees’ fault. He was pressured consistently by the Cowboys’ defensive line, even if Dallas only finished with two sacks.

Brees also didn’t have much help from his typically productive rushing attack. Alvin Kamara had just 36 rushing yards on 11 attempts, and Mark Ingram had only 27 on seven attempts.

Even Sean Payton wasn’t on his game. He burned both of his challenges early in the game and could only sit and watch when the Cowboys were awarded a first down on a play when Cole Beasley’s knee was clearly down well before the marker.

Payton said he wouldn’t take back his early strategy, though.

Then, with one last chance to get the ball back, the Saints inexplicably called timeout just before the two-minute warning — affording the Cowboys a chance to throw the ball. A pass interference penalty then locked up the win for Dallas.

The Saints’ offense entered the night averaging 37.2 points per game, but it was lucky to even get to 10 on Thursday.

Dallas had the ball for over 21 minutes in the first half and held Drew Brees to just 34 yards, but only had a 13-0 lead after two quarters. The Cowboys never scored again either.

While the defense did enough to lock down the victory for the Cowboys, it came after the team did everything it could to blow its slim lead.

Amari Cooper fumbled in the first half to set up the Saints with a scoring opportunity, and Prescott fumbled twice to bring his season total to a league-leading 11. Randy Gregory handed New Orleans a free first down — which turned into a touchdown — by roughing the punter and he nullified a turnover by lining up in the neutral zone.

There were many chances for the Cowboys to put the game out of reach and they never did. Late in the fourth quarter, Dallas had a three-point lead and drove to the Saints’ 6-yard line — helped along by the Saints picking up a dumb roughing penalty of their own on Prescott. But a fumble from Prescott meant the lead wasn’t stretched at all.

It wasn’t a bad day for the Cowboys’ offense, but finishing with only 13 points made the win much more agonizing than it had to be.

It’s hard to be too mad at Payton for blowing through his challenges when the officials kept making bad call after bad call.

A huge sack that forced a fumble from Brees was called back for an offsides penalty on Randy Gregory. The officials said he lined up in the neutral zone, but if he did it wasn’t by much. Players have certainly got away with worse.

Later in the half, Saints running back Alvin Kamara went to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion after he was drilled with a helmet-to-helmet hit by Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith.

It looked like the type of play that would warrant a 15-yard penalty, but it went uncalled and the Saints were forced to punt.

Not too long after that, Prescott nearly had his helmet ripped off by a Saints defender, but no penalty was called for a facemask.

Even the Saints’ touchdown looked like a missed offensive pass interference penalty:

It didn’t feel like either team got screwed anymore than the other. It was just a bad night of officiating, a bad night of offense, and a much-needed scrappy win for the Cowboys in an ugly game.