Saints vs. Cowboys: New Orleans wins in overtime, damage Dallas’ playoff hopes

The Saints quickly marched down the field and appeared to have been stopped on third down, only to have the incomplete pass ruled a fumble and recovery by New Orleans at the 2-yard line. Review upheld the ruling and the Saints quickly kicked the chip-shot game-winning field goal.

The Cowboys allowed 562 yards of total offense to the Saints, yet KD Drummond of Blogging The Boys finds it difficult to lay blame on a defense carried by practice-squad castoffs:

SB Nation’s Canal Street Chronicles was still pleased with the win:

After falling down 31-17 in the 4th quarter, Romo led a furious comeback to send the game to overtime. Unfortunately, the Cowboys fell 34-31 in OT, torpedoing their playoff chances.

Fantasy Impact: Fantasy owners probably wish Romo would play like this more often, but for those who started him, he had a huge boost for their title hopes.

The Saints held off a furious comeback to win 34-31, effectively ending the Cowboys’ playoff hopes.

Fantasy Impact: Brees has had an unusual slump recently, throwing nine picks in three games, but he has clearly snapped out of it. He was a huge boost to fantasy owners in this week’s championship games.

That sent the game into overtime, where the Saints promptly took possession and marched down field. After a reviewed play gave a fumble to New Orleans near the goal line, the Saints went for the field goal from 20 yards away, and Hartley stepped up to win the game.

Fantasy studs/duds

Currently Witten has 103 receptions on the seasons. The previous record-holder was Tony Gonzalez, with 102 in 2004.

Witten turns 31 next year and doesn’t appear to be slowing down. He’ll be another top 5 TE in next season’s drafts.

Throwing for 400-yards and four touchdowns, Romo was everything the Cowboys could have asked for. Given Dallas’s week start to the season, they’re now within reach of the postseason. For the moment, Romo has silenced his critics.

Werder added that it is the same right shoulder that has frequently dislocated in the past for Ware and that his return to the game is questionable. Ware came into the game as probable with an elbow injury.

The Cowboys are in a four-way tie at 8-6 in the NFC playoff race but due to tiebreakers, they are not currently a playoff team. Losing Ware and this game will be two blows the Cowboys may not be able to recover from.

So many bad Christmas sweaters on display in Dallas today. Tony Siragusa broke out a winner, but Daryl Johnston may have him beat.

Dez should be a lock for 100 yards and he might be on the 200-yard neighborhood should his day continue at this pace.

Fantasy Take: Nobody in the New Orleans backfield is especially adept at making huge gains on the ground this year, though Sproles has 60 catches. The absence of Ivory adds a bit of value for Ingram, but not a whole lot.

For more fantasy info, head over to the SB Nation Fantasy War Room 4-8:30 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Check out SB Nation’s own Fantasy Football game, Pick 6!

The full inactive lists for both the Cowboys and Saints are listed below.

DALLAS COWBOYS

The Saints need to win their last two games to get to 8-8 and put themselves in playoff contention. They also need four other teams to collapse, meaning eight other games have to break their way if they are to get into a tie for the final playoff spot. While they are not completely eliminated at this point, the Saints can see the writing on the wall.

Blogging the Boys, the SB Nation Dallas Cowboys site, is praising defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and the Cowboys scouts for finding talent in unlikely spots this season:

Sunday, Dec. 23, 1 p.m. ET

Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas

At Yahoo! Sports, meanwhile, there’s little enthusiasm for the Cowboys. Two of the site’s three writers tabbed New Orleans to come out on top, and so did Yahoo’s users. Only Mike Silver picked Dallas.

Kickoff is this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in Dallas.

The teams are relatively evenly matched, as evidenced by the Cowboys being favorites by just one point. The line for the game, likely to be high scoring, is set at 51.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET from Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.