As Drew Brees and his Saints teammates walked off the field following their first defeat of a thrilling season, the Louisiana Superdome crowd offered the kind of appreciative applause a pitcher receives after losing a no-hitter in the late innings.
At 13-1, the Saints remain in control of the race for the top overall playoff seed in the NFC. What remains to be seen is whether they'll be playing like the best team in the conference when the post-season begins.
"Certainly we did not play our best game tonight, far from it," Brees said after the Saints' 24-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night. "Moving forward, we understand what's on the horizon. We know there's a lot of things we need to improve upon right now, but we're just excited to get back on the field and make up for what happened today."
The squad that appeared invincible in a Monday night 38-17 dismantling of the New England Patriots last month has looked vulnerable in each of its last three games.
First came a stunning comeback in a 33-30 overtime win in Washington - made possible when the Redskins' Shaun Suisham missed a 23-yard field goal attempt that could have iced the game near the end of regulation. In Atlanta, New Orleans needed a pair of late defensive stops to escape with a 26-23 victory.
The Saints fell behind early for a third straight time Saturday night against Dallas, a playoff contender that was good enough to stop the Saints from coming back.
The Saints trailed 24-3 before Mike Bell's short touchdown run with 12:35 to go. Although New Orleans pulled within one score on Brees' seven-yard touchdown pass to Lance Moore with eight minutes left, Dallas could have - should have - put the game away with a nearly six-minute drive deep into Saints territory that set up a 24-yard field goal try with 2:19 left. Like Suisham, Nick Folk shanked it, granting Brees his latest chance to march the Saints down the field for a late tying score.
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