The New Orleans Saints are having a great year in spite of their first loss of the season to the Dallas Cowboys.  The Cowboys came out strong right from the beginning, yet it looked as if the Saints would make their comeback, again, in the last few minutes.  The Saints took their first loss of the season 13-1.

Check out the Cowboys vs. Saints highlights.

(Bloomberg) — The Dallas Cowboys beat New Orleans 24-17 to prevent the Saints from becoming the fourth team to start 14-0 in National Football League history, two days after the Indianapolis Colts became the third.

Marion Barber rushed for two touchdowns and quarterback Tony Romocompleted 22 of 34 passing attempts for 312 yards and one touchdown for the Cowboys last night at the Superdome in New Orleans. Nick Folk added a 44-yard field goal.

The Cowboys took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on Miles Austin’s 49-yard pass reception from Romo, followed by Barber’s 3-yard run.

“I think against these guys you have to have that,” Romo said of the first-quarter shutout in a televised interview. “They are explosive.”

The Saints, who sought to clinch home-field advantage throughout the National Football Conference playoffs, fell to 13-1 with two games left in the regular season. The Saints loss leaves the Colts as the NFL’s lone unbeaten team.

It still is the best start in franchise history for the Saints, a team that didn’t post a winning season in its first two decades.

The Cowboys improved to 9-5, increasing their lead over the 7-6 New York Giants in the race for postseason berths in the NFC. The Giants play at Washington on Dec. 21.

“We had to have this,” Romo said.

After a 34-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley in the second quarter, the Saints monopolized the fourth quarter with a one- yard run by Mike Bell and a 7-yard pass from Drew Brees to Lance Moore to come within seven points of Dallas.

With 2:16 left in the game, Brees attempted to capitalize on a missed 24-yard field goal by Folk. He took the Saints 38 yards before fumbling the ball after being sacked on the Dallas 48. The Cowboys recovered with six seconds remaining.

The Saints were seeking, along with the Colts, to join the 1972 Miami Dolphins and 2007 New England Patriots as the only teams in the NFL’s 90-year history to start a season with 14 straight victories. The Dolphins won the Super Bowl to cap an undefeated season at 17-0, while the Patriots two years ago reached 18-0 before losing the title game to the Giants. The Dolphins are the only team to win the Super Bowl undefeated.

By Nancy Kercheval

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