Saints receive heavenly gift
ARLINGTON, Texas — As Roy Williams ran toward the end zone, he realized the importance of his breakaway catch-and-run. Just hold onto it, he thought, and the Dallas Cowboys would pull off one of their greatest Thanksgiving comebacks. He even switched the ball from one hand to another to make sure he kept it from the defender in front of him.
The guy behind him changed everything.
Malcolm Jenkins snatched the ball from Williams at the 11, ripping it out so forcefully that it wound up against his own stomach. Drew Brees then quickly drove 89 yards for the touchdown that put New Orleans back ahead with 1:55 left Thursday.
But the drama wasn't done yet in the Saints' 30-27 victory.
Having already overcome a pair of 17-point deficits, the Cowboys moved close enough for David Buehler to try a 59-yard field goal that would've tied it. His kick had plenty of leg, but fluttered just wide to the left with 25 seconds left. New Orleans coach Sean Payton started to call a timeout, which would've given Buehler another chance, but either Payton didn't finish the gesture or the officials didn't see it, so the play stood, and this wild, wacky, thriller was finished.
“The play that Malcolm Jenkins makes late is an effort play, a heart play and it's one of those plays that really inspires everyone on the team,” Payton said. “It was a gut-check win.”
And a gut-wrenching loss for Dallas.
Brad Smith's left shoe popped off and he just kept running.There was no way the New York Jets' Mr. Do-It-All was going to slow down. Not with a clear path to the end zone ahead.“I was running and trying to stick my shoe back on,” Smith said with a big grin, “but after a while, I just said, ‘Forget it.”‘Who needs two anyway, right?Smith's one-shoed, 89-yard kickoff return sparked New York to a 26-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night that sent the Jets to the second-best start in team history. The versatile wide receiver, a converted college quarterback, also had a 53-yard touchdown run.“He's a phenomenal athlete,” coach Rex Ryan said. “Everything we ask him to do, he does.”With or without all of his footwear.“I think all that running in the backyard with no shoes on with my brother,” Smith said, “that helped.”
DETROIT — Tom Brady was perfect on the field.Brady threw a season-high four touchdown passes, all in the second half, and the New England Patriots routed the Detroit Lions 45-24 on Thursday after trailing by 11 late in the second quarter.“We showed some resiliency, coming out in the second half and playing the way we did when the crowd was into it,” Brady said.New England (9-2) remained tied with the the AFC East rival New York Jets — who beat Cincinnati 26-10 on Thursday night — for the NFL's best record, setting up a showdown at home Dec. 6.No one in the red, white and blue is tougher than Brady.After taking a ton of shots early in the game, the three-time Super Bowl winner and two-time MVP bounced back to complete 21 of 27 passes for 341 yards with no interceptions, giving him a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3 for the second time in his career.
