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By JAIME ARON
AP Pro Football Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Seeing his defense shredded easily and his offense flub a screen and a shotgun snap - all before the first quarter even finished - Jerry Jones had to be wondering what happened to all the improvements interim coach Jason Garrett had brought to the Dallas Cowboys.
Then came the second half and evidence of the new life Garrett has pumped into the club.
The offense started making big plays and little ones, piling up points on nearly every drive. The defense helped by slowing Drew Brees and getting the ball back without giving up many more points. The special teams provided everything from a long field goal to a forced fumble to a bizarre drop-kicked punt. All told, a pair of 17-point deficits became a fourth-quarter lead.
Although the Cowboys ended up losing to the New Orleans Saints, their rally Thursday could be considered another step in the right direction in Garrett's bid to remain in charge.
"The obvious thing to me as a coach is our team continued to fight," Garrett said. "Ultimately, we are not into moral victories. ... But I think, overall, the effort, the fight, all that stuff is what we want. We just have to clean up some of the things."
At 3-8, Dallas has felt the sting of losing enough this season to be numb to it. But the last few losses had been blowouts, a totally different feeling. Garrett had gotten them used to winning again.
Add in the circumstances surrounding this game - the rally, playing on Thanksgiving, facing the Super Bowl champs - and the mournful mood was understandable.
"I don't know if I have played in a game that is so emotional and come out on this end," tight end Jason Witten said.
Receiver Roy Williams nearly sealed the win with a long catch and run. But he had the ball jerked away from behind at the end of the play, setting up New Orleans' winning drive.
"We had it, but just didn't finish," he said. "I didn't finish."
Kicker David Buehler was equally deflated. His 59-yard field goal try that would've tied it with 25 seconds left went wide left by about a yard.
"It came down to me," he said. "I've got to make that."
Jones didn't speak to reporters afterward, his emotions probably still wobbly.
Garrett, meanwhile, didn't look, sound or act like a guy who'd been through nearly four hours of incredible highs and lows, with the pressure of it all riding on him. He seemed amazingly calm for a 44-year-old, first-time coach who just lost for the first time after being oh-so-close to getting his career off to a 3-0 start.
"We talk a lot about process and we all know that it's a bottom-line business for everybody," he said. "Hopefully the results will come our way. I'm proud of our football team today. We didn't get it done and we've got to work to get it done. But if we continue to work in practice and play with the intensity and enthusiasm and passion that we've been playing with, we will get some of these victories. And we're going to start Monday morning."
He sure hopes so.
Garrett's next challenge is reviving that spunky spirit next Sunday when they go to Indianapolis to play the other team from last season's Super Bowl, Peyton Manning and the Colts.
Remember, the Cowboys had all sorts of close losses early in the season. Then they lost hope and started getting blown out. At 1-7, coach Wade Phillips was fired and Garrett was promoted from offensive coordinator. His marching orders were to get the most out of what Jones still thought was a talented roster.
Winning the first two games was impressive. But now that bubble has burst. The Cowboys are guaranteed not to have a winning season. If players slip back into old habits, that strong start to the Garrett era could be chalked up to beginner's luck.
"I'm not going to be down," nose tackle Jay Ratliff said. "We fought, played our hearts out. We had a couple of bad breaks. But the emotion we had today, I'm not going to hold my head down. If we play like that every week and be consistent, we have a shot."
Updated November 26, 2010
