While the New Orleans Saints' slim playoff chances were erased today, they did give the Dallas Cowboys a little coal for their Christmas stockings. Powered by their high-powered offense, Drew Brees and the Saints defeated Dallas 34-31 in a wild overtime game at Cowboy Stadium on Sunday. The game ended when Garrett Hartley's 20 yard field goal sailed through the uprights.

Mark Ingram (pictured) ran in a score from 9 yards out on the first Saints drive, capping off an 80 yard 10 play drive. It was indicative of what was to come, as New Orleans racked up a season-high 562 yards.

The Saints ground game finished with 116 yards, led by Ingram's 53. Through the air, Brees completed a pass to 7 different receivers, finishing with 446 yards and 3 touchdowns (Lance Moore, Pierre Thomas, Dave Thomas). Marques Colston led all receivers with 153 yards on 10 receptions. Darren Sproles also eclipsed the century mark, grabbing 7 balls for 104 yards.

New Orleans needed all the offense they could get, because the Cowboy offense made big plays all day. Tony Romo threw a pair of 58 yard touchdown passes to Dez Bryant in the first half. He threw two more touchdowns in the second half to Dwayne Harris and Miles Austin. Austin's TD reception came on a 4th down with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Romo finished with 416 passing yards on the day.

For the first time in the 2012 NFL season, two quarterbacks eclipsed 400+ passing yards in the same game.

With the victory, New Orleans improves to 7-8, while Dallas falls to 8-7. The Saints wrap up their 2012 season next week at home in a matchup with the 6-9 Carolina Panthers. Kickoff from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome next Sunday is set for noon.

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