Irving, TX (My Sportsbook) - Drew Brees threw five touchdown passes as the New Orleans Saints crushed the Dallas Cowboys, 42-17, at Texas Stadium.

Brees finished 26-of-38 for 384 yards and Mike Karney caught two touchdowns and ran one in for the Saints (9-4), who have won their last three games and have a two-game lead on Atlanta for first place in the NFC South.

Deuce McAllister carried the ball 21 times for 111 yards in the win.

Tony Romo went 16-of-33 for 249 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and Terrell Owens had three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown for the Cowboys (8-5), who had a four-game winning streak snapped and now lead the Giants and the Eagles by just one game for first place in the NFC East.

After stopping New Orleans on their first possession, the Cowboys scored two plays later when Julius Jones accepted a handoff, ran off the left end and sprinted 77 yards into the end zone for a 7-0 lead less than three minutes in.

However, that was all the Cowboys scored in the first half as the Saints scored 21 points to take a 21-7 lead into the locker room.

New Orleans got on the scoreboard just seven seconds into the second quarter when Karney took a handoff straight up the middle into the end zone from two yards out to cap off a 14-play, 88-yard drive that ate up almost seven minutes of game time.

Romo was picked off two plays after getting the ball back by Omar Stoutmire to give the Saints the ball at the Cowboys 39.

Eight plays later, Brees hit Karney with a pass at the one-yard line and Karney shrugged off a tackle to head into the end zone for a 14-7 lead with 10:19 left in the first half.

New Orleans got the ball back with 4:04 left in the half and marched 95 yards down the field in nine plays capped off by a Jamal Jones 27-yard touchdown reception with just 44 seconds to play.

Dallas got the ball into field goal range before time expired in the first half, but Martin Gramatica's 43-yard attempt went wide right.

The Cowboys did get three points back on their first possession of the second half when Gramatica nailed a 24-yard field goal to cap an eight-play, 66-yard drive and cut the score to 21-10 less than four minutes in.

The Saints, though, had an answer and his name was Reggie Bush. He caught a pass on a screen play out at the left flat, followed his blockers, broke a tackle and took the ball into the end zone on a 61-yard play to make it 28-10 with 9:59 left in the third.

Dallas responded with a touchdown when a pass by Romo went through the hands of New Orleans cornerback Fred Thomas and into the hands of Owens, who ran it into the end zone on a 34-yard touchdown reception to cut Dallas' deficit to 28-17 with 7:46 left in the third.

New Orleans, though, grabbed control of the game with two consecutive scores.

Karney scored his third touchdown of the day when he caught a pass at the left side and barely made it into the left corner of the end zone from five yards out.

New Orleans then recovered an onsides kick and, four plays later, Brees connected with Devery Henderson on a 42-yard score to make it a 42-17 game with 3:47 left in the third for the final score of the game.

Game Notes

Brees is the first player to throw five touchdowns against the Cowboys in Dallas...New Orleans has won five straight against Dallas...Brees has thrown for over 300 yards in each of his last six road games...Julius Jones finished the game with 10 carries for 116 yards and a score...Bush totaled six receptions for 125 yards and a score. He also carried the ball six times for 37 yards...New Orleans totaled 536 yards in offense, compared to 347 yards for Dallas...Terry Glenn had eight catches for 150 yards for Dallas...Brees now has 4,033 passing yards on the season.