NEW ORLEANS — Mr. Fix It, as Wade Phillips occasionally refers to himself, delivered his finest performance as the Cowboys’ defensive mastermind Saturday night.

It was trumped only by his performance as a head coach.
Phillips’ defense and his team turned in their most complete performance since a 2007 win over Green Bay that essentially clinched the top seed in the NFC.
Who dat no longer undefeated?
Dat’s the New Orleans Saints, after the Cowboys delivered a thorough 24-17 beat-down in what’s supposed to be one of the NFL’s loudest, toughest venues.
Whatever.
Midway through the third quarter, the Superdome was so quiet, you could’ve taken a nap. Perhaps the normally raucous black-and-gold-clad fans were just stunned.
You can’t blame them.
Few outside the Cowboys’ locker room saw this coming. OK, maybe some friends and family members and a few of the team’s most loyal fans, but they pick the Cowboys to win every week.
The beauty of sports — the reason we love them — is that no matter what prognosticators say during the week, the game must ultimately be decided on the field. The Cowboys silenced their critics because they played with the passion, purpose and desperation we expected to see in recent losses to the New York Giants and San Diego but never did.
Even if the Cowboys could beat the Saints, it figured to be a shootout. After all, no one shuts down the Saints’ offense.
Not this year, when New Orleans was averaging 35.8 points per game and had scored more than 40 points four times.
But Phillips’ boys slapped the Saints upside the head in the first quarter and held them to a season-low 17 points.
Give Phillips credit.
Every bit of it, considering how much criticism he’s received.
Phillips prepared his team to win and refused to get caught up in the Saints’ hype like the rest of us. Just so you know, I’m having my crow with etouffee, dirty rice and a cup of gumbo.
“We still control our own destiny. Some people said, ’Ha, ha, you can’t beat the Saints,”’ Phillips said with a laugh. “I’m not pointing fingers, but this team is about this year.”
The upset started with Phillips’ defense setting the game’s tone on the first series when it forced a three-and-out.
Then it did it again.
By the time the Saints had the ball again, the Cowboys led 14-0.
New Orleans, though, had rallied from deficits of 24-3, 14-0 and 10-0 to win games this season, so the Saints didn’t panic.
But they never had any sustained success against the Cowboys’ defense until the fourth quarter. After three quarters, New Orleans had three points and 174 yards.
Did I mention DeMarcus Ware, who didn’t practice this week after straining his neck and being carted off the field last week, didn’t start and played only on third downs in the first half?
Still, he managed to make two of the game’s biggest plays.
Late in the first half, Ware sacked Drew Brees and forced a fumble that Anthony Spencer recovered. That set up Nick Folk’s 44-yard field goal, which gave Dallas a 17-3 lead.
And with 12 seconds left in the game, Ware sacked Brees again, forcing another fumble that Jay Ratliff recovered.
Dallas sacked Brees four times, forced three turnovers and allowed just three plays of more than 20 yards.
For now, we can put aside the talk about the Cowboys’ pitiful record after Dec. 1. Finally, Phillips has the signature win he has coveted since arriving in 2007.
More important, the Cowboys remain in complete control of their playoff destiny. Wins the next two weeks against Washington and Philadelphia and Phillips would own his second NFC East title in three seasons.
Clearly, more work remains to be done.
But the Cowboys have shown us the standard by which to judge them and Mr. Fix It.