NEW ORLEANS — A perfect record would have been lagniappe, as they say in Louisiana — a little something extra.

The history-making achievement the Saints and their fans really covet is a first Super Bowl appearance, which is all that's left to accomplish now that Tony Romo and Dallas ended their December doldrums at New Orleans' expense.

Drew Brees and the Saints are marching toward an unbeaten season no more after their rally fell short in a 24-17 loss to the Cowboys last night.

"This is going to sting for a while but we've got to be able to put this behind us," Brees said, noting that the Saints remain in control to finish as the No. 1 playoff seed in the NFC. "It's all about the next game."

Romo threw for 312 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown to Miles Austin, and DeMarcus Ware punctuated his comeback from a neck injury with a game-sealing strip of Brees.

The loss by the Saints (13-1) left the Indianapolis Colts (14-0) as the NFL's only unbeaten team this season.

"We'll digest this," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "Nonetheless, it is what it is and we've got to get back to work next week. We have two important games in front of us and we'll take that approach."

The Saints' start had New Orleans hoping its team could go 19-0 and win the Super Bowl after so many years of losing and heartbreak.

"We feel like we deserved it and the whole city deserved it and we wanted to make it happen," Brees said of a perfect season. "That's probably the most disappointing thing about it."

Instead, the Cowboys (9-5) overcame failures of a more recent nature, ending a two-game skid and proving they were good enough to beat the top team in the NFC. They came to New Orleans 3-8 in December games in their last three seasons under coach Wade Phillips.

Dallas dominated early, scoring on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead and went up 24-3 on Marion Barber's second short TD run of the game in the third quarter. Then the Cowboys held on despite Nick Folk missing a 24-yard field goal shortly before the 2-minute warning.

The Saints marched to midfield in the final minute, but the Cowboys held firm. Ware stripped Brees for the second time in the game and lineman Jay Ratliff recovered, silencing the packed Superdome while the Cowboys leapt in the air and embraced one another.

"That was a fun one," Romo said. "These are the ones you love to play."

ELSEWHERE

Seahawks: Seattle has said that Mike Holmgren will not rejoin the team. The Seahawks talked with Holmgren over the weekend about a senior leadership position.

Time change: The start of the Eagles-49ers game today has been moved to 4:15 p.m. EST from 1 p.m. because of a snowstorm in Philadelphia.