NFL Preview: Saints Go Marching To Big D

New Orleans Saints (7-3) at Dallas Cowboys (3-7)

Saints Notes:

— Will this Thanksgiving Day special mark the long-awaited return of Reggie Bush? The Saints RB missed his eighth straight game Sunday even though he worked on a limited basis last week and had hoped to return from a fractured right fibula. The home date vs. Seattle was supposed to be his return — both head coach Sean Payton and Bush himself publicly stated that he was going to suit up — but Bush’s leg didn’t respond well enough in pregame warmups.

— With Bush and fellow RB Pierre Thomas out, rookie RB Chris Ivory has been given the opportunity to start for New Orleans. So far, so good. Ivory scored his first NFL touchdown on a 1-yard dive in the first quarter against the Seahawks and  finished the game with 99 yards on 23 carries.

Cowboys Notes:

— Keep an eye on the breakout star of Dallas’ two-game winning streak, CB Bryan McCann. He’s already scored as many touchdowns the past two weeks as he did in four years in college at SMU. He had a 101-yard interception return against the Giants and a 97-yard punt return against the Lions. He returned two blocked field goals for touchdowns his senior year in college.

— Another big performer for the Cowboys of late is DE Jason Hatcher, who returned from a three-game absence against Detroit and absolutely throttled the Lions. He only recorded one sack, but was a constant source of pressure on QB Shaun Hill and disrupted Detroit’s passing game all afternoon.

Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4) at New York Giants (6-4)

Jaguars Notes:

— Jacksonville is the hottest team in the AFC South and tied with Indianapolis for the division lead. Not bad for a team that was 3-4 three weeks ago with the four losses coming by a total of 99 points. And even after three wins in a row, they are still ranked 20th on offense and 27th on defense.

— Hard what to make of QB David Garrard right now. Coming into last week’s game in Cleveland he was one of just three NFL QBs with a passer rating over 100. Now, he’s ranked sixth in the NFL at 98.5 after a poor showing against the Browns when he had a 65.1 passer rating and threw interceptions and lost a fumble.

Giants Notes:

— Injuries, injuries and more injuries. LT David Diehl has been out for a while and doesn’t look good for a return against Jacksonville. The state of C Shaun O’Hara is up in the air as well — as of Monday, the Giants’ starting center was still in a walking boot, as he awaits the green light from the team’s medical staff to return to work following his lisfranc sprain.

— It’s worse at the wide receiver position. New York is without four of the receivers they began the 2010 season with. Ramses Barden (ankle) and Victor Cruz (hamstring) are both on injured reserve. Pro Bowl receiver Steve Smith is out until at least mid-December with a partial pectoral tear, and this week it was announced that Hakeem Nicks will miss at least three weeks following a procedure to alleviate Compartment Syndrome in his lower leg.