Giants KO Romo, Cowboys to take NFC East lead
ARLINGTON – Beating the Cowboys, especially in Dallas always brings a smile to the face of the Giants.
On a wild night that saw them on the brink of disaster early and late, in between saw an incredibly dominating performance that saw them take out yet another quarterback and with it, taking their season along with it.
The Giants 41-35 shootout win may look close on the scoreboard, but make no mistake of the thorough, embarrassing beating they handed their archrivals at Cowboys stadium.
What was to be a going away win became self-inflicted nail biter as Dallas rallied in the final minutes to score two touchdowns and a two-point conversion, needing Clint Sintim to hold on to the onside kick to preserve the victory, their second straight in the Cowboys new home.
Continued problems with turnovers and special teams threatened to blow the game for the Giants before they could blink.
When they were able to catch their breath and settle in, it was never a contest. The Giants moved the ball at-will on offense and limited the Cowboys to nearly nothing on defense.
Eli Manning threw interceptions on two of his first four passes to begin the game. The first went off the hands of Steve Smith, who saw the high pass go through his hands and intercepted by Terrence Newman, returning it all the way to the Giants 5.
Two plays later, Tony Romo found an open Jason Witten for a four-yard touchdown.
The lead would grow to ten as Manning’s pass went through the hands of Hakeem Nicks and into the arms of Gerald Sensabaugh, returning it to the Giants 18 where they would settle for a field goal after Miles Austin dropped a would-be touchdown pass at the goal line.
For Manning, it was the eighth time an intercepted pass went off the hands of an intended receiver. In fairness, both of the passes were high and both players tried to make a great effort.
The Giants would finally get going on a 79-yard drive, culminating in one of Manning’s two touchdown strikes to Nicks, this one coming from seven yards.
The key play on the drive came when Coughlin challenged an officials ruling of an 11-yard reception by Nicks along the sideline. Replays showed he dragged both feet in bounds with possession.
Brandon Jacobs would then fumble on their next possession, the third turnover in the game’s first 16 minutes. However, one play later, the entire tenor of the game changed when linebacker Michael Boley came clean on a blitz, and with no Cowboy
s lineman picking him up, Boley drove Romo down to the turf and the Dallas quarterback did not get up.
Doctors diagnosed Romo with a fractured left collarbone, sacking him for the game and potentially the season.
Dallas would take a 20-7 lead on a 93-yard punt return by Dez Bryant, running back a 69-yard booming kick by Matt Dodge, outkicking his coverage and with several gunners out of position, Bryant made several moves and was off to daylight.
Manning’s second touchdown pass to Nicks closed the lead to 20-14. His third of the half came on a beautiful touch pass to Smith, hauling in his second score of the season to give the Giants the lead.
Just before the half, Deon Grant was able to strip Jason Witten of the ball before going the ground. Initially, Witten was ruled down, but replays overturned the call, giving the Giants a chance to tack on three more points and go into the half with a 24-20 lead.
The fact they were only leading by four points on the scoreboard paled in comparison to the offensive output of the two teams, with the Giants outgaining the Cowboys 272 to 75.
With Romo out, backup veteran, Jon Kitna came into the game and you could feel the air let out of the stadium and on the sideline. Dallas was already having problems moving the ball on offense, and now things would only get worse. Their offense could not run the ball (41 yards) and with their continuous offensive line issues, few passes were even close to successful.
Keeping their offensive barrage going, the Giants took advantage of good field position and poured it on. Manning threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game on receiver screen to Mario Manningham, who used a great block from guard Chris Snee and used his shifty feet to split two defenders to stroll into the end zone.
Jacobs would follow with an impressive run of his own for a score, taking a run off right tackle 30 yards while keeping his balance to extend the lead to 38-20.
It was a run of 31 straight points for the Giants after trailing 20-7 in the second quarter. The offense appeared unstoppable as they amassed a 300-yard passing game from Manning (306), and 100-yard rushing game from Ahmad Bradshaw (106) and two 100-yard receiving games from Nicks (108) and Smith (101).
The running game, maligned early in the season appears to have come back to life as they run at will on the Cowboys to the tune of 200 yards. It was their first 200-yard output since their 44-7 thrashing over Oakland last season.
ARLINGTON – Beating the Cowboys, especially in Dallas always brings a smile to the face of the Giants.
On a wild night that saw them on the brink of disaster early and late, in between saw an incredibly dominating performance that saw them take out yet another quarterback and with it, taking their season along with it.
The Giants 41-35 shootout win may look close on the scoreboard, but make no mistake of the thorough, embarrassing beating they handed their archrivals at Cowboys stadium.
What was to be a going away win became self-inflicted nail biter as Dallas rallied in the final minutes to score two touchdowns and a two-point conversion, needing Clint Sintim to hold on to the onside kick to preserve the victory, their second straight in the Cowboys new home.
Continued problems with turnovers and special teams threatened to blow the game for the Giants before they could blink.
When they were able to catch their breath and settle in, it was never a contest. The Giants moved the ball at-will on offense and limited the Cowboys to nearly nothing on defense.
Eli Manning threw interceptions on two of his first four passes to begin the game. The first went off the hands of Steve Smith, who saw the high pass go through his hands and intercepted by Terrence Newman, returning it all the way to the Giants 5.
Two plays later, Tony Romo found an open Jason Witten for a four-yard touchdown.
The lead would grow to ten as Manning’s pass went through the hands of Hakeem Nicks and into the arms of Gerald Sensabaugh, returning it to the Giants 18 where they would settle for a field goal after Miles Austin dropped a would-be touchdown pass at the goal line.
For Manning, it was the eighth time an intercepted pass went off the hands of an intended receiver. In fairness, both of the passes were high and both players tried to make a great effort.
The Giants would finally get going on a 79-yard drive, culminating in one of Manning’s two touchdown strikes to Nicks, this one coming from seven yards.
The key play on the drive came when Coughlin challenged an officials ruling of an 11-yard reception by Nicks along the sideline. Replays showed he dragged both feet in bounds with possession.
Brandon Jacobs would then fumble on their next possession, the third turnover in the game’s first 16 minutes. However, one play later, the entire tenor of the game changed when linebacker Michael Boley came clean on a blitz, and with no Cowboy
s lineman picking him up, Boley drove Romo down to the turf and the Dallas quarterback did not get up. Doctors diagnosed Romo with a fractured left collarbone, sacking him for the game and potentially the season.
Dallas would take a 20-7 lead on a 93-yard punt return by Dez Bryant, running back a 69-yard booming kick by Matt Dodge, outkicking his coverage and with several gunners out of position, Bryant made several moves and was off to daylight.
Manning’s second touchdown pass to Nicks closed the lead to 20-14. His third of the half came on a beautiful touch pass to Smith, hauling in his second score of the season to give the Giants the lead.
Just before the half, Deon Grant was able to strip Jason Witten of the ball before going the ground. Initially, Witten was ruled down, but replays overturned the call, giving the Giants a chance to tack on three more points and go into the half with a 24-20 lead.
The fact they were only leading by four points on the scoreboard paled in comparison to the offensive output of the two teams, with the Giants outgaining the Cowboys 272 to 75.
With Romo out, backup veteran, Jon Kitna came into the game and you could feel the air let out of the stadium and on the sideline. Dallas was already having problems moving the ball on offense, and now things would only get worse. Their offense could not run the ball (41 yards) and with their continuous offensive line issues, few passes were even close to successful.
Keeping their offensive barrage going, the Giants took advantage of good field position and poured it on. Manning threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game on receiver screen to Mario Manningham, who used a great block from guard Chris Snee and used his shifty feet to split two defenders to stroll into the end zone.
Jacobs would follow with an impressive run of his own for a score, taking a run off right tackle 30 yards while keeping his balance to extend the lead to 38-20.
It was a run of 31 straight points for the Giants after trailing 20-7 in the second quarter. The offense appeared unstoppable as they amassed a 300-yard passing game from Manning (306), and 100-yard rushing game from Ahmad Bradshaw (106) and two 100-yard receiving games from Nicks (108) and Smith (101).
The running game, maligned early in the season appears to have come back to life as they run at will on the Cowboys to the tune of 200 yards. It was their first 200-yard output since their 44-7 thrashing over Oakland last season.
Manning is now 19-4 in the month of October.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when things got crazy. Dallas passed on a field goal attempt down 18 to go for from the Giants 6 with 8:19 left and did not convert.
Bradshaw would cough up the ball at the Cowboys 42, but then a sack and forced fumble by Barry Cofield gave the ball back to the Giants.
Manning would then make an ill-advised pass on third-and-five at the Cowboys 47, where rather than taking a sack, he threw off his back foot and Keith Brooking intercepted the pass, taking it to the Giants 15 where Kitna would find Bryant for the 15-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion made it 38-28.
After a failed onside kick eventually led to a field goal by Lawrence Tynes rather than going for it on fourth down, the Cowboys would drive down the field for another touchdown to trim the margin to six before Sintim finally held on to another onside kick to seal the victory.
The Giants are now 5-2 going into their bye week and the only question that remains now is whether they are the best team in the NFC.
After Monday night, that answer may be a resounding “Yes”.
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