In what is clearly the biggest victory over the Dallas Cowboys in team history, the New York Football Giants vanquished the top seeded team in the NFC 21-17 earlier today in Irving, Texas. The Giants now advance to play the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field next Sunday at 6:30PM EST.
Before this post-season began, the Giants had only won three road playoff games in their entire history. With victories over the Buccaneers and Cowboys, the Giants have nearly doubled that total in a week.
The Giants stunned the football world by holding the high-powered Dallas offense to two touchdowns and a field goal despite playing without injured cornerbacks Sam Madison and Kevin Dockery. Indeed, Dallas managed only three points in the second half of the game. Meanwhile, although the Giants did not put up big numbers on offense, the team was efficient and did not turn the ball over.
How sweet was the win? Earlier in the week, Dallas WR Patrick Crayton had talked trash about the Giants. Before the game, Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones had given each of his players two tickets to the NFC Championship Game for family and friends, assuming Dallas would win. By the end of the game, Jones was steaming on the sidelines and Cowboys’ WR Terrell Owens, who was shut out in the second half of the game, was breaking down in tears during his post-game press conference.
Neither team had many possessions in the game. The Giants only had the ball four times in each half while Dallas had the ball three times in the first half and five times in the second half.
The Giants received the ball to start the game and scored a touchdown on their opening drive by moving 77 yards in six plays. QB Eli Manning found WR Amani Toomer for a short gain on a curl route, but Toomer broke away from defenders and was off to the races for a 52-yard score.
The Cowboys picked up one first down due to a penalty on their first possession, but were then forced to punt. The Giants started their second drive pinned back at their own 10-yard line. New York was able to move the ball 46 yards, but the offense stalled at the Dallas 44-yard line and the Giants punted.
P Jeff Feagles’ kick was downed at the 4-yard line. Nevertheless, the Cowboys drove the length of the field in nine plays to tie the game 7-7 as QB Tony Romo found Owens for a 5-yard score. HB Marion Barber of the Cowboys was a big factor on this possession as he broke off runs of 36 and 20 yards. Barber finished the game with 129 yards on 27 carries.
The Giants went three-and-out on their third possession. Dallas then began an unbelievable 20-play marathon of a march that culminated with a 1-yard touchdown run by Barber. Not only did the Cowboys move the ball 90 yards, but they took almost 10 and a half minutes off of the clock. During the drive, CB Corey Webster dropped what should have been a sure interception.
When New York got the ball back for their fourth and final drive of the first half, there was less than a minute on the clock. Manning hit WR Steve Smith for 22 yards. He then found Smith again for 11 yards and another 15 yards was tacked on due to a face mask penalty. On 3rd-and-10, Manning threw a perfect pass to TE Kevin Boss for a 19-yard gain. On the very next snap, Manning found Toomer for the 4-yard touchdown.
It had taken Dallas 10:28 to take the lead, but New York erased that deficit in 46 seconds.
The Cowboys received the opening kickoff of the second half. Once again, Dallas put together a long drive, moving the football 62 yards in 14 plays and taking another eight minutes off of the clock. By game’s end Dallas had an overwhelming 36:30 to 23:30 advantage in time of possession. However, this drive was halted inside the red zone. Dallas kicked a 34-yard field goal. This would be the Cowboys’ last points of the entire game. Dallas 17-Giants 14.
The Giants managed one first down on their first possession of the second half and punted. Dallas then went three-and-out and also kicked the ball away. CB R.W. McQuarters returned that punt 25 yards to the Cowboys’ 37-yard line. Six plays later, the Giants were up for good 21-17 as Brandon Jacobs scored from one yard out. On this drive, Manning hit Toomer for 13 yards and made a critical 11-yard throw to Smith on 3rd-and-6.
Manning finished the game 12-of-18 for 163 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
The Cowboys picked up two first downs on their next possession, but a sack by LB Reggie Torbor helped to stall that drive and force a punt. Unfortunately, New York could not pick up the first down on 3rd-and-1 and went three-and-out. Then began a bizarre, penalty-ridden possession by the Cowboys where both teams were flagged twice each. The net effect was that on nine snaps, there were four penalties and Dallas only gained five yards before punting.
The Giants went three-and-out yet again as Manning was sacked on third down. This gave Dallas the football with under two minutes to play, starting at the Giants’ 48-yard line. Romo made a heck of a play by scrambling away from pressure on 3rd-and-2 and tossing the ball to TE Jason Witten for 18 yards down to the Giants’ 22-yard line with 31 seconds to play. After a 5-yard false start penalty on Dallas and a short 4-yard completion to Witten, Romo’s next two passes fell incomplete. Romo’s last desperation pass on 4th-and-11 was intercepted in the end zone by McQuarters to seal the victory.
Unbelievably, the Giants had won a game where they had only picked up four first downs and 57 net yards of offense in the entire second half.
Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s Post-Game Press Conference: The video of Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s post-game press conference is available at Giants.com.
Video of Post-Game Media Sessions: The video of the post-game media sessions with the following players is available at Giants.com:
Post-Game Notes: Inactive for the Giants were CB Sam Madison (abdomen), CB Kevin Dockery (hip flexor), WR Sinorice Moss, HB Danny Ware, TE Jerome Collins, OT Adam Koets, DT Manny Wright, and QB Jared Lorenzen.
