Sunday, September 20, 2009

Eli Manning Lights It Up As Giants Comeback To Beat Dallas

GIANTS 33
COWBOYS 31


Now that's a great way to open up a new stadium.

With the opening of the new Cowboys Stadium as the backdrop for Sunday night's NFC East clash, the Giants came right out and smacked the Boys in the mouth, then silenced an NFL record of over 100,000 people in attendance by the score of 33-31.

Eli Manning lit up the Cowboy's defense, completing 25 of 38 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns. The Giants offensive line, which gave up eight sacks to Dallas late last season, didn't allow a single Cowboy to touch Manning since the Super Bowl MVP appeared to enjoy ample time to make big throws for Big Blue all night long.

Manning had to be great tonight because this game was all about points. With the Cowboys up 7-3, the Giants D stepped up and made a big play. Bruce Johnson stepped in front of a Tony Romo pass, picked it off and dashed into the end zone for a 10-7 lead.

But that was not quite enough to hold down the Cowboys, for Dallas drove the ball 73 yards in 4:30 minutes to re-take the lead as Romo connected with tight end Jason Witten to give the Cowboys a 14-13 lead.

However, Manning had some magic remaing in his arm, too. After a Kenny Phillip interception that put the ball at the Cowboys 28 yard line, Manning connected with Mario Manningham from 22 yards out to give the Giants a sudden 20-14 halftime lead, shocking the Dallas faithful.

In the fourth quarter, things got really interesting. Phillips once again picked off Romo, for a 22 yard return to the Giants 27 yard line. From there Manning hit a wide open Manningham for a 49 yard gain to the Cowboys 24 yard line. Three plays later, Manning drilled a bullet to Steve Smith for a 22 yard touchdown, giving the Giants a 27-24 lead.

The Cowboys returned the favor. Later in the quarter, with the Giants up 30-24, Marion Barber's 35 yard run set up the Cowboys inside the Giants ten yard line. From there, Felix Jones took it in from seven yards out to give the Cowboys a 31-30 lead.

Now with less then two minutes left in the game, Manning had to engineer another 4th quarter comeback, and the quarterback didn't disappoint. Manning hit Derek Hagan for 12 yards, then Smith for 11 more to move to the Giants own 40. Manning then hit Kevin Boss for a 13 yard gain to get into Dallas territory. With :39 seconds left, Manning hit Manningham for eight more yards to the Cowboys 33. Next, Manning connected with Smith for a 12 yard gain to the Dallas 21 with just :13 seconds left to play.

The Giants sent out Lawrence Tynes for the game winning field goal. He made the kick for the win, but Dallas called a time out as the ball was being snapped, canceling the play and forcing Tynes to kick again. On the second try, Tynes blasted the ball right through the uprights to give the Giants a thrilling 33-31 victory. Box Score.

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