Giants TKO Tony Romo, and hold on against Cowboys

GIANTS 41

COWBOYS 35

It was a sloppy start, and a sloppy finish, but in between the Giants blew past the Dallas Cowboys, building a 38-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter, en route to a 41-35 victory.

The game was not a classic, and is now overshadowed by Tony Romo's collar bone injury, which will cause him to miss 6-8 weeks, or basically the entire season, after taking Michael Boley drove the quarterback into the ground.

On the Giants side, the first half was marred by miscues. In the first quarter, Eli Manning threw two interceptions on the Giants first two drives, which led to a Romo touchdown pass to Jason Witten and a David Buehler field goal to give the Boys a 10-0 lead.

Then in the second quarter, Brandon Jacobs fumbled, giving the ball back to Dallas. On the next play of the game, Romo was injured, and replaced by Jon Kitna. After the drive stalled for Dallas, the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal and a 13-7 lead.

After another Giants three and out, Dez Bryant returned an amazing 93 yard punt return for a touchdown to give Dallas a 20-7 lead.

Suddenly things changed. Manning hit Steve Smith for a 32 yard gain to move the ball into Dallas territory. Three plays later, Manning hit Hakeem Nicks from eight yards out for a touchdown.

After an ineffective drive by Dallas, Manning was working his magic again. He hit Smith for a 14 yard touchdown to give Big Blue a 21-20 lead. The Giants tacked on three more just before the half to take a stunning 24-20 lead.

On the Giants first drive of the third quarter, Manning hit Mario Manningham for a 25 yard touchdown to extend the lead to 11.

After another Dallas three and out, Brandon Jacobs chugged down field for a 30 yard score to make it 38-20.

Then, the Giants got really lazy. Their defense stopped tackling, and the play calling from Tom Coughlin and his coaches were beyond questionable. Late in the fourth quarter, with the Giants driving and running the clock out, Coughlin decided to have Manning throw on third and five, instead of running it for the first down. Result -- interception.

Keith Brooking picked off the Manning pass and rumbled 41 yards to the Giants 15. Kitna hit Dez Bryant in the flat, before he cut up-field for the score. The Cowboys converted the two point conversion to get back in the game.

Finally, inside two minutes, the Giants were in position to end the game. All they had to do was convert a fourth and one at the Cowboys five. Instead the Giants kicked a field goal to keep the game interesting.

Result -- Cowboys scored another touchdown to cut the Giants lead to six.

Luckily for Big Blue, the Cowboys couldn't recover an onside kick, or this game could have turned from a blowout victory to a historic defeat.

Yet, the Giants are 5-2, the best record in the NFC. They are 4-0 in conference and 1-0 in the NFC East. The Giants will have a bye week.