GIANTS 37COWBOYS 34
Who woulda thunk it?
The New York Giants are in first place in the NFC East after they stunned the Dallas Cowboys 37-34 on Sunday night, ending a hideous four game losing streak that seemed destined to spell doom for Tom Coughlin and Big Blue.
The credit for this victory is clearly due quarterback Eli Manning, who was both fantastic and clutch, throwing for 400 yards and two touchdowns, and leading the Giants on a late touchdown drive to grab the victory from the once playoff destined Cowboys.
The game itself was a back-and-forth affair, as both teams traded scores like a heavy weight prize fight. Through three quarters, Big Blue held on to a 22-20 lead when Manning hit Mario Manningham from 47 yards out, giving the Giants the lead.
But the Cowboys wouldn't go away. It seemed that whenever the Giants had an answer for the Cowboys, Romo would have two answers for the Giants. On a 3rd and 10 from their own 20 yard line, Romo heaved up a pass down the middle of the field to a wide open Laurent Robinson who streaked to the Giants six yard line for a 74 yard gain. On the next play, Romo hit Miles Austin for the touchdown to give Dallas a 27-22 lead.
Things went from bad to worse for the Giants. With New York driving into Dallas territory, Manning's pass intended for Danny Ware was tipped up into the air and picked off by Sean Lee. And it didn't take long for Dallas to answer. Once again Romo found a receiver wide open down the sideline in Dez Bryant, who beat out Antrelle Rolle at the 45 and was running solo down the sideline. Romo hit Bryant in stride for the touchdown and a 34-22 lead.
At that moment, it appeared that the game was lost. The Giants had made the costly mistake offensively, and, defensively, New York couldn't stop a nose bleed.
Yet, these are the moments that Eli Manning lives off. Nobody has been playing better on the Giants this season than Manning, and the guy has a knack for bringing this football team back from the dead. Giants fans began to believe when Manning hit Victor Cruz for a 23 yard gain to move the ball to the Dallas 37. Now Big Blue was within striking distance.
Two plays later, Manning connected with Hakeem Nicks for 24 yards to the Dallas eight yard line. Finally, Manning found Jake Ballard for the touchdown to cut the deficit to five points, 34-29.
With 3:14 left in the game, the Giants defense finally made a stand, forcing the Cowboys into a three and out on only five net yards. With more than enough time left in the game, the Giants still had a shot, but they needed a touchdown.
On a the Giants third play from scrimmage at the Cowboys 24 yard line, Manning found a seam in double coverage on Manningham and dropped the pass right into Manningham's lap, but the receiver dropped the sure touchdown.
No harm, no foul. Manning found Ballard for 18 yards right up the middle to the Dallas one yard line, and Big Blue was in business. Brandon Jacobs scored the go-ahead touchdown to give the Giants the lead, and Danny Ware added the two-point conversion to give New York a 37-34 lead with a minute to go in the game.
Romo didn't waste any time in getting the Boys back in position. He connected with Miles Austin twice for big gains of 22 and 23 yards to move the ball to the Giants 29 yard line. With six seconds to go, Dallas lined up for a game-tying field goal. The kick by Dan Bailey was good, but the Giants called a timeout before the snap to ice the kicker.
The Giants were well aware that Bailey missed a game winner last week for Dallas after their own coach, Jason Garrett, mistakenly called a time out in the Cowboys loss against Arizona.
On Bailey's second attempt, the field goal was blocked by Jason Pierre-Paul to preserve an incredible win for the Giants!
The Giants are now in first place in the NFC East; with winnable games against the Redskins, Jets, and Cowboys on the horizon, the Giants control their own destiny.
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