The following blog was being updated from the Press Box at Giants Stadium during the Giants/Cowboys game on Sunday, December 6.
› Fourth Quarter: The Giants pull out the huge divisional win over the Cowboys, 31-17. And how big was Domenik Hixon’s 79-yard punt return for a touchdown? That was the final nail in the Cowboys’ coffin this evening. It put the Giants up by 14 with just over five minutes to go.
Earlier in the quarter, Folk missed a 42-yard field goal with a kick that ended up short. His counterpart on the other side of the field, Lawrence Tynes, knocked his first one through a few minutes later from the Dallas 23.
› Third Quarter: Manning got picked off in the end zone by Dallas cornerback Mike Jenkins, who stepping in front of Mario Manningham. Later on, Manning would hit Brandon Jacobs for a 74-yard touchdown pass. It was Jacobs’ second TD of the afternoon after running one in earlier. Almost all of this score has to be credited to Jacobs, who caught the ball just five yards from Manning and ran it the rest of the way.
Dallas also got a touchdown this quarter on another Romo-to-Williams connection. The Giants are now up 21-17.
On the injury front, the Giants lost gaurd Chris Snee this quarter with a knee injury. His return is doubtful.
› Second Quarter: The Cowboys took a 3-0 lead with 8:53 left in the second quarter on a Nick Folk field goal. The Cowboys were in the redzone for quite some time, but on third down, Romo was hit by the Giants’ Clint Sintim, knocking them back nine yards on third down and essentially killing their chance for a touchdown. A drive later, the Cowboys had 3-and-2 at the 6 and handed off to Tashard Choice, who went down to the ground and the ball came loose. The refs ruled the Giants recovered the ball on their own 1 yard line, but after a review, Choice was ruled down. That gave the Cowboys the ball back on the 4 and a fresh set of downs. A play later, Romo hit Williams for the score.
New York came right back, driving 74 yards that was capped off with a Manning-to-Nicks touchdown. That left the Giants down three. On Dallas’ next drive, Romo tossed a short pass to Marion Barber, who fumbled, giving it back to the Giants. New York took that opportunity and ran with it — literally — as Jacobs went one yard up the middle for the touchdown. The Giants now have the 14-10 lead.
› First Quarter: It looks like the Giants are going with a heavy dose of Jacobs early on. Establishing the rushing game against the Cowboys would be a great start. Jacobs has 19 yards on six carries, but also has a fumble. The rest of the game has been a hard fought defensive battle for each team. Romo had his club close to field goal range on their first drive of the game, but a dropped pass on third down led to a punt. The Dallas quarterback slapped his hands after the misplay and was clearly upset. The score is still at 0-0.
› Pre-Game: I was just handed the inactives for today’s game and the Giants are showing a revised defensive unit. Chris Canty will start in place of Fred Robbins at defensive tackle, Mathias Kiwanuka moves over to defensive end for Osi Umenyiora, Jonathan Goff is in at middle linebacker for Chase Blackburn and C.C. Brown will start at strong safety over Michael Johnson. Johnson is the only one who is injured. There are no major inactives for the Cowboys.
› Preview: The Giants are not getting an easy game to follow-up their Thanksgiving Day loss to the Denver Broncos. The Dallas Cowboys come to town, and this game could determine the Giants fate for the rest of the season.
Last Thursday, the Giants had lots of trouble on defense, specifically on the outside. That could mean trouble as Dallas bodes one of the best deep threats in the league, or so it seems this season, in Miles Austin. With Roy Williams on the other side, both Aaron Ross and Corey Webster will have their hands full. So far, the Giants are fourth in the NFL (182.6) in passing yards per game so I’m sure they hope their last game was a fluke.
New York could also give Dallas trouble on the outside as its young receiving corps, including Steve Smith and Mario Manningham, have shown they have the ability to create first downs and more. The Dallas secondary ranks in the bottom half of the league’s teams.
Taking the snaps, Dallas’ Tony Romo is having a slightly better statistical season than Eli Manning. Romo has one less touchdown (17 to 18), but has a better passing percentage (93.9 to 89.2) and yards (2,933 to 2,684). Manning has also thrown 10 interceptions this year, three more than Romo.
Giants running back Brandon Jacobs should be putting together a much better season than he has been. Instead, he’s the 19th best back in the NFL with 683 yards and only three touchdowns. For Dallas, Marion Barber isn’t doing much more than that, having run for just 233 yards and four touchdowns.
The Giants beat Dallas, in Texas, earlier this season. That was a different Giants team, though. The one on the field today is filled with vulnerabilities and you don’t know which Manning you’ll see: the one who throws for 300 yards and three touchdowns or the one who tosses for 150 yards and two picks.
I expect this game to come down to offense. I know the Giants have a better defense, but if Romo can pick apart the outside than the game will rest square on the shoulders — and maybe ailing foot — off Manning. If the Giants lose today, they have the Eagles coming up, and back-to-back losses within the division would almost surely mean the playoffs are out of the question.
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