Cowboys Beat New York Giants To Remain Undefeated In NFC East
By Shawn Lealos
The Dallas Cowboys came off their bye week with a lot of questions and the team they had to face was a New York Giants team that they beat in the first week of the NFL season. However, this was a different Giants team. The team Dallas beat earlier in the year lost six straight games and looked like their season was finished. However, this Giants team had won four straight and a win over Dallas would put them back in the hunt for the NFC East crown. At the end of the day, Dallas held on to win 24-21, and in doing so captured an important tie breaker over their NFC East rivals.
Offensive Grade: B+
Big changes were made on the offensive side of the ball this week, as Wade Wilson moved up into the coaches' box with offensive play caller Bill Callahan and Jason Garrett took the responsibility of talking to and relaying the plays to Tony Romo personally. This meant that Garrett could change up the call if he wished, although anything he did will remain a mystery.
Overall, this was a solid offensive performance for Tony Romo, who threw for 250 passing yards and two touchdowns, both to Jason Witten, while also tossing an interception on a play where Dez Bryant hurt his already injured back. Lucky for Dallas, Bryant was able to return and led the team with nine receptions for 102 receiving yards.
The running game was also refreshingly alive against New York, with DeMarco Murray running for 86 yards on 14 carries and Lance Dunbar gaining 20 yards on three carries. However, that is also where part of the problem rested. Dallas only ran the ball 17 times despite leading for much of the game. When Dallas throws the ball on three consecutive plays, they run the risk of giving their opponent's one too many tries, which is why New York was able to come back and tie it up.
However, at the end of the day, Dallas was able to come back on a game winning drive and win the game, thanks in large part to Tony Romo. The offense won the game for Dallas at the end, and Romo deserves a lot of credit.
Defensive Grade: B
The defense would have gotten an A but there was one play in the game that cost them an entire letter grade. With Dallas winning big, and New York fighting for life, two Dallas defenders made the biggest bone headed play of the season. The Cowboys had stopped the Giants in the red zone all game, looking better than they have the entire season, but when the Giants scored their first touchdown of the game, it revitalized them and they came back to tie the game up.
That touchdown was when tight end Brandon Myers caught a pass near the 10-yard-line. However, both Jeff Heath and Bruce Carter just stopped playing when he fell to the ground, and they both walked off, without ever touching him. That meant the play was still live and Myers jumped up and ran in for a touchdown. The rule is to play until you hear a whistle and these professional football players should have known to at least touch the receiver when he went down.
It was inexcusable.
However, Heath gets a small pass because he scored the first touchdown of the game for the Cowboys on a 50 yard fumble return when he forced the ball out of Victor Cruz's hands. It was the only turnover of the game for Dallas, but they made it count.
While the Cowboys gave up 202 rushing yards to New York, they never let a runner into the end zone and stopped the Giants over and over throughout the game, playing very hard. They also limited the Giants leading receiver Victor Cruz to only two receptions for 27 yards and sacked Eli Manning four times, so this was a good performance that shows Dallas might be heading in the right direction.
Special Teams Grade: B
The big stat here is that Dan Bailey hit the game winning field goal as time expired, proving he is still one of the best kickers in the NFL right now. He also hit all three extra points. The special teams returns were a bit low for Dallas after Dwayne Harris left the game injured after returning two kicks for 44 yards. Cole Beasley took over on punt returns, but was largely ineffective.
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Shawn S. Lealos is a freelance writer who graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism. He writes for a variety of national publications and has over 15 years of sports journalism experience. Follow Shawn on Twitter @sslealos. Examiner.com.
