ARLINGTON, Texas – It only took the Dallas Cowboys a little more than five minutes to bring the New York Giants' season back from the dead. No team in the league has mastered the fourth-quarter collapse quite like the Cowboys, who managed to blow another double-digit lead in a 37-34 loss to the Giants.
These teams may have identical records (7-6), but the Giants now have the upper-hand in the NFC East. And after becoming the laughingstock of the league last week for his poor game management in a loss to the Cardinals, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett was undermined by his defense in Sunday night's loss. At this rate, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan won't have to worry about any head-coaching opportunities.
His unit helped put the Cowboys in position to win the game when inside linebacker Sean Lee snagged a tipped ball for an interception and returned it to the Giants' 49-yard line. Tony Romo connected with Dez Bryant on a 50-yard touchdown pass two plays later to give the Cowboys a 34-22 lead with 5:41 left in the fourth quarter. A crowd of 95,952 at Cowboys Stadium erupted as Bryant performed a salsa dance in the end zone.
But shame on anyone who had faith Ryan's defense would protect the lead. Giants quarterback Eli Manning took his team 80 yards for a touchdown in two minutes, 24 seconds. This was a Giants offensive line featuring backups at left guard and center, but the Cowboys didn't register a sack in the game. Washed-up running back Brandon Jacobs turned back the clock to gash the Cowboys in the first half, but the Giants' final two drives were vintage Manning. The Cowboys' secondary was helpless as he rolled out and fired darts to Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks.
Veteran cornerback Terence Newman would later say the secondary had "communication issues" that may have contributed to the Giants' success. But it appeared that a hot quarterback simply picked them apart in the final minutes. The Cowboys seem to have no sense of the moment. It's strange to see a team with a 12-point lead play on its heels, but that's exactly what happened.
Last Sunday, the defense's failure in the second half was overshadowed by Garrett's clueless approach in the final seconds. But there was nowhere to hide Sunday as Manning did what he always seems to do in this building. He got away with an awful throw early in the game that should've been a touchdown for Newman, but he was brilliant in the final five minutes.
"[Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride] was sitting right there," said Manning. “He said, 'Hey, we need two scores. Go do it.' That's what we needed. We needed two scores and that was the mindset.”
The Cowboys offense also had a chance to finish off the Giants when Romo had Miles Austin wide open behind cornerback Aaron Ross. It appeared that Romo barely overthrew Austin, but the quarterback offered a different explanation.
"Miles said the ball got lost in the light," said Romo. "Obviously you don't want those types of things to happen. Miles played a great game tonight. He did a good job for us."
After a poor punt from the normally lethal Mat McBriar, the Giants had the ball at their 42-yard line with just over two minutes remaining and one timeout. Anyone who's watched Ryan's defense this season knows this was an awful spot for the Cowboys. Manning tossed a ball across the middle to tight end Jake Ballard, who left outside linebacker Anthony Spencer in his wake for a 21-yard gain.
The Giants even had time for Mario Manningham to drop a perfectly thrown ball in the end zone. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised after watching the Cowboys blow double-digit leads to the Jets and Lions earlier in the season. This is a team that can't stand prosperity. And Garrett certainly isn't coming up with any answers. For all his talk of situational football, this is one of the most undisciplined teams in the league when the game's on the line. The Cowboys now have a staggering 35 penalties in the fourth quarter.
"I think at different times we've done a really good job handling the fourth quarter situations and other times we haven't," said Garrett. "Sometimes guys make penalties in certain situations because they're trying to do too much."
Perhaps it's a sign of progress that Garrett allowed an opposing coach to ice his kicker at the end of the game. Tom Coughlin called timeout moments before Dan Bailey's 47-yard attempt split the uprights. On the attempt that counted, Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, a man blessed with freakishly long arms, broke through the middle of the line and blocked the kick.
"The first one, the guard blocked me," said Pierre-Paul. "He's a strong cat, you know. So the second one, I was like, man I have to push through the center to at least try to get the blocked kick."
In two weeks, the Cowboys have forfeited a two-game lead in the division. They'll have another shot at the Giants in the Meadowlands in the final game of the season, but that's not much solace at this point.
For the first time in several weeks, the Cowboys faced a bona fide NFL quarterback. And he made them pay dearly.
It feels like a once-promising season is slipping away, which is an all-too-familiar holiday tradition to Cowboys fans.
These teams may have identical records (7-6), but the Giants now have the upper-hand in the NFC East. And after becoming the laughingstock of the league last week for his poor game management in a loss to the Cardinals, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett was undermined by his defense in Sunday night's loss. At this rate, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan won't have to worry about any head-coaching opportunities.
His unit helped put the Cowboys in position to win the game when inside linebacker Sean Lee snagged a tipped ball for an interception and returned it to the Giants' 49-yard line. Tony Romo connected with Dez Bryant on a 50-yard touchdown pass two plays later to give the Cowboys a 34-22 lead with 5:41 left in the fourth quarter. A crowd of 95,952 at Cowboys Stadium erupted as Bryant performed a salsa dance in the end zone.
But shame on anyone who had faith Ryan's defense would protect the lead. Giants quarterback Eli Manning took his team 80 yards for a touchdown in two minutes, 24 seconds. This was a Giants offensive line featuring backups at left guard and center, but the Cowboys didn't register a sack in the game. Washed-up running back Brandon Jacobs turned back the clock to gash the Cowboys in the first half, but the Giants' final two drives were vintage Manning. The Cowboys' secondary was helpless as he rolled out and fired darts to Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks.
Veteran cornerback Terence Newman would later say the secondary had "communication issues" that may have contributed to the Giants' success. But it appeared that a hot quarterback simply picked them apart in the final minutes. The Cowboys seem to have no sense of the moment. It's strange to see a team with a 12-point lead play on its heels, but that's exactly what happened.
Last Sunday, the defense's failure in the second half was overshadowed by Garrett's clueless approach in the final seconds. But there was nowhere to hide Sunday as Manning did what he always seems to do in this building. He got away with an awful throw early in the game that should've been a touchdown for Newman, but he was brilliant in the final five minutes.
"[Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride] was sitting right there," said Manning. “He said, 'Hey, we need two scores. Go do it.' That's what we needed. We needed two scores and that was the mindset.”
The Cowboys offense also had a chance to finish off the Giants when Romo had Miles Austin wide open behind cornerback Aaron Ross. It appeared that Romo barely overthrew Austin, but the quarterback offered a different explanation.
"Miles said the ball got lost in the light," said Romo. "Obviously you don't want those types of things to happen. Miles played a great game tonight. He did a good job for us."
After a poor punt from the normally lethal Mat McBriar, the Giants had the ball at their 42-yard line with just over two minutes remaining and one timeout. Anyone who's watched Ryan's defense this season knows this was an awful spot for the Cowboys. Manning tossed a ball across the middle to tight end Jake Ballard, who left outside linebacker Anthony Spencer in his wake for a 21-yard gain.
The Giants even had time for Mario Manningham to drop a perfectly thrown ball in the end zone. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised after watching the Cowboys blow double-digit leads to the Jets and Lions earlier in the season. This is a team that can't stand prosperity. And Garrett certainly isn't coming up with any answers. For all his talk of situational football, this is one of the most undisciplined teams in the league when the game's on the line. The Cowboys now have a staggering 35 penalties in the fourth quarter.
"I think at different times we've done a really good job handling the fourth quarter situations and other times we haven't," said Garrett. "Sometimes guys make penalties in certain situations because they're trying to do too much."
Perhaps it's a sign of progress that Garrett allowed an opposing coach to ice his kicker at the end of the game. Tom Coughlin called timeout moments before Dan Bailey's 47-yard attempt split the uprights. On the attempt that counted, Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, a man blessed with freakishly long arms, broke through the middle of the line and blocked the kick.
"The first one, the guard blocked me," said Pierre-Paul. "He's a strong cat, you know. So the second one, I was like, man I have to push through the center to at least try to get the blocked kick."
In two weeks, the Cowboys have forfeited a two-game lead in the division. They'll have another shot at the Giants in the Meadowlands in the final game of the season, but that's not much solace at this point.
For the first time in several weeks, the Cowboys faced a bona fide NFL quarterback. And he made them pay dearly.
It feels like a once-promising season is slipping away, which is an all-too-familiar holiday tradition to Cowboys fans.