Giants defeat Cowboys 21-17
The road warriors are headed to the frozen tundra to play for a spot in Super Bowl XLII.
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com
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January 13, 2008
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The road warriors are headed to the frozen tundra to play for a spot in Super Bowl XLII.
The Giants, playing with an injury-ravaged defensive backfield and against the NFC’s No. 1 seed and a raucous crowd, today defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17, in a Divisional Playoff game in Texas Stadium. It was the ninth consecutive road victory for the Giants, an NFL single-season record. They avenged their only road defeat of the season, here on Sept. 9, not to mention the two losses they suffered to the Cowboys in the regular season.
The Giants will have a chance to gain another measure of revenge next Sunday, with considerably higher stakes on the line. The 12-6 Giants will travel to Green Bay to face the Packers in the NFC Championship Game, the Giants’ first since the 2000 season. The Packers defeated the Giants on Sept. 23, 35-13.
Eli Manning threw touchdown passes of 52 and four yards to Amani Toomer and a one-yard run by Brandon Jacobs. The Cowboys scored on Terrell Owens’ five-yard touchdown catch, Marion Barber’s one-yard run and Nick Folk’s 34-yard field goal.
The Giants played with a severely depleted secondary. Sam Madison (stomach) and Kevin Dockery (hip flexor) were inactive. A third cornerback, Aaron Ross, left the game for good in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. That left Corey Webster, R.W. McQauarters and Geoffrey Pope – who spent the entire regular season on the practice squad before joining on the active roster on Dec. 31 – as the only healthy corners. All played extensively in the second half.
Jacobs’ short touchdown run gave the Giants a 21-17 lead with 13:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. It was Jacobs’ third touchdown of the postseason.
The Giants’ six-play, 37-yard drive was set up by McQuarters’ 25-yard punt return. The series began with Manning’s 13-yard pass to Toomer. After a pass to Kevin Boss fell incomplete in the end zone, a four-yard throw to Steve Smith set up a third-and-six as the third quarter ended.
When the teams switched sides, Manning fired an 11-yard pass to Smith, moving the ball to the Dallas nine. Ahmad Bradshaw ran eight yards through the right side before Jacobs bulled his way through the line for the touchdown.
Dallas took a 17-14 lead on Folk’s 34-yard field goal with 6:53 remaining in the third quarter. As they had in the first half, the Cowboys held the ball for a big chunk of time, taking the second half kickoff and taking 8:07 off the clock while moving 62 yards in 13 plays.
The Cowboys converted their first two third downs on the series, extending their streak to eight in a row. The longest play on the drive was a 19-yard Tony Romo pass up the right sideline to Terry Glenn that moved the ball to the Giants’ 27-yard line. Two plays later, Romo’s 11-yard scramble brought the ball to the 14. Barber picked up three yards. After an incompletion and a false start penalty, Dallas faced a third-and-12. The Cowboys finally failed on a third down try when Romo’s pass sailed behind Owens. Folk, the rookie Pro Bowler, then came on to kick the field goal.
The score was tied at halftime, 14-14, despite Dallas holding the ball for 10:39 in the second quarter.
Manning’s four-yard touchdown pass to Toomer knotted the score with just seven seconds remaining in the second quarter. The score capped an impressive seven-play, 76-yard drive that took only 46 seconds to complete after a Cowboys touchdown. Working out of a shotgun on first-and-goal, Manning scanned the field before firing a strike into the end zone for Toomer. It was the veteran receiver’s second touchdown of the game, the third of this postseason and the seventh of his playoff career. No other player in Giants history has more than three postseason touchdowns.
Manning moved the Giants quickly down the field after Dallas had taken the lead. The series began on the Giants’ 29-yard line. After an opening incompletion, Manning connected with rookie Smith for a 22-yard gain. He came right back to Smith for 11 more yards and the Giants advanced an additional 15 yards thanks to Jacques Reeves’ facemask penalty, which put the ball at the Cowboys’ 23-yard line. On third-and-10, threw to the right sideline for another rookie, Boss, who was knocked out of bounds at the four. On the next snap, Manning threw to Toomer for the touchdown.
Barber’s one-yard touchdown plunge had given the Cowboys a 14-7 lead with only 53 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Dallas held the ball for an interminable 10:28 while driving 90 yards on 20 plays. The Cowboys converted six third downs on the series, including the touchdown. But the Giants would have escaped danger had Webster not dropped an interception with 4:12 remaining.
The drive started with three Barber runs for 11 of his 101 first-half yards. The next time Dallas faced a third down, Barber ran for five more. Two plays later, Tony Romo kept the drive alive with an 11-yard pass to Glenn on third-and-seven. It was Glenn’s first catch of the season; he missed virtually the entire regular season while rehabbing a knee injury. Moments later, the Cowboys faced another third-and-seven. This time, Romo found Terrell Owens for an 11-yard gain and another first down.
On the next snap, Webster missed an opportunity to end the drive – and perhaps pick up substantial yardage himself – when he was unable to hold onto Romo’s pass. Two plays later, on third-and-10, Romo threw to Owens for a 20-yard gain to the Giants’ 17. Julius Jones’ four-yard run and Jason Witten’s 11-yard reception put the ball at the two. Barber picked up a yard on second down and crossed the goal line on third down, a score that was upheld after a review by replay official Lloyd McPeters.
Owens’ touchdown on the first play of the second quarter tied the score at 7-7. On second-and-goal from the five, Romo threw a fade pass to the right over Webster that Owens caught just before stepping out of bounds. Tom Coughlin challenged the ruling, claiming Owens did not get both feet down inbounds. But after review, referee Peter Morelli upheld the call on the field.
The score capped a nine-play, 96-yard drive that featured 72 rushing yards by Barber, who started for the first time this season in place of Julius Jones. Barber’s longest run in the series was a 36-yarder up the middle that put Dallas on the Giants’ 44-yard line. After Romo’s 13-yard pass to Patrick Crayton, Barber ran for 11 more yards. Tackle Marc Columbo was penalizes five yards for a false start, but Barber got back the yardage and more with a 20-yard scamper around left end. Barber lost a yard on the final play of the first quarter.
When play resumed, Romo threw to Owens for the touchdown.
The Giants led at the end of the first quarter, 7-0, thanks to Toomer’s 52-yard touchdown reception, just 3:10 into the game. It was the longest postseason catch of Toomer’s career.
On first down from the Giants’ 48-yard line, Toomer caught Manning’s pass at the Cowboys’ 39. He spun away from tackle attempts by linebacker Greg Ellis and cornerback Anthony Henry, then ran up the left sideline for the touchdown. It was the seventh time this season the Giants scored a first-possession touchdown – including all three games against Dallas.
The drive began with two Brandon Jacobs runs for 15 yards. Two plays later, Jacobs ran for five more. An offside penalty left the Giants a few inches shy of a first down, so Manning picked it up with a quarterback sneak. On the next play, he and Toomer hooked up for the touchdown.
