[You might note that I used the red skin in honor of the Giants' uniforms tonight. Just being a smart ass]
We saw yet another game where the Cowboys started shaky but continually improved on both sides of the ball. And make no mistake– this was a huge win for Dallas. The Cowboys now stand with an 8-1 record and effectively have a three-game lead over the Giants with seven games to go. Washington’s loss to Philadelphia today also helped, since Washington slips to 5-4 heading into next Sunday’s game vs. Dallas.
As for the title of this post, the Cowboys were called for 10 penalties for 84 yards. If you read my game blog, you’d know how I felt about Kevin Burnett’s penalty at the end of the first half. Bradie James also had a pretty bad penalty on third down, and Keith Davis was called for a personal foul on the opening kickoff of the second half. Nevertheless, the Giants’ penalties in the second half made up for the Dallas mistakes earlier.
Here is the story of the game:
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Once they stopped beating themselves with penalties, the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants and all but assured themselves of an NFC East title.
Tony Romo hit Terrell Owens on two of his four touchdown passes, and Dallas opened a three-game lead in the division by ending the Giants’ six-game winning streak with a 31-20 victory on Sunday.
Romo and Owens broke open the divisional showdown in the second half by combining on scoring passes of 25 and 50 yards to help Dallas (8-1) match its best start since 1995, the last time it won the Super Bowl.
Romo, who was 20 of 28 for 247 yards, also threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tony Curtis and a 20-yarder to Patrick Crayton in helping the Cowboys sweep the season-series with the Giants (6-3). Nick Folk added a 44-yard field goal.
Eli Manning threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Shockey, who tied his career high with 12 catches for 129 yards. Reuben Droughns scored on a 1-yard run, and Lawrence Tynes kicked field goals of 40 and 26 yards.
The second field goal came after New York had a game-tying touchdown run early in the fourth quarter by Brandon Jacobs nullified by a questionable holding penalty against guard Chris Snee.
Until that point, the Cowboys were the ones hurting themselves with undisciplined errors. Four penalties in the first half gave New York 10 points and had Dallas heading to the locker room tied at 17-17.
Romo, Owens and the Cowboys defense took care of things in the second half.
With some help from Michael Eisen of Giants.com, here are some notes from Sunday’s game:
* Dallas swept the season series for the first time since 2003 and leads the all-time regular season series, 54-35-2.
* The Cowboys scored 76 points in the two games (including 45 on opening night in Dallas), the most they’ve ever scored in a two-game season series with the Giants. They scored 69 points against the Giants in both 1965 and 1966.
* Ken Hamlin had his second interception in two games when he picked off Eli Manning in the first quarter. His four interceptions this season matches his career high, set in 2004 while he was with Seattle.
* Tony Curtis now has three career receptions for 18 yards and 3 TDs.
* Patrick Crayton had a big first half, catching 5 passes for 66 yards and a TD. He was shut out against the Eagles last week.
* Sam Hurd caught his first pass since week 5 vs. Buffalo.
* Jason Witten had his worst game of the season, with 2 receptions for 12 yards. He only caught two passes vs. Miami in week 2, but gained 27 yards. This is Witten’s worse game statistically since week 16 in 2005 in a game vs. Carolina (1 rec. for 9 yards).
* Nick Folk improved his season field goal percentage to 88.2% (15 of 17). This would be the best percentage by a Dallas kicker since 1997, when Richie Cunningham hit 34 of 37 field goals.
* Five different Cowboys recorded sacks, including Greg Ellis, Anthony Spencer, Tank Johnson, DeMarcus Ware, and Chris Canty. Coming into Sunday’s game, Dallas ranked 13th in the league with 21 sacks.
* This is the eighth time in franchise history that Dallas has started a season at 8-1. The Cowboys made the playoffs in each of those seasons and won the Super Bowl after three of those seasons. Here they are:
1969: Finished 11-2-1 but lost in the playoffs.
1976: Finished 11-3 but lost in the playoffs.
1977: Finished 12-2 and won Super Bowl XII.
1983: Finished 12-4 but lost in the playoffs.
1992: Finished 13-3 and won Super Bowl XXVII.
1994: Finished 12-4 but lost in the NFC Championship Game.
1995: Finished 12-4 and won Super Bowl XXX.
This was such a HUGE victory!! The last couple of seasons this team has teased us with its potential, but would always suffer letdowns, winning some big matchups but losing as many. So far this year’s team has met every challenge presented in the NFC at least. To go into Philadelphia and New York and come away with two convincing wins like that, especially with both being very physical games, my confindence in this team is growing every week. However, last year the team came away with a tough victory in New York that put them in the driver’s seat in the NFC East and then tanked down the stretch.
It’s ironic how the same scene as last year is unfolding. Big division win over the Giants in New York. A really bad team on Thanksgiving. And then just like New Orleans last year, the surprise team of the NFC will be coming to town to battle the Cowboys for supremacy in the NFC. Green Bay will be the last hurdle for this team to overcome to prove it has finally turned the corner. But things sure are looking good right now. There is no doubt in my mind that the ’07 Cowboys are a much better team than than last year’s version.
Thanks, Melonball. I’ve been trying to avoid thinking of the similarities with last season, but they are certainly there. The biggest difference, though, is that this team knows how to win, even when it seems like we could implode at times. We make great adjustments at halftime, and the team has so many weapons that it is very difficult to keep the Cowboys slowed down for four quarters.
Green Bay is getting a running game, which makes the Packers an even greater threat. That is going to be the game of the year for us.