The New York Giants jumped out to a huge 23-0 lead in the first half with the help of four turnovers by the Dallas Cowboys. But just when it appeared that quarterback Tony Romo and the Cowboys were going to easily lose the game, they roared back to life in unfathomable fashion.
Romo was the antithesis of his usual self from late in the second quarter forward, guiding the Cowboys to 24 unanswered points with brilliant passes down the field to tight end Jason Witten; and wide outs Miles Austin and Dez Bryant.
Quarterback Eli Manning and the Giants answered back however — as they tend to do — marching down the field and tallying two more field goals for a 29-24 lead. This would prove to be the final score, following two more embarrassing Cowboys turnovers and an overturned Bryant touchdown… thanks to some fingers that were just a bit too long.
For New York, the win was not pretty by any means. Still, a win is a win, and the G-Men were happy to escape Dallas with their sixth victory of the season. The team is 4-0 since the Cowboys moved into their new stadium in 2009.
Here’s how the Giants grade out following their second consecutive division win:
Eli Manning
Most weeks, the Giants can trust in their elite gunslinger to lead them to victory with relative ease. However, this was not one of those weeks.
Despite winning the game, Manning had what was his worst performance to date. He completed just 15-of-29 passes for 192 yards and an interception due to wide receiver Victor Cruz’s drop.
From start to finish, Manning struggled to connect with his receivers and he made some dangerous throws with defenders in his face. His passes were off-point and his performance overall was underwhelming. But he did enough to lead the Giants to two much-needed field goals in the fourth quarter after falling behind the Cowboys.
Grade: C
Running Backs
The Giants’ ground game was not any better than their air attack and never really took off. Although they stuck by it and kept pounding the football, the Giants averaged just 3.7 yards per carry with many short-yardage gains.
Andre Brown had the most success running the football, gaining 21 yards on three carries and scoring his sixth touchdown of the season on a one-yard run in the first quarter. More carries may have benefited the Giants, but offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride’s game-plan apparently did not call for it that day.
Ahmad Bradshaw added 78 yards over 22 carries to the game, but was not running as hard as he has in recent weeks. Rookie David Wilson had two carries for just one yard.
Fullback Henry Hynoski did have a great game, opening what minimal holes the running backs did find. But the offensive line made Hynoski’s effort essentially futile.
Grade: B-
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
This group was surprisingly ineffective in this game, failing to get open and present Manning with quality receiving options. When he did have them, the routes were either poorly run (Domenik Hixon, on a key third-down play, presented himself short of the first down marker) or there was poor execution.
Despite being targeted eight times, Cruz caught just two passes for 23 yards and had a handful of drops, including one that fell into the hands of Cowboys’ safety Danny McCray for an interception. As a result, the passing game was a nonfactor and the receivers were much to blame for its failure. The Giants needed the passing game to operate perfectly — as is usually the case — in order to run away with the 23-0 lead that their defense gave them. But they simply could not come through.
Grade: D+
Offensive Line
With the exception of the Week 1 season opener against the Cowboys, the offensive line has been phenomenal for the Giants. It had surrendered just two sacks of Manning and boasted one of the NFL’s top rushing attacks. But their rematch with Dallas showcased much of the same as in their previous match-up; dismal pass protection and no push up front when the Giants were running the football.
Manning took a ton of hits and it showed. He had minimal time to find open receivers and completed just over 50 percent of his passes because of it.
Dallas’ linebacker DeMarcus Ware was a terror once again, as he tends to be whenever he plays the Giants — he now has 13.5 sacks in 13 games against New York. The Cowboys excelled in defending the run despite missing one of their most important players in linebacker Sean Lee. That’s simply inexcusable for an offensive line that has fared so well this season.
Grade: C
Defense
During the first half, the Giants’ defense was unflappable and suffocating. They forced four first half turnovers, including an interception by defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul that was returned for a touchdown.
But in the second half, they crumbled to bits. Whatever the game plan had been, defensive coordinator Perry Fewell went in the opposite direction once New York jumped out to a 23-0 lead. He took his foot off the gas and stopped putting pressure on Romo. As a result, Dallas’ talented offense picked the Giants’ sub-par secondary apart.
Romo racked up 437 yards passing and had great success throwing the football down the middle of the field. Witten caught a team-record 18 balls for 167 yards, abusing the Giants’ linebackers and safeties in impossible mismatches. The Cowboys offense, which had looked absolutely atrocious in the first half, now looked nearly unstoppable.
Before the Giants knew it, their 23 point lead was gone. The defense was exposed. Capable of making the big play, they are just as easily capable of surrendering the big play to opposing offenses.
But the defense bounced back when the Giants really needed them too. Fewell turned up the heat on Romo and safety Stevie Brown came up with a big play — as he, at least, had done all afternoon — for his third forced turnover of the game.
Even with the collapse, the defense did allow just 23 points, forced five turnovers (four of which were interceptions) and sacked Romo four times.
Grade: B
Special Teams
The special teams unit performed admirably for the Giants and left little more to be asked of them.
Lawrence Tynes connected on all five of his field goal attempts, Steve Weatherford was dependable punting the football and David Wilson provided the Giants with quality field position on each of his four kick returns. It’s hard to complain about that.
Grade: A
Coaching
Initially, the Giants’ game plan appeared to be a solid one: attack the quarterback, force turnovers and put points on the board.
The offense sputtered for much of the game and many may argue that they stuck to the run for too long. Ultimately, however, their failure was due to execution rather than coaching.
The defense, on the other hand, eased up after the team jumped out to a huge lead and it cost them. The Cowboys’ offense found life and nearly stole the game from New York.
From the middle of the second quarter on, the Giants were thoroughly outcoached and outplayed. Fortunately for Big Blue, they were able to collect themselves when the Cowboys took the lead. They stepped up, slowed Romo and the Cowboys’ offense down; and put Tynes in range to connect on two more field goals to give the Giants their fourth consecutive victory at “Jerry World.”
New York was playing a very good, talented football team and gladly departed Dallas with the win… regardless of how they got it.
Grade: C+
Louis Musto is contributor for the Sports Journey Broadcast Network covering the NFL and NBA. You can follow him on Twitter @LouisMusto.