- With just over a minute left in the first half, the Cowboys capped off a 20-play, 90-yard drive with a Marion Barber touchdown run to go up, 14-7. Barber already had 101 yards rushing at that point, and it looked like the Cowboys had taken command of the game.
Quarterback Eli Manning responded by taking the Giants 71 yards for a touchdown in 46 seconds. After missing on his first pass of the drive, Manning found rookie Steve Smith for a 22-yard completion down the right sideline. He came right back to Smith on the next play for an 11-yard gain, and Cowboys cornerback Jacques Reeves was called for a face mask penalty, which put the Giants at the Dallas 23. Coach Tom Coughlin could've gotten conservative and played for the field goal, but Manning instead threw four consecutive passes, the last resulting in Giants receiver Amani Toomer's second touchdown of the game.
"Well, that was huge because we had relatively little time left, but we did have two timeouts and we made some big plays down the stretch," head coach Tom Coughlin said. "I don't know if we had three plays in the second quarter, but we were able to go ahead and score there and that sent us into the locker room with some momentum."
The Giants threw at Cowboys cornerback Jacques Reeves four times on the drive. Reeves couldn't close fast enough along the sideline, and the 15-yard penalty was a killer. By my count, Manning picked on Reeves at least eight times in the game.
And according to research by my friends at footballoutsiders.com, Reeves was targeted more than any other cornerback in the league through the first 14 games of the regular season.
- We told you last week that the Cowboys wanted to get Barber close to 24 carries against the Giants, and he ended up with 27 for 129 rushing yards and a touchdown. It was Barber's first start of the season, although he had 387 more yards than starter Julius Jones.
Barber punished Giants defenders, and knocked cornerback Aaron Ross out of the game. He had 101 yards in the first half, but New York held him to 28 yards in the second half.
"I wanted to start Marion because I thought he would give us a spark, plus I wanted to reward him on his season," coach Wade Phillips said. "It's nothing against Julius. I thought it was more Marion."
Jones had three carries for eight yards in what was probably his last game for the Cowboys. The former second-round draft pick was electric in the second half of his rookie season in 2004, but he's never been able to regain that form. He'll become an unrestricted free agent in March, and it's unlikely the Cowboys will try to re-sign him.
- Late in the third quarter, Cowboys Pro Bowl right guard Leonard Davis was flagged 15 yards for hitting defensive end Michael Strahan after the play. The penalty wiped out a 10-yard completion to tight end Jason Witten that would've given the Cowboys a first down at their 33-yard line. From the replay, it looked like a blatant violation, but Davis didn't see it that way.
"Sometimes I can't see the quarterback throw it. At that point, I didn't know know the ball was thrown. It wasn't like it was a cheap shot."
Davis also had an interesting take on Romo's trip to Mexico.
"I wasn't upset or nothing like that," he explained to Hashmarks. "What if he'd gone to Wortham [Texas] with me? What if he went up to New York? I don't know why everyone's going to make a big deal because he went somewhere."
Wortham boasts a population of 1,082. I'm pretty sure Tony and Jess could've avoided the paparazzi there. Wortham is also the hometown of the late blues musician Blind Lemon Jefferson.
- The headline on the back of today's New York Daily News is "Beached 'Boys."
- The Giants were down two starting cornerbacks when rookie Aaron Ross left the game for good with a shoulder injury early in the third quarter. R.W. McQuarters, Corey Webster and Geoffrey Pope all played well. I'm not sure how much it had to do with his injury, but T.O. had a hard time getting separation from any of the Giants' corners. McQuarters had the game-sealing interception in the end zone with nine seconds left.
- Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw has added a new dimension to this offense. You have to hand it to GM Jerry Reese for finding him in the seventh round of last April's draft. The former Marshall player is a great change-of-pace back to go along with the bruising Brandon Jacobs. But I was impressed watching Bradshaw run between the tackles. He has excellent balance and speed. If you're wondering why Ryan Grant was expendable, it's because the Giants fell in love with Bradshaw during training camp.
Reese also hit on rookie tight end Kevin Boss in the fifth round. Boss has helped fill the void left by Jeremy Shockey. By my count, the Giants received significant contributions from six of their eight 2007 draft picks Sunday. I think Reese will take that.
