NFL Game Summary - Dallas at NY Giants

Final Score: Dallas 31, NY Giants 20

 East Rutherford, NJ - Tony Romo threw for 247 yards with four
 touchdowns  to lead  the Dallas Cowboys over  the New York Giants 31-20 at the
 Meadowlands.

 Romo  completed  20-of-28 passes and hit  Terrell Owens with a pair of second-
 half  touchdown  passes to lift  Dallas (8-1) to  its third straight win since
 suffering its only loss of the season.

 Owens  ended  with six  catches for  125 yards and  Patrick Crayton added five
 catches  for  66 yards and  a score for the  Cowboys, who increased their lead
 in  the NFC  East to two games  over the Giants and maintained pace with Green
 Bay for the best record in the conference.

 "Big win, I won't say giant win, but it's a big win for us," said Dallas head
 coach Wade Phillips. "To go on the road, to Philadelphia and then come to New
 York back to back. I'm proud of our guys. I thought we played well overall."

 Eli Manning completed 23-of-33 passes for 236 yards with one touchdown and two
 interceptions  for  New York, which  had a  six-game win streak halted. Jeremy
 Shockey  had his best  game of the season, hauling in a career-high 12 catches
 for  129 yards with  a TD for the Giants, who shot themselves in the foot time
 and again with penalties while trying to rally in the second half.

 With  the game tied 17-17 at halftime, the Cowboys took their first possession
 of  the second half 86 yards on 12 plays with Romo hitting Owens for a 25-yard
 touchdown.  The  drive took  6:27 off  the clock  with Dallas converting three
 third downs.

 New  York responded with a methodical 16-play drive that bridged the third and
 fourth quarters, taking 8:56 off the clock, but a number of penalties cost the
 Giants.

 First,  a holding  call on the kickoff  after the Dallas TD negated an 83-yard
 return  by Ahmad Bradshaw. Then, later in the drive it appeared Brandon Jacobs
 had  tied the  game with  a  six-yard touchdown  run,  but a  holding call  on
 offensive lineman Chris Snee called back the potential game-tying run.

 New York was then immediately called for a delay of game penalty and, after an
 incomplete  pass pushed the Giants into a third-and-goal from the 21, New York
 eventually  settled  for a 26-yard  field goal by  Lawrence Tynes that cut the
 deficit to 24-20 with 13:18 to play.

 Another  New  York penalty, illegal use  of the hands by cornerback Aaron Ross
 on Dallas' ensuing possession, turned a third-and-10 into a fresh set of downs
 and  the  Cowboys took advantage.  After Marion Barber ran  for six yards on a
 third-and-five,  Romo  hooked up with  Owens on a 50-yard  TD pass for a 31-20
 cushion with 10:43 left to pretty much secure the win.

 Later  in the quarter another delay of game penalty eventually cost the Giants
 into  a fourth-down try and the club came up empty with 2:58 remaining, giving
 the ball back to Dallas.

 "We didn't play well enough to win," said New York head coach Tom Coughlin,
 whose team was coming off a bye. "The second half wasn't good enough. We were
 our own worst enemy. We have no excuses."

 Jacobs  ended with  95 yards  rushing  for New  York, which  ended with  eight
 penalties for 70 yards, most coming in the second half.

 "[Dallas] came out in the second half and executed a little bit better than
 we did," said Ross. "We still had a chance to be in it. We had a couple of
 touchdowns called back because of penalties so we shot ourselves in the foot."

 Dallas  took the  opening possession of the  game 65 yards on seven plays with
 Romo  finding Tony  Curtis wide open in the  left side of the end zone for the
 score.  Romo had to  scramble to buy time and just before crossing the line of
 scrimmage, he found Curtis as the Giants blew the coverage.

 New  York, though, had an answer. Manning marched his troops 67 yards on eight
 plays  to tie  the score at 7-7 with  6:13 left in the first quarter. New York
 benefited  from  three straight Dallas  penalties that went  for a total of 24
 yards  during the drive, which was capped with Manning hitting Shockey with an
 eight-yard TD.

 The  Cowboys went ahead on the first play of the second quarter when Nick Folk
 kicked  a 44-yard  field goal, ending a  drive that was started with a Manning
 interception.

 The   Giants  responded   later  in  the  quarter,  also  capitalizing  on  an
 interception.  After Romo  was picked  off by  Gibril Wilson,  Reuben Droughns
 powered  in from one  yard out, ending an 11-play possession with 4:33 left in
 the half.

 Dallas regained the lead with 27 seconds left when Romo hit Crayton on a slant
 at  the  Giants' 12-yard-line  and the wideout  took the ball  the rest of the
 way for the score.

 However,  another costly  penalty on the Cowboys led to the tying points right
 before the half.

 New  York appeared content  to run the clock out and go into halftime trailing
 17-14,  but after  a Jacobs run that went for nothing, Dallas linebacker Kevin
 Burnett  was called  for  a 15-yard  taunting penalty,  moving  the Giants  to
 midfield.  Manning then hit Shockey for a 29-yard gain and Tynes hit a 40-yard
 field goal with one second left to send the game into the break tied, 17-17.

 Dallas  finished with  10 penalties for 84 yards, with most of those penalties
 coming in the first half.

                                   Game Notes

 New  York  wide receiver Plaxico Burress,  who had eight catches for 144 yards
 and  three TDs  in the season opener  between these two clubs, ended with just
 four  catches for  24 yards...Dallas tight end Jason Witten finished with just
 two  catches for  12 yards. He had six  catches for 116 yards and a TD in Week
 1's 45-35 win...Dallas defensive lineman Tank Johnson played in his first game
 of  the season after having served his league-imposed suspension for off-field
 issues.  He  ended with two  tackles and a sack...This  is the first time that
 Dallas swept a season series from the Giants since 2003.

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