William Perlman/The Star-Ledger/US Presswire
Cowboys CB Terence Newman just can't cut it anymore, admitting his night "wasn't the greatest" vs. the Giants. Neither was his season. Tim MacMahon
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Felix Jones, who had a 100-yard game against the Giants earlier this season, was a nonfactor. He finished with 30 yards on 11 carries, an average of only 2.7 yards a pop. It's not like Jones left a lot of yards on the field. He often had to work hard just to get back to the line of scrimmage. The dominance of the Giants' front seven and the lopsided score in the first half forced the Cowboys to become a one-dimensional offense, a worst-case scenario for Tony Romo.
Tony Romo's bruised right hand wasn't the reason the Cowboys lost. As poorly as the Cowboys protected him, Romo is fortunate he didn't leave MetLife Stadium with another injury. The Giants sacked Romo six times and pressured him several others. He still completed 29 of 37 passes for 289 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Laurent Robinson, plus a pick on a poor decision. The throw that will bother Romo for the rest of his life was a deep ball to a wide-open Dez Bryant on the first series. Romo overthrew him out of bounds..
This was one thing the Cowboys actually did pretty well. The Giants finished with 106 yards on 31 carries (3.4 per), and 29 of those came on an Ahmad Bradshaw run when the Cowboys were caught out of position at the snap. Brandon Jacobs, who had his only 100-yard game of the season in the previous meeting with the Cowboys, was a nonfactor. He gained only 16 yards on seven carries and was stuffed by Sean Lee on fourth-and-1. Linebacker Keith Brooking had a couple of tackles for losses in what could be the final game of his 14-year NFL career..
Eli Manning looks like an MVP against the Cowboys. A few weeks after a 400-yard performance, he completed 24 of 33 passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. The Cowboys sacked him twice, which was an improvement over the last meeting, but Manning made easy pickings out of the secondary. The Cowboys couldn't stop Victor Cruz, who had six catches for 174 yards and a 74-yard touchdown on a simple quick out against Terence Newman. The Giants finished off the game by picking on Orlando Scandrick.
Rookie punter Chris Jones looked like he belonged for the most part. He averaged 42.3 yards on six punts, including 54- and 52-yarders. He pinned the Giants inside the 5 once and would have again if not for a knucklehead play by Alan Ball, who was flagged for being the first player to touch the ball after stepping out of bounds. Ball also let a loose ball slip right through his hands on what should have been an easy recovery of a muffed punt. The Cowboys hoped to get a boost from Dez Bryant in the return game, but that didn't happen.
Coach Jason Garrett supposedly delivered a great speech at the team hotel Saturday night, but the Cowboys certainly didn't look like an inspired team 24 hours later. Garrett also made a highly questionable strategic decision at a crucial point, calling a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 in the red zone during the fourth quarter. You can't blame Garrett for going for it, but a guy who tends to get too cute went with the blandest play in the book. Romo had no chance to get a yard behind two backup guards and a backup-quality center.
