2007 Divisional Round Giants @ Cowboys

[Music] 92nd time these two teams will meet in their history first time in the postseason we welcome you back to the booth joe and troy and uh let's talk about the giants we were there in tampa florida last week my gosh they played a good game eli in particular and they come in very confident here today they really do and eli manning you know coming off back-to-back games playing very well he's had good games here at texas stadium i know he's confident coming into this game and you know i think the real key in this particular game today that joe however is going to be this defensive front you know when you look at the last time these two teams met they just were not able to get any pressure you know there on tony romo i think michael strahan and ocu manure really they're going to be the key in the outcome of this game how about more on the giants let's go down to the field and pam oliver yeah joe you're exactly right confident is the word to describe the new york giants they love this building they love their chances and they love being in the underdog role brandon jacobs for example he was so confident before the game he was actually practicing how he was going to spike the ball when i asked him about it he says i plan to get there a lot and then he echoed something that a number of players told me the new york giants just feel it's simply their turn back to you all right pam giants will start with a football and if eli manning told us yesterday that it's easy to communicate in this stadium i don't think he will have ever been tested the way he's about to be tested communicating to his offense when he's out on the field there today yeah i can tell you from experience joe the atmosphere is a little different here at texas stadium for a playoff game from what it is in a regular season dominic hixson waiting for it for the giants from outside his own end zone fakes a reverse hixson tripped up at the 20 and he falls forward to the 23. kevin burnett on the stop [Applause] an important piece troy is back up front and that's the guy who anchors this offensive line sean o'hara when we talk to greg williams the defensive coordinator of the redskins he said the way we like to pressure eli manning is right up in his face right up the middle and get him backpedaling well sean o'hara is going to be an important guy because when you look at dallas and what they're able to do off the edge with craig ellis demarcus ware you've got to give eli manning a place to step up sean o'hara is going to be important and allowing him to do that brandon jacobs gets it cuts back a bit aiken adele on the stop he needed help and a pickup of five we look at the defense and it has been a banner year for jay ratliff the nose tackle who took over for jason ferguson who was lost in week one against the giants tank johnson in addition up there and then the guy you really highlight is demarcus ware about as good as there is in the game yeah he has had some awfully good games and you know he's got such great speed and power coming off the edge second and five jacobs over the left side with blocking in front of him has a first down wrestled down by greg ellis a gain of nine so two carries for jacobs 14 yards to start his day you think back to last week dave deal the left tackle because they were playing there in tampa florida not accustomed to the humidity that they experienced there and he had to come out of that game had some iv bags that were having to you know get some fluid into him to keep from cramping you know he's going to be important he did a nice job on that last play securing the edge and then allowing brandon jacobs to get outside [Applause] first down a blitz coming from dallas eli off his back foot throws it to an open spot armani tumor the closest to it and there they had eli manning backpedaling and just floated one out there off his back foot yeah he had to turn that one loose before he wanted to the pressure comes in the middle and he didn't trust that it was going to get picked up you know you see there at the last minute he gets rid of the football and there was no receiver in the area they actually could have called him for intentional grounding if they had wanted to because he did not get outside the tackle box on second and ten brandon jacobs tries the right side cuts it up picks up four brandon jacobs 6-4 264 and a guy troy that we've talked about before even though you look at his body you think a big bruising running back he's that but he's also nifty and has quick feet yeah i think that's the thing that surprises most people you remember those first two years he was you know just a short yard his goal line back i know when talking with ernie of course he the former general manager when he brought brandon jacobs in he said this guy's a tailback he's not just a short yardage runner and boy he has proven ernie right this year third and six demarcus ware got an early jump there is a flag on the play pass broken up by reeves for tumor but there's a flag down and it's against dallas demarcus ware came across too early you're gonna see demarcus ware right here he's trying to anticipate the snap count number 94 defense five yard penalty remains third down i'll tell you joe from that angle it looked like he was actually moving in sequence with when the ball was snapped but you know you can tell he's in there looking at the ball and because the stadium is as loud as what it is right now eli manning when he's in shotgun formation is going to go silent count and they're anticipating the snap just like the offensive lineman are when you go to the silent count the offensive line no longer has the advantage of really knowing exactly when the ball is going to go i would say demarcus ware went up as much as he went forward and instead of fourth down it's now third in inches after the five yard penalty manning keeps it and it just depends on the spot we say that weekend after weekend but it looked like manning got forward a couple of inches then was stood up second effort may have picked it up and it looks with where they marked the football like by the very nose of the football he may have gotten enough but if he did it's going to be by an inch tom coughlin finally got a playoff victory as head coach of the giants first down for tom coughlin troy and the giants we were there in week three when they were playing in washington they had lost the first two here in dallas got throttled at home by green bay they were down at the half to the redskins pitched a shutout in the second half won that game and then went on to win five more in a row i think you look back at that washington game i mean that that win as improbable as it looked really saved their season manning fires and finds a wide open armani tumor who stays on his feet down the sideline no penalty flags touchdown you can go back to the offside call on where which kept the drive alive and then tumor did the rest and it was a good route right there by amani toomer you could see anthony henry was in coverage on him he thought a tumor was actually going to go to the post and all turmeric tumor was running was about a 12-yard curl there just a good route on his part but then just poor tackling right here i mean you see opportunities there to get him to the ground and they're just not able to do that first it was ellis then it was anthony henry both missed and 52 yards later the new york giants the number five seed with an early strike here against the cowboys seven to nothing new york first quarter for the giants 73 yards on that drive a total of negative two yards in the first quarter at the buccaneers last week return is taken by miles austin and austin is out across the 20 mark at the 24. dominic hickson on that last tackle first it was tumor into the end zone and eli keeps it rolling tony romo gets his chance down seven eli manning a winner last week has a 52-yard touchdown throw to amani tumor and now starting at their own 23 or the cowboys down seven marion barber gets the start today and a penalty flag comes in as barber lost the football tony romo comes up with a fumble it looked like there may have been a face mask on the tackle by kavika mitchell he got his hands up on the face mask of marion barber number 55. yeah that's exactly right and that's going to be the 15-yard variety as well when you see him turn and he didn't let go [Applause] personal foul face mask number 55 defense 15 yards automatic first down so mitchell who didn't start got limited action last week with his sprained left knee is guilty of the 15-yard foul and that moves the ball from the out should be to 38. [Applause] and you look at the backs and receivers how about the start today for marion barber odd that they would pick today to make him start for the first time well it is considering that he has not started all season as you said joe but you know this is a running game that has been struggling here over the last three weeks and you know they want to inject a little life into this offense and we all know that when marion barber gets in the game you know he just brings some excitement some enthusiasm to this team and they said hey let's start the game off with that and see if we can't put our playmakers on the field right from the beginning these guys are having a tough time figuring out where to put the ball down it should be right there where pete morelli is pointing at the 38. now they move it out across the 40s so they'll tack it on from the spot where barber was fouled on that face mask and they move it out to the 43. how about that 2008 postseason the teams that have scored first to 1-6 giants show the blitz early and still come first throw is through the hands of tara owens owens had a franchise record 15 touchdowns during the regular season he's an all-pro 81 catches over 1300 yards fifth best total in the nfl despite missing over a game and a half after that injury at carolina well he's such a big weapon as we all know for this team and if he's not able to influence his defense whether it's by him being able to make plays or by him attracting double coverage it profoundly changes the dynamic and the look of this offensive unit for dallas [Applause] marion barber tries the left side giants defense strings it out barbara gets back to the line of scrimmage that's it and say again what you said a moment ago up front this defense for the giants is as good as it gets and if they can get pressure with that front four what a difference that makes well here's a defensive front that or a defensive unit anyway that led the national football league with 53 sacks and yet you go back to the games against dallas and they only had one sack in each of those games you look more specifically at the game in november and besides the one sack tony romo only hit the ground one time and i think they've got to approach this like they did last week against tampa bay they've got to be able to knock him around and get him out of rhythm if they're going to have any success a blitz from the giants this ball comes fluttering out and the pass is incomplete so they do bring a blitz they get extra pressure and steve spagnolo dials one up on third and ten and it's a three and out for this dallas offense after the penalty well you look at the blitz right there off the slot this is something that the giants like to do they show blitz one side and they like to bring it the other way this time they brought michael johnson 43 to safety to the offenses left and then they bring aaron ross the slot defender to his right they're going to generate pressure any way that they feel they need to do it low snap mcbrier gets it hits it it's a good punt mcquarters will haul it in around the 10. so the giants have the ball a seven-point lead 47-yard punt by mcbrier eli manning back to work jason garrett the celebrated offensive coordinator for the cowboys trying to figure out a way to move the ball something the cowboys didn't do their last three games of the regular season didn't do much with that possession and now starting from their own 10 are the giants against the number nine defense in the nfl the cowboys new york up seven [Applause] manning to start with a throw and hits tumer again amani tumer is out to the 21 plus and has a first down for the giants this is going to be a chess match up front as far as how they're going to block these guys for the dallas cowboys this time karim mckenzie he's on him one-on-one he does a pretty good job he forces demarcus ware to go wide which then allows eli manning to step up into the pocket now on the outside armani tumor one-on-one on anthony henry they've gotten a couple plays that got the touchdown on that same throw and get a big gain on that play brandon jacobs to the edge in a great play by wear but demarcus ware doesn't make that play jacobs has got a lot of room to run but demarcus ware does a good job this time they put kevin boss over on his side the rookie tied in he's more receiver than he is blocker and you can tell why demarcus ware does a good job offending him off and not allowing brandon jacobs to get outside plays it beautifully squares up boss and then once he sees jacobs coming his way he's able to get there and make the play second and ten jacobs gets it right up the middle down to the 30 where he's a yard shy of a first down picked up nine brady james on the tackle for dallas you know brandon jacobs last week joe he you know was limited in his playing time they brought in ahmad bradshaw he's been battling you know a little bit of an injury there to his thighs you can see those big old thigh pads that he's wearing bigger than what most backs would wear and the reason that he wears him is because he's such a big guy you know here he is 6'4 265 pounds he runs upright and so most of the hits that he takes are down in that thigh area bradshaw is the tailback hedgecock the fullback the only one left and a quick throw out to ahmad bradshaw fights his way for a first down where he is dragged out of bounds he made the play ran through the tackle of roy williams and picks up six bradshaw i was didn't get a chance to watch him play too much of course he's been limited in his playing time but you can see there i mean he's not a real big guy he's pretty shifty and you know going back to the last time these two teams played one of the things they were really able to take advantage of was jeremy shockey on roy williams they split him out well today they're going to do that with ahmad bradshaw as we just saw they're going to do it with brandon jacobs as they're doing here and then they'll also do it with the tight end there's brandon jacobs out split now from the 36 a handoff to bradshaw running left hops up through the hole and picks up another first down a gain of 12. that's what i was going to get into as far as ahmad bradshaw last week he got his opportunity to show what he could do against tampa bay and he was phenomenal i mean you watch him here and he's going to run off tackle but he's so quick once he sees the hole he plants his foot and then he's able to get going north and south you know that's not unusual for a guy his size i mean you're talking about a player that's only five nine but he has unbelievable power and strength he did not get a carry against the dallas cowboys in either one of the first two games so the cowboys this is their first chance to see what this little guy is all about play action from manning on first down airs it out plexigo burris is overthrown burris in the two games against the cowboys has 12 catches 168 yards with three touchdowns but most of that damage coming in the season opening game here in dallas yeah you see here i mean they had a chance joe down to the corner eli manning knew that he had one if he was able to just put it on him you know we all know that plexico burst has been playing with a torn ligament and his ankle he's not able to practice all that much you know would a healthy flexico burst have been able to run that one down hard to say second and ten bradshaw gets it cuts it up ahmad bradshaw to the 45-yard line of the cowboys two yards shy of the first down you know you look at ahmad bradshaw and he's a lot like tiki barber you know i mean the the makeup of this running game changed a little bit when brandon jacobs became the guy but i know all those years with tiki barber the offensive line really was not asked to move people out i mean just get a body on a body and let tiki barber find the hole ahmad bradshaw's a little bit like that with his nippiness and his ability to make people miss you know he can make average blocks look pretty doggone effective third down and two they hand it to bradshaw and bradshaw looks short of first down yardage and now tom coughlin is going to be faced with his first big decision here and it's no decision at all he's going to last quarterback sneak which led to the touchdown eli manning got the first down by inches then connected with tumer on a 52-yard touchdown throw and run and now feigls comes on this is his strong suit jeff fiegels is the best ever at this particular skill downing the ball inside the 20. patrick creighton is waiting for it fiegels does not want creighton to touch it [Applause] angling it for the corner and downfield how good is that it is a weapon and certainly factors into the decision-making of tom coughlin they're going to mark the ball inside the five at the four-yard line as tyree downfield made the play troy i know you came away last week very impressed with the play calling of kevin gilbride there in the middle the coordinator for the giants but he did a great job of mixing it up mixing in the screens the short easy completions for eli manning mixing in the running game going to take another one of those type games today marion barber gets it a little cut back out to the 10. six yard run by marion barber and barry cofield was in on the stop pierce was in there as well so now you've got the dallas offense first 13 games they were second in the league to the machine up in new england averaging just under 33 points per game the last three 32 total points the throw to the sideline well done beautifully timed into the back shoulder of tara owens good for 13 in a first down i'll tell you what and they're singling him up too corey webster who did such a nice job last week against joey galloway he's one-on-one with terrell owens and you know they run that back shoulder fade that we see so much of i mean terrell owens until he proves otherwise you have to respect his speed and you come into the game even though he's got the high ankle sprain assuming that he's going to be able to run and so corey webster has to respect that and in so doing it does give them the ability then to hit the back shoulder fade as they just did we were there at practice he looked perfectly fine running around in fact romo said he thought he'd be a hundred percent creighton gets in what a good tackle by the rookie ross a loss of three on the play is aaron ross who's from tyler texas came up to make the stop and this young guy has had a heck of a rookie season i mean he's able to get by fasano there and then tackle patrick creighton just a good job in the open field i mean he's just one of many rookies who have had an impact for this giants team i mean you think back to last week ahmad bradshaw you know steve smith and you know then him of course on the defensive side kevin boss there at tied in great contributions by some young players this year [Applause] second and thirteen barber gets it breaks free mary and barber into giant territory 36 yards we can see this crowd i mean here he is he's going to come through here and then he's going to cut back and you know i mean this is the things that he's capable of doing he can dart dash make people miss he does not have breakaway speed if this had been julius jones out in the open field he probably scores that's the only thing that marion barber lacks he certainly does not lack toughness does a great job it's barber's ninth carry this season of 20 or more yards 36 to be exact and wide open is creighton down inside the 30. you know the one thing that romo told us terrell owens is one thing the better news for him was that terry glenn was back and running well and now you've got the full complement of playmakers for tony romo and he uses creighton here yeah and kabica mitchell is in coverage and and he's just watching the quarterback joe rather than watching the wide receiver in who he should be covering you know these linebackers have been exposed at various times this year marion barber picks up 11. butler on the stop and the cowboys are gaining traction well it's just such a big powerful offensive line and you know they match people it's not like what they have in a lot of places you know i mean this is a big physical group and once they get a defensive front moving you got marion barber running with it behind him you know good things generally are going to happen cowboys running a hurry up now for the first down just shy of the 19-yard line [Applause] first and 15. false start number 75 offense five yard penalty still first down under a minute to go in the first quarter here at texas stadium first and 15. marion barber again bouncing it blocking on the outside from terrell owens first and i'll goal you joe fred robbins inside for new york does a great job of getting pressure i mean he comes off the ball and he motors everybody in the backfield but because of that marion barber has to bounce it to the outside and then there was no containment jabril wilson was the guy who has to be there to turn that play back inside and then great blocking by tara owens down field to set up first and goal barber again and this time well played defensively by the giants strahan who was not in on that 20-yard run by barbara to set up first and goal in on that stop giants struck first they lead seven nothing cowboys knocking on the door second quarter after this second quarter second and goal from the five seven to nothing giants on top marion barber five carries 72 yards on this drive cowboys spread them out throw for the corner t.o touchdown cory webster was trying to say that his feet were not inbound take a look got the ball and it looked to me like he had both of them down it's just a matter of when he had possession of the ball looked like he had possession and had both feet in the end zone no challenge flag yet from coughlin [Applause] strahan's talking to coughlin and coughlin's going to throw the flag now strahan was in the left ear of tom coughlin [Applause] and they will challenge the call new york is challenging the ruling on the field he has it there and and then both feet are down i think this is going to be a pretty easy one to call i agree has it left right little tap tap but a challenge right out of the sock and onto the field challenged by the giants after reviewing the play the ruling on the field stands touchdown i left ankle sprain or not it is obvious by now that terrell owens is much more than a decoy he is back and feeling good yeah and the giants expected that coming in and and they wanted to get physical with him at the line of scrimmage and corey webster tried on that last play which is why tara was as open as he was had a big hand setting up the touchdown as well blocking for marion barber the catch tap tap td for t.o a souvenir for that kid and strand now uh whatever 7-7 peeking down through the hole in the top of texas stadium dominic hickson from just inside the five good return by hixson who hits a wall at the 30 forward to the 32 and we will welcome you inside the booth and so far so good i think both you and i expected a good game and with the giants scoring first here today the cowboys just answering uh it looks like that's what we're going to get yeah that's usually what we do get when it comes down to these two teams and you know it's interesting you come into the game and you start thinking about terrell owens and what do we have to do to slow him down is he healthy a lot of focus on him obviously got the touchdown but right now marion barber has been the guy that they need to re-assess this thing and figure out how they're going to slow him down yeah and on the other side it's ahmad bradshaw who has looked better than brandon jacobs here in the early going jacobs back in there quick set up and throw burris has his first picks up five anthony henry out there defending and if you ask eli manning he'll tell you that anthony henry really has given plexigo burris more trouble even dating back to their time in the afc when henry was with cleveland and burris with the steelers as opposed to newman who's really considered one of the few shutdown corners in the league yeah terence newman a pro bowl player this year and i think that in this game joe anthony henry you know he tends to play the bigger receivers a lot better obviously plexico burris one of the biggest receivers in the nfl second and five and brandon jacobs can't get around spencer the rookie and the first round pick out of purdue made that play no gain third and five coming up a pretty good job by the defensive ends up front too you know as far as the linebackers obviously in the 3-4 are the ones that are going to get all the attention and they're they're the guys who have to be the playmakers when you run that type of scheme but in run defense unique guys like marcus spears who was able to hold ground on that last play [Applause] penalty flag on the play as the pass is dropped over the middle by tumor it's an incomplete pass but it looked like the cowboys may have come across early to see if they were drawn off if this one is against dallas it's a five-yard penalty it was third and five offside number 98 defense five-yard penalty result of the penalty result and first down really look troy like ellis was trying to time the play by the play clock because it was about at zero yeah and because of where the play clock is i mean you can tell where you can tell when the ball has to be snapped because of that and that's why they're trying to get the jump and feel that they're capable of i mean we see eli run the clay clock down a lot of times right down to one just before it hits zero that gives an advantage to the defensive front that's two of those against the dallas defense first one against where this one ellis pressure on manning steps up tripped up from behind by aiken adele a gain of two however so no sack [Applause] well i mean it didn't look real good but at least he avoided the sack i mean you're going to see brandon jacobs they bring the linebackers on a twist and naked adele looked like he tackled him right there and then eli manning not realizing that aiken adele was chasing him from behind you know really kind of fortunate that adele had to go low he might have been able to strip the ball from from eli's hands second and eight brandon jacobs left side slips down as he got to the 45 seven yards shy of a first down [Applause] i'll tell you right now you know brandon jacobs going back to last week and some of the troubles that he had getting outside i know that the teams for the most part that have had success against this cowboys defense running the football have been able to do it between the tackles they're a team that has great defensive speed very difficult to get outside third down and seven manning goes down chris canty off the edge the right defensive end made the play it's fourth and 17. well the four-man rush i mean and they're able to get pressure they got two guys there brandon jacobs as well as deal and then seibert's able to get involved as well and yet they're still not able to make the block to keep him from getting to eli manning cowboys went into more of a 4-3 there with demarcus ware with his hand on the ground and a sack brings fiegels out hits a good one drives it out of bounds and they will mark it inside the 20 at the 19 but a penalty flag is down for now the ball's on the 19-yard line [Applause] and it's a hold the penalty flag is way on the far side of the field just outside the 20. the initial indication is a hold against dallas during the kick holding number 17 of the receiving team half the distance to the goal first down [Applause] that's sam hurd [Applause] eli manning now back to the sideline as tony romo heads to the field in a 7-7 game the rider strike is denying us all of the start of 24 so enjoy it antonio pierce romo and then the two coordinators jason garrett steve spagnolo starting from just inside their own 10 are the cowboys in a 7-7 game marion barber just runs right through aaron ross and picks up eight let's go down to chris myers joe the legend of the quick healer terrell owens continues 16 to 18 hours a day he worked with a medical entourage his coach said he had specialists i never even heard of for this high ankle sprain i talked to t.o in the tunnel just before he ran out actually was going over plays with tony romo and he said i'm as ready as i'm ever going to be all right chris thanks he has a personal hyperbaric chamber worked on an underwater treadmill don't we all well you don't no mine's broken you know terrell owens he's got a little showmanship in him as well you know we're out there in practice the other day and while the cameras were rolling you know he was running around with a pretty noticeable limp and then when the cameras left all of a sudden you see him running at full strength and didn't look like he had a limp at all and inches joe troy pam and chris with you 7-7 game barber gets it has the first down and as is typical with this guy it takes four guys to bring him to the ground i mean nobody runs any harder in this league than marion barber i mean it's it's unbelievable watching this guy i mean he led the league and broken tackles and you just see it over and over and over i mean one guy can't get him to the ground and rarely can two or three aaron ross is back on the field for the giants first down dallas word is he had a burner let's work from the sideline romo making a play slides forward got a hit on the end of it gerard didn't like it trying to protect his quarterback antonio pierce got down on top of tony romo after he gave himself up with a slide and the play was good for six yards well that's so frustrating for a defense when you finally were able to get pressure and then the quarterback able to find a hole in that lane as we see antonio appears i didn't think anything of it as far as when he came in and went down on tony romo tony gave himself up i didn't think it was a violent hit but offensive lineman as they should do are always quick to defend their quarterback [Applause] julius jones now in a tailback lost his starting job today and jones takes it up just shy of the 30 about a yard and a half short of a first down nfc championship game is next sunday in the late was well it was great to watch the way his game started and the way he finished it congratulations to ryan grant brett favre and the rest of that packer organization whitten looked like he didn't know what he was doing as he went in motion he was confused dallas because of it team timeout dallas has to take a timeout it'll be third down and a yard and a half when we come back tied at seven at texas stadium [Applause] barber back in there he carries it and he plows forward to the 35-yard line right over antonio pierce oh my gosh i mean it scored him right in the chest i mean you you got to know if you're going to try to bring this guy to the ground you better lower your hips and be ready to pack a punch i mean here comes marion barber and marion barber just got lower than antonio pierce and whenever that happens the guy that's slower is usually going to win that battle second drive for the cowboys that started inside their own 10. on this drive six runs romo has not thrown the ball yet [Applause] that's about to change as he drops it off to barber a little short pierce was out there anyway for the giants as dallas tried to set up a screen i think pierce wanted another shot at marion barber you know they ran the screen and pierce he read it all the way and had had barbara have caught it and been standing up i i think there would have been some retaliation there look at the day already for marion barber 93 yards and they have been limited dallas has with what they've asked romo to do throwing it [Applause] tara lowens and corey webster locked down barber tovica mitchell absorbed the hit a gain of two third long coming up you know even on that with kavika mitchell you can tell him you have to go after this guy because when you just stand there and wait i mean maybe it just takes some time to realize just how powerful marion barber is when he has the ball in his hands but right there you called it joe i mean marion barber it is rare highly uncon or highly unlikely to see him go backwards usually when he makes contact he's moving forward and that's been the case throughout this game so far third down and aids [Applause] quick throw to glenn makes a move has a first down terry glenn his first catch of the year two separate procedures done on his right knee troy they were able to keep him on the roster all year got into the final game in washington for a few snaps but he's a big weapon that the cowboys have back and they bring rw mcquarters off the corner on the corner blitz and that's why jabril wilson then has to come over into coverage you know and terry glenn as you said joe i mean he's missed so much time you just don't know exactly what it is that you're going to get but i can tell you he's healthy enough that he can run by jabril wilson if they keep trying that scheme play action from romo who goes for owens and they weren't on the same page there was contact no flag and another hookup between terrell owens and corey webster i know steve spagnola he likes to bring people he likes the pressure packages we know that he's a disciple of jim johnson defensive coordinator there with the philadelphia eagles and you got webster one-on-one there against terrell owens and you get a little help on strahan colombo and strahan are going to be a great battle throughout this entire game the cowboys feel like they can do a pretty good job with strahan with colombo [Applause] second and ten a handoff to barber barber inside giant territory troy we talked to tony sperano who's the offensive line coach and a hot candidate for the head coaching spot next year here his name linked with miami a lot and he said the guy that they respect the most on this defensive front is still michael strahan they believe flozil adams can handle human europe and then they can help out with their offensive line getting help against strahan that's why they've been so effective against the giants pass rush this year is because they can put flozell one-on-one on oc manual give a little help when they need two to columbo and then you take out two of the premier pass rushers third down and seven romo throws on the run and finds terrell owens first down that's four third down conversions on this drive and they match columbo again no help on michael strahan and columbo he knows that the last thing he can do is let strahan inside so he runs him wide and tony romo able to buy some time and then make the completion owens just left alone standing beyond the marker 13th play of the drive i'll tell you they keep singling up on terrell owens one on one they're going to get hurt [Applause] play action from romo cowboys start to open it up the receiver had fallen down that was glenn and webster had an interception land right in his lap and he dropped it and this was the thing that tony romo was most concerned about throwing the breaking routes because terry glenn has not been able to get in and out of him very effectively he falls down and then corey webster you're never going to get an easier interception than this right here hits him right in the chest and he's not able to make the play i mean surprised him sure but that's a ball you got to catch tom coughlin telling us that webster has great hands really that's what he said second and ten [Applause] barber good play by kavika mitchell squeezed it down made the play a gain of one another third long for dallas you know i'll go back to what i was saying a little bit earlier we've seen a lot of blitzes from the new york defense and steve spagnola he likes to dial him up you got to be careful though every time you bring pressure you're exposing an element of your secondary and if they don't get home and they don't get pressure on tony romo then you're vulnerable to some awfully big plays and that's what got this giants team beat the first two games against the cowboys was giving up too many big plays right on the outside edge of field goal range for nick folk right now mitchell came on a blitz romo over the middle t.o five for five on third down on this drive and nobody within three yards of tony romo in the pocket you know this is what we saw the last time these two teams play they bring kavika mitchell off the edge and marion barber does a great job of blocking him and nobody else even gets close good strong throw from tony romo hit tara owens in stride and he just sits down with a first down at the 17. [Applause] julius jones and like we've seen so many successful teams exhibit over the last couple of years a good two-headed approach at running back for the dallas cowboys it's been a lot of marion barber and now julius jones gets mixed in it's second and six after he got four i mean you look at this drive by the dallas cowboys this is a drive that began on their own 10 yard line they've methodically moved the ball down the field i mean these are the types of drives that just demoralize a defensive unit i mean the last thing you're expecting when you pin a team deep like they were able to with dallas is that they're going to drive all the way down the field and potentially come away with a touchdown two-minute warning at texas stadium second down and six for dallas when we come back the ball at the 13-yard line we're tied at seven second down for dallas second and six [Applause] play action from romo rolls out throws low caught by whitten first and goal [Music] jason whitten good for 11 yards as they finally get the ball to their big play-making tight end yeah and you're gonna see james butler he's right here and he completely misses jason whitton and the reason is is that he was looking into the backfield he sees the play action there to marion barber he bites on it and then he's not out there playing the flat which is where whitten was going 96 catches during the regular season for the all-pro tight end jason whitman that's his first catch of this game how about the 18th play of this drive [Applause] sarah owens in a lot of hand checking with rw mcquarters aaron ross is out of this game they're checking on his shoulder he went out with a stinger earlier now it's tara owens and rw mcquarters as the giants are getting awfully thin at defensive back yeah you can see there they're trying to get physical with tara lowens and you know that's kind of the game plan coming into this thing but as you said joe i mean now that they're so thin in the secondary it becomes you know comes hard to match up against these guys but they may not be left with any alternative to about the one third down and goal [Music] this is a dallas offense that was number one in the nfl and plays of 20 or more yards but this has been more like the giants were last week dinking and dunking it's going to be at least a 20-play drive here down the field a drive that started inches inside their own 10. it's third and goal i think the thought coming into this game for the giants was that if they kept from giving up big plays that dallas would get frustrated that they would start trying to force things down the field now that hasn't happened you know dallas has been able to take what they've been given and they've moved it all the way down here you know now corey webster he had the opportunity for the interception and then just failed to make the play so far dallas they've converted five third downs on this drive 20th play coming up after the cowboys spend their second time out i'm just inside the one [Applause] no signal yet touchdown behind that big offensive line and marion barber who's had a tremendous first half pounded it in now what a game he's having i mean you get an opportunity inside the one-yard line get a little bit of movement and then just let him hit it and see if he can't get across the goal line which is what he was able to do behind andre gerrard leonard davis it's a heck of a drive right there by the dallas cowboys they're gonna look at it in a booth review with 53 seconds left in the half that first look you couldn't even see him dive down underneath all those big bodies behind oliver hoyt his full back got hit in the hole and then looked like he crossed the goal line yeah it looks like his waist is even on the on the goal line kavika mitchell trying to make a play to hold him up but you know yeah clearly in the end zone obviously the only question then becomes did a knee hit down before he broke the plane it didn't look like it but the booth called down and they want to take another look at it just to make sure let's take a look at the knees now because clearly he broke the plane there's the left knee and then it's just a matter of whether they can determine where the ball is relative to the to the goal line and you know that angle there obviously doesn't show it and i don't know that any any angle down the goal line is going to show up because of the bodies so again it has to be conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the field which is touchdown i don't know that we've seen it but that left knee by marion barber went down it was very close to the time when the ball broke the plane well i think what the what the cowboys did there on third down as far as running the play clock down and calling timeout was very smart on their part as we take another look at this knee down there but you just can't tell you know where the ball is you know but they're on that third down to run the clock down then call the timeout taking as much time off the clock so that if they scored or even had to settle for the field goal they would leave as little time as possible for the job reviewing the play the ruling on the field stands touchdown a 20-play drive they covered 90 yards in 10 minutes and 28 seconds off the clock i think some of those coaches over there for dallas are wondering why they didn't start marion barber all season today's the first day and a guy who had a year where he came just shy of a thousand yards basically coming off the bench he's a pro bowler averaged 4.78 yards per carry on the season i mean that's not a bad first half of work on his part over 100 over 100 yards already we take a look at the most years that it's been since the last playoff win the bengals have gone 17 years they beat houston in 91 the lions 16 years kansas city 14 years since they beat houston in 94 buffalo 12. they beat miami in 1995. and hard to believe but the dallas cowboys gone 11 years since their last playoff victory you know there's always a lot of talk or there has been this week about trying to beat a team three times in a season you know first of all you have to play that team in the playoffs for it to even happen for you to be given an opportunity to beat a tank to beat a team three times and then the fact that that team is in the playoffs means they're pretty good and so it's hard to win a game in the national football league and it's hard to beat good teams consecutively in the national football league that's why it's rarely done now it's ahmad bradshaw waiting deep for the kick kick is high and short bradshaw takes it from around the 15-yard line and can't make the 30. knocked down at the 29 by bobby carpenter 14-yard return last week for the giants offensively in the first quarter minus two yards overall against the buccaneers so far in the second quarter minus two but they haven't had the ball it's been a quarter dominated by that 10 and a half minute drive put together by dallas yeah and it's hard as a quarterback standing over on the sidelines for as long as eli manning did and then to come out into a no huddle situation i do think that they need to be aggressive here you know there's still plenty of time on the clock they've got two timeouts i think if they're able to come away with any kind of points here before the half that would be huge [Applause] four-man rush and that ball may have been tipped coming out it came out funny in the direction of omani tumor second and ten yeah i'm not sure it was joe it looked like he just pulled it right in the ground i mean pretty good protection you know in the pocket had a good look at it and just made a poor throw 42 seconds left as troy said two time-outs remaining for the giants who were down by seven out a shotgun manning throws and caught by smith coverage by williams and reeves reeves on the stop and the hit and steve smith hung on a gain of 22. boy what a catch there knowing you're gonna have to go up on the sideline and make a play and you know keep the ball and not lose it that's just a nice job on his part i mean this this young guy steve smith he missed so many games because of injury and had a nice impact on the game last week you see there he's outstretched knowing he's going to take a hit as soon as he comes down just good concentration on his part eli took a hit after he let it go and then had to spend the second time out of the half by the giants after the completion to smith that's the one thing the giants feel like they can get some plays down the field but to do that you've got to have protection so that he can hold the ball so far they've harassed him pretty good manning throws completes again to smith who's out of bounds with a first down and a flag comes in at the end of the play [Applause] may have been a face mask on the tackle 28 seconds left in the half and it's the big face mask cause says eli manning personal foul craftsman face mask number 35 the defense 15 yard penalty automatic first down so that's jack reeves and here are the giants moving the ball down the field and a big part of it 15 yards because of that grab and twist by jack reeves yeah as soon as you see the head turn like that it's going to be 15 yards and you know steve smith playing like a veteran right there knowing exactly what the situation is knowing that they want to try to preserve this last timeout catches the ball heads to the sideline they get an extra 15 yards now i mean what initially you're hoping to get into position and maybe come away with a field goal they now can start thinking about trying to come out of this with a touchdown that was the fifth dallas penalty of the half manning steps up avoids the rush end zone and out of the reach of burris and plexigo comes down limping here's a guy who's had a right ankle injury since the second of august and he came down funny there and comes back gimpy to the huddle in fact just this week you know we all thought that he had been playing with with in essence a high ankle sprain much of what terrell owens has you see him come down there a little awkward and he revealed this week that it's more than just a high ankle sprain that he actually has a porn ligament and as tom coughlin said he's basically just wheeled himself onto the field this year to play there's burris blake clock in one manning has it knocked down canty got his hands up and it's third down trying to hit a shallow crosser and thought he had a chance and he did had he did not had he not have gotten this ball knocked down chris canty you know an awfully big defensive end for the dallas cowboys 6-7 and when he's in the middle there and in the throwing lane going up i mean it's just impossible then to hit that 10-yard crosser it would be a 41-yard field goal from this spot well within the range of lawrence times giants won more than that manning with time throws and completes the boss and the rookie tight end sets up first and goal at the four his first catch 19 yards you know dave dill he's got his hands full over here demarcus ware this is his power move right here he's going to put his helmet right in his chest and just drive him back but not before eli manning is able to get the ball out and a good route by boss i mean this guy had big shoes to fill when he came in and took the place of the injured jeremy shockey and each week i mean he makes a bigger and bigger impact on this team important that the giants have that one time timeout left it's first and goal from the four manning over the middle tumor touchdown new york what a drive put together by manning and a fight breaks out between brandon jacobs and roy williams i'll tell you what neither of these teams like each other too much i'll tell you joe that was a great drive right there by the new york giants being able to make some plays 48 seconds on the clock when they got the ball two timeouts to be able to come away with a touchdown as i said you're hoping just for a field goal at that time but to be able to come out of this with a touchdown and then tie the score if they make this extra point that was big schumer with seven catches last week 74 yards and a touchdown against the buccaneers and he has come up big again here today we're tied at 14 with seven seconds left in the half romani tumors 31st career postseason catch that is a new giant record and it ties the game tumor's the guy that eli manning just has absolute trust and confidence and when you talk to eli and he says hey i know where he's going to be i trust him he's dependable he's tough you know he went through a period there where he was dropping some balls but you know wow what a game he had last week and what a game he's had here in this first half seventh career postseason touchdown for armani tumor and the face mask on jock reeves helped get the ball down a little closer but eli manning did a great job of moving a ball down the field and at the end of that touchdown here's the fight between roy williams and brandon jacobs pretty good stuff there [Applause] and tom coughlin's reaction i don't think you can ever question his intensity that's for sure i thought he was supposed to be more warm and fuzzy this year full of groin muscle arguing with the official man he was hot i would say he's got his game face on but bobby knight he takes exception to that question squib kick by times return by miles austin [Applause] and there is one second left on the clock 29 yard return blackburn on the stop and and we are 14 14 at the half manning romo giants cowboys this battle within the nfc east winner goes to the nfc championship game beats a halftime show coming up tied at 14 after a half a good one at texas stadium lawrence tynes will kick it away and the cowboys will start the second half with the ball miles austin nathan jones waiting for the kick [Applause] and it's jones nathan jones crosses the 20. let's go down to the field and check in with pam oliver well joe tom coughlin was one thing on his mind he said we have got to stop the run didn't even give me a chance to ask the question he says we've got to do a better job defensively marion barber on his cutbacks is hurting us our guys have to stay in their lane and just be disciplined bit of good news for the giants defensively cornerback aaron ross he has a sprained shoulder but they say he will return back to you all right they need him aaron ross aaron ross is out there at the moment but after ross you get to the veteran rw mcquarters after mcquarters a guy they just picked up off their practice squad jeffrey pope dockery and madison both inactive for this game picks up three human europe on the tackle and we go down to chris myers wade phillips came out of the locker room shaking his head joe said that the positioning of his defense was good that the players didn't respond to the play properly at that last drive with the giants he did take note and say that because of the thin secondary with the giants on offense he expected tony romo to be able to make some big plays in the second half terrell owns his ankle it's fine he's not wearing any protective wrap they just checked on it at halftime he's good to go all right chris second down and seven a blitz off the edge [Applause] [Music] first down dallas well again the giants they bring pressure off the edge you're gonna see right here and then with that they play zone behind it but still you can see the holes that are afforded and when you bring pressure you just have to get home if you're the new york giants you cannot allow jason whitton terrell owens patrick creighton to move around in the secondary when you're exposed because of secondary pressure that's not getting home [Applause] first down at their own 33 and the handoff is to marion barber makes the 36. it's worth talking about now something that's been talked about so much during this past week what tony romo did where he went with whom he went during his days off during the off week there's no doubt that he assumes a little more risk by going where he went getting the pictures taken and what have you but if he has a successful game and so far so good for tony romo you get the benefits of it it's almost like a latter-day broadway joke and a guy who fans love to watch smiling out on the field completing passes as he does to fasano on second down good for five yards he's a guy troy that certainly has fun playing this game and i admire the fact that a big part of him says i'm going to do what i want to do people don't like it they don't like it i have to play well no matter what and he is prepared to play in this game here today yeah and yet i understand that perception is a big part of everything and he certainly put a big old bull's-eye right square on his back and if they do not go on to win this game then he certainly has opened himself up to a lot of criticism fairly or unfairly i know when talking to him he said i thought i was doing the right thing and i know there's a lot of guys out there that think he did the right thing too third down and two marion barber has a first down boy it certainly looked troy jason witten started that play in the backfield and it looked like he got a little bit of a head start before the snap from girard back to tony romo who was in shotgun actually was made but no flag and a first down carry of 10 yards by barber well a little bit like what pam said and you know as far as them now having to try to stop this running game you start bringing up extra defenders in order to slow marion barber down and then you just weaken your coverage even more [Applause] barber again bounces it after running into a wall and he crosses down inside the 45 to the 44 picked up five [Applause] you know when you get them bottled up then you still got to get your hands around them you can see that there are people there to make a play but nobody's able to actually get a hold of them now there has to be somebody that's holding contain and that's what they have not done a very good job of the giants have not done a very good job of having somebody there so that when they bottle it up inside and barber has to bounce it that he's bouncing into a defender there's been no defender to tackle [Applause] second and five barber tries the right side and reggie torber got through and made the play a loss of two and so another third down faced by the cowboys and a player is down that's flozell adams who pops up they stop the clock you heard the whistle and we'll see if they're just going to let it play on evidently they are so even with the whistle rozel adams got up quick enough they let the play continue and that means flozell can stay in the game doesn't have to come out for injury on third and seven snap was laid again romo throws to gwen first down jarrod troy is having a tough time getting the snap back on time but the officials are letting them play on yeah they are and i mean you're seeing tony romo being able to make some plays and then you got columbo there on strahan again one on one no help does a good job romo buy some time that's the hole right there in that two deep zone coverage you know right behind the corner and then keep the safety get the ball in there before the safety is able to get over the top last two snaps on a shotgun have been late from girard quick snap count here and julius jones makes it to the 25. gain of two michael strahan is the guy that this offensive line was worried about coming in and for the most part troy this big group up front for dallas has done a good job with number 92. yeah they really have and it hasn't not just been this game i mean it's been in both of the games during the regular season i know steve spagnola said hey it begins and ends with our defensive front and so far i mean this cowboys offensive line which is really the strength of this offense i mean we get so enamored with some of the skill players the strength is the offensive line and they're winning in the trenches today second and eight romo trying to make a play runs into his own teammate and falls forward for a first down and that's what tony romo does he banged into kosher but still kept his feet picked up 11 and got a first down you know tony's not the fastest guy i mean there are people there that had a chance to maybe make a play but you know there are guys that play in this league that just know how to play the game and tony romo was one of those guys you know if you really broke him down and evaluated him you know i don't know that he'd really jump out at you in a lot of areas but then when you put it all together and you watch him play on sundays i mean the guy just knows how to win and he knows how to play quarterback another long drive put together by dallas marion barber tripped up by ross bad shoulder and all ball popped out but barbara was down a gain of three and boy aaron ross may not be able to continue marion barber just ran through him and that's a huge loss for this giant second era there's no question and it's hard to imagine that in light of what he's been through already up to this point in the game that he's going to be able to come back and play again [Applause] so he made the play but came sprinting over to the sideline in pain second and seventh [Applause] incomplete good play by wilson jabril wilson closed on fasano and broke it up fasano was open for a moment he sure was and there was good closing speed there by jabril wilson because again tony romo in the pocket with time knew exactly where he was going with the football and had a chance maybe if he lays that thing out a little bit more but just a good job by jabril wilson actually went through fasano's hands right into his chest [Applause] and it's third and seven this is a big down right now for the new york giants defensively i mean they've given up touchdowns in this area on the other trips for the cowboys [Applause] lozell adams a false start that is his tenth of the season start number 76 offense five yard penalty still third down i know in talking with offensive line coach tony sperano the other day and asking him about the penalties that you know flows out flozael adams the most penalized offensive lineman in the nfl and he says hey every week he goes against the best pass rushers that the other team has that you know i would never say this to the head coach but i'm okay with one or two of those if he continues to block the way that he has and you know we haven't talked a lot about oc humanura today and closel adams is a big reason why eight for nine on third down today is third and 12. [Applause] wide open but overthrew him a little behind him it's fourth down the field goal unit nick fulton the rookie will come on and try and break this tie [Music] well that's a good job defensively you wouldn't initially say that but holding them to a field goal attempt and they were able to get just a little bit of pressure to where tony romo felt like he had to rush it a little bit and because of that the ball was high but he certainly had he certainly had terrell owens open 34-yard attempt by nick fulke [Applause] dallas the number one seed romo got him down the field they come away with three went for 14 plays 62 yards and they come up with a field goal dominic hickson on the return for the giants has blocking out in front of him and hixson gives eli manning and the giants great starting field position right at midfield 45-yard return by dominic hixson by the time nathan jones brought him down giants have the ball at midfield down by three giants had a turnover free day against the buccaneers last week neither team has turned it over so far today is brandon jacobs with a nice run of eight yards on first down let's go back and look at terrell owens on that third down throw you're gonna see him in motion here and then he's got the crossing route and watch these guys hear how they start communicating when he goes in motion as far as who's going to pick who up you know right there a little bit of a natural rub but no one picks terrell owens up and the ball just got away from tony romwe i mean had he been able to put it on him it's a pretty easy touchdown second down and two for the giants down by three points brandon jacobs with a first down [Applause] picked up four big debut tonight first down giants they got tied in kevin boss out wide again with roy williams across from him manning demarcus ware a loss of nine on that sack that wasn't even close joe i mean he's going to be working against karim mckenzie and you can tell mckenzie just can't get out of his stance and demarcus ware great athlete great speed and quickness it just wasn't even close you know they put the tide in there trying to get demarcus ware to line up a little bit wider which then would afford mckenzie a little bit more time to get into a position to make the block it wasn't even a contest second cowboy sack of the day [Applause] jacobs left side and a good play by ware on the other side of the field a gain of only two third and long coming up demarcus ware and oc human euro were childhood friends went to college together and they're now in the pros together they're both pro bowlers for the nfc and demarcus ware has had a good series here defensively for dallas third and 17. well it's been a great job right here by the cowboys defense considering that kickoff return and where this drive started [Applause] four-man rush they set up a screen jacobs tripped up fourth down greg ellis on the tackle you know all the all the giants were really trying to do if they can pick up a first down that's great but they really wanted to try to get into a position where they could attempt a field goal to tie this ball game up i think they pick up the first down if greg ellis doesn't make the play that he made when you talk about greg ellis just got named comeback player of the year had a career season in terms of sacks probably playing his best football here over the last two seasons he's just been a great leader for this defensive unit all season long now surprisingly dallas has to burn a time-out prior to this punt by feigls there's the play by ellis to bring him fourth down romo and fasano talk about i would imagine that last possession where fasano had potentially a touchdown go through his hands now it's fourth down for new york with creighton waiting deep for the punt [Applause] trying to do his thing takes a bounce and goes into the end zone so dallas will start at their 20. just a net of 20 yards picked up by the giants on that punt dallas up three by direct tv cowboys have it up three starting at their 20 and they hand to barber marion barber picks up three and a half let's go down to the field and pam oliver well joe obviously aaron ross wants to play the giants need him to play but it look doesn't look like he's going to be able to go currently he is out of his shoulder pads they put a sling on it they took the tape off apparently it was too tight for him he's shaking around his right hand but again that shoulder sprain on the right side is apparently too much for him so far back to you really had a very good rookie here thank you pam took over as the starter corey webster started the first three games and went to the bench ross was the nickel back early but they're now without him and using rw mcquarters from the throws in the pass complete to whitten troy is going to be awfully hard as jeffrey pope was out there defending there's a flag down back where romo got rid of the ball and this one is coming back it's going to be hard for this giant secondary to try and slow down all these weapons that the cowboys have as we go through the rest of this second half you know the giants haven't matched up particularly well against his cowboy skill players you know even in the first couple of games of the season now you minus sam madison you're down aaron ross i mean you've you've got a banged up group it even becomes that much more unnecessary roughness number 70 hitting a player out of the play half of this is a goal still first down that's leonard davis who is headed to his first pro bowl big number 70. he was showing a lot of his power on the inside and there's the extra hit yeah i think that was a good call you know michael strahan was on the ground the ball was out a good call there by the official that hurts the cowboys and right now i think that when you talk about romo missing terrell owens there that would have been a touchdown a penalty like this i think those are the things that have to work in the giants favor if they're going to have a chance to stop this cowboys offense because i just i just don't think they can hold up otherwise [Applause] on second down even though pete morelli said it was still first down the pass complete to it's four of those yards back and with under two minutes to play in this third quarter third and long coming up for this dallas offense and because of the fact that sam madison is down and and you know of course we knew that coming into the game but aaron ross now what they're having to do is they're matching corey webster up with terra loans regardless of where terrell owens lines up and so they're basically going man-to-man there he's now their best corner and then as you said we've got the jeff pope he's covering terry glenn right here and jeff pope was on the practice squad not too many weeks ago third down and 14. romo buys some time keeps the play alive and the pass dropped by creighton had it in his hands had first down yardage and dropped it i mean if creighton is able to make that catch i mean he may go 65 70 yards i mean just the middle of the field right now for the new york giants they're just completely exposed and that goes back to what i said is you know they're so thin back there that right now this is the only chance that the giants have of really slowing the cowboys down and that is the is the cowboys not executing the way that they would like some of these other cowboys should have gone to mexico a couple of drops on some pretty good throws from tony romo mcquarters returning the punt staying on his feet and giving the giants great field position inside the 40. [Applause] rogers forced him out after a 25-yard punt return by mcquarters great starting spot for the giants who trail by three the injured sam madison who is down on a knee with a warm-up top on is basically running the secondary meeting for the giants on their sideline according to pat hanlon their pr director only reason he's on the trip is because they want him to lead that group word on aaron ross is he's finished for the rest of the game out of the shotgun manning throws tumer left wide open and armani tumor has a first down at the 25. everybody backing up and tumor good for 12 yards and i think right now looking at this giants team i mean the count or uh the giants defensively as we see they're going to have some problems so right now it's really coming down to the special teams and this offense if they're going to have a chance to win this game special teams have done their job they've had the big kickoff return they had the nice punt return to put them in a position right here but now the burden is going to be on this giant's offense being able to score when they get those possessions kevin boss at the top of the screen the tight end across from roy williams manning pumps that way now throws that way and the pass incomplete [Applause] second and ten on sunday february 10th the sunday after the super bowl the all-star brandon jacobs has had some nice runs but ahmad bradshaw he just seems to give this team a little life he certainly did last week they're gonna you know see if he's able to do that here on this possession he's not had to carry yet but he's a guy who can certainly take it to distance if he gets a crease they have to be able to trust him blocking passes caught and immediately dropped his smith by reeves and that's the end of the third quarter here in irving texas 17-14 cowboys laid it strahan urging on the offense trail by three back after this from your local fox station third down and six for the giants as we start the fourth quarter [Applause] manning steps up throws completes steve smith sets up first and goal from the nine tells you what kind of confidence that tells you what kind of confidence eli manning has in steve smith and you know for a guy who hasn't played lexico burris out here was one on one you know he got a chance to maybe get him in a situation coming back over the middle but instead he works the rookie and it's because he's up against jack reeves going into this game both tom coughlin and eli manning could not stress it enough we want to go after jacques reeves when he's on the field an 11-yard completion on third and six in ahmad bradshaw stays on his feet down to the one madison hedgecock the fullback with a good block out in front of bradshaw madison hitchcock he had some big blocks last week in their win over tampa bay and you know what a luxury for a runner especially a young runner when you know you've got a guy in front of you that's going to be able to take out the first color that he sees and that's exactly what hedgecock does nice block right there on roy williams and gives ahmad bradshaw a place to go with the football for bradshaw troy 54 of his 66 yards rushing last week at the buccaneers came in the fourth quarter he's turning into mr fourth quarter for the giants second and goal jacobs is the tailback jacobs gets it and scores touchdown giants [Applause] and jacobs fires the football into the play clock as the giants now jump out in front for the second time in this game you know and again it was set up you know by the big punt return and gave this team great field position they do a good job and nice third down conversion there you know the giants have been good on third down all day long but none bigger than the one they had to steve smith and then some good solid running for the score so eli manning has been able to answer all day long and tynes knocks through an important extra point not by much brandon jacobs got the touchdown and then tried to dismantle the play clock 21-17 giants on top tom coughlin believed coming into this game the head coach of the giants they had an advantage in special teams play it has worked that way a 25-yard punt return set up that last touchdown pounded in by jacobs and now miles austin takes it from inside the 10. [Applause] penalty flag comes flying and there have been a lot of penalties against the cowboys big ones in this game zach diaz made that last play and this penalty is against dallas after a 20-yard return by austin and you're right joe that the giants they have won the special teams battle here illegal block in the back number 50 of the receiving team 10 yard penalty first down and that's why i say you know i always believe in jimmy johnson used to always tell us you got to win two of the three battles well the giants are winning the special teams battle they're not winning on defense and now it's really a matter of whether or not they can win on the offensive side of the ball but here's the drop by patrick creighton which was huge because if he catches this one running away from rw mcquarters i mean it was going to be a huge play for the cowboys and then there's the punt return that set up this last touchdown for the new york giants that was the eighth penalty called against dallas in this game there's been only one penalty called against the giants moves the ball back to the 13-yard line and marion barber gets it and a good play by butler coming up the first to hit him a loss of one we talk about the giant secondary and for more on that down to pam oliver yeah i'll tell you what steve spagnuolo spent that entire drive coaching up his secondary player sam madison and aaron ross joined the session even getting gatorade for the dbs antonio pierce sensing that that group needed some encouragement he went over to them pointed to his own head and said it's all up here indicating it's all mental back to you all right well spagnolo's done a great job the 48 year old first year defensive coordinator that's terrell owens at the bottom of your screen second and 11. pass is right into the gut of creighton and dropped it was either broken out mcquarters was on the coverage and i don't know if creighton dropped another or if mcquarters batted it away either way it's third and 11. well you're going to see whitton come across and no one really knew where the ball was being thrown you know whitten didn't know if it was going to him creighton wasn't sure if whitton was going to make the play and you know those are you know you're right it hits him hits him right in the chest you know to where he can make a play on it but just somebody got too much depth and it looked like it was jason witten who got underneath creighton to interfere on that cap pretty good coverage by mcquarters it's third and 11. pass is caught by whitten what a throw just as he was hit romo completes for 14 yards strahan was coming and tony romo just got rid of it well right now that's really been the downfall for this giants defense the cowboys have converted nine of 12 third downs they're finally able to get pressure there on tony romo but he does a good job of getting the ball out and a good route by jason whitton and making the catch tell you something that's happening here is that girard is having a tough time snapping in the shotgun we were here and watched a game against the redskins where jarrod was snapping it all over the place and romo's having to wait on those snaps he airs it out down the sideline for owens and it's through his hands covered by webster you know and in order for this play to even have a chance tony romo's got to have a lot of time back there in the pocket you're going to see you're going to see tara lowens here and he completely stops and then he goes it was a stutter go but normally you don't see a receiver come to that kind of halt before he'll take off there's the pump trying to get corey webster to bite but by pumping he then gets butler the safety involved in the play as well over the top webster it looked like got a left hand just on the ball good play by corey webster looking left all the way and the pass is caught by creighton webster was there again and creighton's good for 15 yards you got romo throwing off his back foot he's falling backwards and patrick creighton going up and making a play and corey webster was in great defensive position on this play initially it looked to me like corey webster may have come down with the ball but a good job by patrick creighton he's got great hands maybe the best hands on the team until right now i mean this defensive front is starting to get a little pressure on tony romo still does not have a sack but they are starting to harass him a little bit [Applause] first down back to the running game and marion barber certainly not much of a factor in this half after a big first half picks up two sunday february third tom petty you don't think that was a good flight home do you oh a blitz from the giants romo's in trouble and goes down sac for the first time in this game and there were four giants chasing him jay alford was there also pressure by antonio pierce yeah this was the time they wanted to dial up the deep ball here to miles austin against r.w mcquarters you're going to see that he's got a step more than a step he's wide open but because romo had to get flushed to his right side he's not able he knows he's not able to get enough on this throw to even try to make the throw now what he should have done is just throw it out of bounds and avoid the sack third down and 13. romo backpedaling throws out of the reach of glenn and you said it that entire series the giants finally got pressure on tony romo yeah and what a difference that makes i mean that's you know tony romo is human as well and any time a quarterback starts getting pressure bodies in his face right here you know he wants to be able to hold it you can tell i mean each time we've seen it we've seen the receivers running open they've got four or five yards on these defensive backs and so pressure is vital rick breyer hits the punt and hits a beauty [Applause] the head of mcquarters and down by carpenter to talk about a special teams play carpenter down field after a beautiful punt up 58 yards by matt mcbrier giants will start at their own three defensive line coach tony sperano letting his group have it yeah and with that i think he's perfectly qualified to be a head coach in this [Applause] league starting at their own three up by four of the giants handoff jacobs pushing that pile out to the nine and we go down to the field and chris myers well tony sperano was yelling at his offensive line upset that once the ball was snapped they were waiting one two and hesitating he said don't wait to get hit once we snap you launch forward you start the blocking hit somebody and we'll make something thank you chris second and four now for the giants who bought a little breathing room with that run by jacobs well i'll tell you that was a big run getting it off the goal line there and then putting it right now second and four this dallas defense needs to come up with a stop jacobs fights forward got away from anthony spencer and picked up two [Applause] third and short coming up for the giants even that was a pretty good run by brandon jacobs they had stopped him you know short for no game these teams have done an excellent job converting on third down you know right now dallas is able to stop the giants they're going to give the ball back to this offense in great field position and you know certainly the giants objective right now because of the injuries defensively to their own unit is to maintain possession and try to take time off the clock toss to jacobs trying to get to the edge he doesn't get it henry came up to support on the run [Applause] and the defense for the cowboys holds its fourth down that's a great job defensively by the cowboys i mean after a six yard run on first down by brandon jacobs and then two more runs not to give up four yards awfully impressive and now they're going to give the ball back to the cowboys with great field position and put the pressure right back squarely on the shoulders of this giants defense feagles to punt creighton waiting for it for dallas drops it gets back on top of it they'll start at their own 43 with seven minutes left dallas defense celebrating a hole whole giants with a four-point lead best starting field position for the cowboys today starting at their own 44 down by four and off to marion barber a little room to run he picks up four yards first guy to hit him was torber and for tony romo whose only other experience in the playoffs was that game that ended in seattle last year with a fumbled snap on a field goal try with a minute 14 left seattle won it 21 to 20. that seems like a lifetime ago i'm sure for tony romo who brings his team to the line with a second down and six but the number one seed in the nfc is in trouble here against the giants romo fires high and a penalty flag comes in creighton ended up on the ground so did romo this could be the second penalty of the day on the giants who were penalized only 77 times all season long prior to the pass holding number 25 defense 5 yard penalty automatic first down that's mcquarters yeah mcquarters matched up on patrick creighton you know he hit him within the five you see the jury gosh he's driving to the ground i mean you see rodeo cowboys that don't make moves like that i mean that was an easy call but they are getting pressure there on tony romo you know so much of this game he's been you know untouched but the last possession certainly we saw we've seen it now on this possession and the guys are starting to to feel their way in how they can get pressure there oc human year on that last one was the guy who got to rumble straight hand coming flushing romo out of the pocket who goes down did not get rid of the football and all the way back inside the 40 in the arms of kavika mitchell a loss of 14. you know if there's one criticism of tony romo's it's that we saw it a little bit earlier that once you get outside the pocket you know the rules are very liberal in the nfl and once you get outside the tackle box you know throw it away throw it away right there but he wants to make a play wants to get the ball down the field and sometimes you got to use better judgment than that a sack like that just kills you when you're trying to move the football get a first down i haven't said that the cowboys are one of the best teams in the national football league converting these types of situations into first [Applause] it's down and whitton gets it to the 41-yard line four yards short of a first down picked up 20 and he was sitting in a wide open hole in that defense that's that area where they've been exposing the giants they just haven't been able to catch the ball too many drops the linebackers just let widden go nobody carries them there's no reason for any of the linebackers to stay underneath because there were no receivers underneath the only guy was marion barber but both pierce and kevika mitchell stayed up stayed shallow and created that big boy for jason witten under five to play third down and four penalty flags at the snap and the pass is caught flags are down another flag comes in at the end of the play in the secondary there are two separate fouls on this player illegal formation offense now pete morelli will be alerted that there is another foul illegal formation offense only six men on the line of scrimmage five yard penalty still third down so they're going to romo is going to argue and say what about the penalty in the secondary there's no foul downfield for past interference and so they pick up the flag for pass interference and that makes it a little tougher on third down third and nine well i can tell you i mean you're watching tony he's getting frustrated he's getting frustrated getting knocked down he's getting frustrated that they haven't been able to take more advantage of what they've been given down the field it really is amazing to me corey webster matching up terrell owens one-on-one throughout this second half and they've yet to take advantage of it much like tampa bay could not do last week when he was covering joey galloway there's the matchup right there [Applause] romo goes for it penalty flag is owens can't come down with it webster had coverage but there is a flag in that area right at the 30. and it's against the giants that's webster and there isn't a bigger penalty in this game to this point well webster gets a jam on him at the line of scrimmage and then he let him go and then i really didn't see exactly what it was i mean you see the right hand but i didn't see him grabbing or anything so i i don't know exactly what the official saw there to warrant the penalty well they said illegal hands to the face so it had to be on that initial jam up up under the chin that was it it was just late throwing the flag so a first down at the 41 of the giants big penalty against new york romo with a pocket this time throws it away really no receiver in that vicinity romo was in the pocket but there is no flag for grounding on the field yeah i think it was because he wasn't in jeopardy well they throw it now i thought they weren't going to have it because he wasn't in jeopardy number nine offense 10-yard penalty and loss of down second down a lot of times the quarterback's in the pocket but he's not at risk of taking a sack they won't call that he clearly was within the pocket but there was nobody around him he was just throwing it away and said hey we'll just go on to the next play i'll tell you he doesn't throw it away when he's outside the pocket he throws it away when he's in the pocket yeah he really had nobody bearing down on him but he threw it over to an empty part of the field out of bounds and so it moves the ball back to the cowboy 49. well and with as much time as is being taken off the clock on this possession i think the cowboys really have to look at this drive as though they're not going to be given another opportunity just so you know dallas with two time-outs left the giants with all three [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hit as he threw it in the ball incomplete and human euro ends up on top of tony romo again and human euros smiling as he pulls himself off number nine it's third and 20. and here's tony romo talking to the official you know and trying to state his case as to what he was doing and why they should not have called it and he didn't win and players normally don't meanwhile wade phillips who was owen three in the post season in his head coaching career is watching the time run out on the cowboys with 403 left and i'll tell you o.c human europe he is really doing an excellent job right now getting pressure play clock and one and the cowboys have to use a timeout so this highly celebrated dallas offense moving backward at the moment romo looks flustered third and 20 when we come back you know great clutch defense put together by the giants banged up in the secondary getting pressure up front forced an intentional grounding it's third down and 20. [Applause] and surprisingly michael strahan not on the field dave tollefson and human euro are the ends [Applause] it's fourth down and flozell adams is slow to get up it's fourth and 20 after that incompletion and owens had gotten behind the defense well it sure had and and then in order to make that kind of play you've just got to have time in the pocket to be able to make that throw there's the pump and jason tuck i mean the guy who's been making plays all year long does a great job of getting pressure on tony romo right there you can see had romo had been given time he's probably able to get that ball out you see flozell adams who got tripped up underneath tuck after tuck brought romo to the ground so now mcquarters will wait for the punt under four minutes to play [Applause] from outside the ten mcquarters hauled it in and they will mark it at the 12th [Applause] where it's first down giants [Music] in a 13-win season for the dallas cowboys now they look at their defense and troy there's only one timeout remaining for the dallas cowboys so a first down or two here by the giants and they can wrap up this win that's right and they know that and they want to take time off the clock now the last time they had the ball they tried running it three straight times they failed to get a first down you know i mean they're up four they know that the cowboys have to score a touchdown but i do think they still have to play somewhat aggressively to continue to get first downs to win this game ahmad bradshaw gets it here we go out to the 16-yard line it's critical that they run hard and get yardage but you cannot afford a turnover here and yet ahmad bradshaw's the guy who's playing no turnovers in this game second down and six and you can bet that dallas is going to stack the line right here handoff to bradshaw not much out to the 17. under three to play aiken adele made that last play i do think that the i think the giants are making it easy for the cowboys joe because second down if you go with a boot you know the cowboys are expecting run you know you come with a naked boot get out on the edge you know try to stay ahead of the change now at third and five i mean obviously they've got to throw the football here but i think the giants may be hurt by being so conservative there on second down third down and five snap was a bit low manning steps up in trouble down he goes and the defense for the cowboys gives dallas a chance tank johnson in to make that play and give the giants or excuse me give the cowboys defense credit you know the last two possessions they forced the three and out [Applause] two minute warning here in dallas cowboys about to get it back down four two minutes left dallas did not have to use their timeout on that last possession by the giants feigls hits it creighton on the return decent blocking out in front of him and creighton gets it into giants territory a minute 50 remaining eagles didn't like that punt and so now the dallas cowboys the number one seed in the nfc 13 and three during the regular season down by four needing to get it into the end zone to advance to the nfc championship game and host the packers next sunday they are 48 yards away and this makeshift defense at least secondary for the giants if they can hold here it'll be one of the great jobs by defensive coordinator steve spagnolo patching this thing together back there and getting it done we've seen dallas in this situation a lot tony romo seems to play his best football in the no huddle situation [Applause] for barber breaks one tackle puts his head down stays inbounds and picks up nine went right through michael johnson shoved him away a minute 34 and counting tony romo says he's got about five-day plays that he has great confidence in regardless of the coverage he knows exactly where to go with the ball [Applause] just trying to pick up the first down and they don't accomplish that the ball comes out he was down meanwhile time is expiring off the clock it's third down and tony's trying to get him to the line of scrimmage he's clearly on the ground he he ran in to his own offensive lineman there but you're right valuable time coming off the clock it's third down romo in trouble flips it forward for whitten who has a first down inside the 25. dallas has a timeout left justin tuck is having a tough time getting off the field and now the clock is stopped as tuck can't get off the playing field 31 seconds left and i thought the cowboys were fortunate there because it looked like a good time after that completion to call a timeout they lost a lot of time off the clock and they weren't in any hurry at that point they were in a hurry but they weren't going to be able to get the ball snapped more seconds were going to come off and here's the play you know tony romo just ad libbing there i mean that's that's just what you do when you're out there playing in the yard jason whitton sees it he's in trouble he makes a move he gets away from it from pierce looks like yesterday and brett favre in the snow making that little flip to donald lee but the giants did have to spend the time out we talked to tony romo about this a few weeks ago and he said when i was a third string quarterback i really studied the two-minute offense and when to use time-outs and when to try and hang on to time-outs the cowboys have been able to hold on to their one remaining time-out which they have with 31 seconds left needing a touchdown to win and advance well that one time out is huge i mean clearly they need a touchdown but to be able to work the middle of the field and then even if they get a big gain down the middle you know they're still able to run the football if necessary because of the one time out left again i'll say it again the snap from gerard is not getting back to romo in time ball start number 75 offense five-yard penalty still first down you know they get columbo but the problem is the snap's not getting back no you're right that's columbo and and the ball everyone's moving i mean they could have called it on anybody and tony romo after this play i mean he went and talked to andre gerard and said hey look the ball's not coming out [Applause] romo saying there are times when jarrod can get a little yippy with the snap on a shotgun it has happened in this game that one's better first and 15. pass is complete they'll keep the clock winding and a timeout with 24 seconds left is taken by dallas if they're gonna give forward progress that's right they're not going to allow them the clock to stop with whitten getting out of bounds so they gave whitten the forward progress yeah that's exactly right joe and you know if they're gonna give forward progress then you can't also get the clock stopped that was a good job by the official recognizing that i know that wade phillips did for the dallas cowboys now out of timeouts hey see that defensive front right there josie humanura michael strahan justin tuck i mean you know right now they pretty much know it's it's in a lot of ways on them i mean if they're able to get back there and contain tony romo and get pressure on him they have a good chance because you know we know that if he's given time right now the middle of the field looks open that he can find an open guy romo throws incomplete third and eleven with 21 seconds left pressure by human europe and i'll tell you what i mean for a guy who had not been getting hit much he's been getting absolutely pounded here in the second half particularly here in the fourth quarter i mean you see ocumanuri puts a move on flozell adams comes underneath and every time pretty much that tony romo's dropped back here and back in the pocket here in this fourth quarter he's been on his back either that or running for his life third [Applause] end zone creighton overthrown now it's fourth and eleven with 16 seconds remaining i'll tell you if you're jason garrett fourth and eleven i mean there's not a lot of good calls for fourth and eleven and steve spagnola the defensive coordinator knows that as well and corey webster you know they went after corey webster a little bit early in the game they were able to make some plays but when aaron ross went down every one of these guys has been pretty much asked to cover one-on-one corey webster especially and he's done a good job and now it comes down to one play on fourth down clock running intercepted giants mcquarters and the new york giants [Applause] are nine seconds away from advancing to the nfc championship mcquarters got one at the end of the game last week in tampa florida and he gets one here wade phillips it appears will remain winless in the postseason as will romo as tony romo throws the pick to end the day offensively for dallas and great coverage downfield well it sure was joe and i said the middle of the field's open that's where the ball needed to go but you know just great coverage by r.w mcquarters when he followed him in the scene you can't say enough about this giants team and what they just accomplished in the way that they played and what they had to do at the end to win this game and i know jerry jones and the rest of this organization is absolutely sick there is a manning in a championship game next weekend and his name is not peyton eli manning has managed this giants offense yet again the defense with a heroic effort banged up in the secondary good enough for a four-point win here today in dallas a lot more to come as we take a break

Channel: Bart Simpson

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Id: KtEjdHOwBzA

Length: 121min 42sec (7302 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 10 2021