Cowboys close 2004 as they began it, by loosing.
It was hard to get too bent out of shape over last nights game. The Cowboys lost their 10 game of the year in the closing seconds of the game. The game had a preseason feel to it, at least to me it did. I did not weigh to heavily on the outcome although I did want the Cowboys to win.
A win would have made the team feel good, but not much else. A loss, only improves their drafting position in the upcoming 2005 NFL draft (it looks like the Cowboys will have the 11th and 20th picks in the 1st round). And lets face it, Cowboy fans have only that one day to look forward to for a long time. The Bills lost too, so the Cowboys took 2 steps forward for draft day.
The Cowboys offense was able to move the ball easily but had to settle for 3 field goals in the 1st half. The Defense, gave up only 1 drive by the Giants in the 1st half and other than that was able to shut the Giants offense down. The Cowboys were leading at half 9-7.
The Cowboys were controlling the ball, had a decent run game going and Vinny Testaverde was efficient. The defense faltered on 1 drive but was able to pressure rookie QB Eli Manning just enough to keep him off target.
In the 2nd half, the Cowboys were more of the same. The running game even improved a little as the Cowboys took their 1st possession of the 2nd half all the way down for a Touchdown and a 16-7 lead. The Cowboys also used up most of the 3rd quarter with this drive.
The Giants answered quickly scoring 2 touchdowns in 3 minutes time. The 1st was setup by a long Pass Interference call on Lance Frazier, who was picked on most of the night. The 2nd TD came after a Vinny Testaverde fumble on the 1st play of the Cowboys next possession. In 3 minutes time the Cowboys went from leading by 9 to trailing by 5.
After a 3 and out, the Cowboys got the ball back with around 7 minutes to play and moved the ball down the field for the go ahead touchdown. On 4th and goal from the 1 with less than 2 minutes to play, Julius Jones scored his 1st touchdown of the night. A 2 point conversion gave the Cowboys a 3 point lead with 1:40 some odd seconds left.
The Cowboys defense needed to stiffen, and it appeared they may not have to when the Giants fumbled the kickoff but the Cowboys were unable to recover and the Giants were alive.
On the very 1st play, the Giants were in field goal range thanks to a short catch and long run by Tiki Barber and a roughing the passer on Leo Carson. A few plays later, Tiki Barber was celebrating the Giants win as the new career rushing leader for the NY Giants.
The Cowboys were game and played well on offense but the defense gave up 21 points in the 4th quarter alone and lost. This was the story of the season, when the offense played well, the defense faltered and when the defense played well the offense faltered.... Such was life for this 2004 Cowboys squad.
Injuries; Keyshawn Johnson - ankle
Player of the Game
Another easy call, Julius Jones rushed for 149 yards on 29 carries and 1 TD. Plus he added another 46 yards on 5 catches. Julius Jones has quickly become the Dallas Cowboys most prominent player.
Other players who deserve props on offense are Jason Witten who had 8 catches for 77 yards and 1 TD. Vinny Testaverde had his best game of the season with 231 yards on 23 for 30 passing, 1 TD and NO INTs for the 1st time since week 6 in Green Bay.
Grades:
Offense - B; The one turnover really hurt plus the inability to score TDs in the 1st half, but the Cowboys controlled the ball and moved up and down the field easily enough to win. Offensive line could have protected Vinny better.
Special teams - B; made all our kicks, covered well. Could do a better job returning kickoffs. I think this is where the Cowboys really miss ReShard Lee.
Defense - C-; not a good ending for the defense. They were able to contain Eli Manning and the Giants offense for 3 qtrs but the Giants scored 21 points in the final period with the final 7 coming with just 11 seconds to play.
Did you notice?
Mike Patrick called Terrance Copper, Terrance Cooper at least 3 times before finally getting it right.
Vinny Testaverde's completion pct for the year is 58.9%!
The Giants RED ZONE pct before the game was 44.0% (29th in the league). That number will improve with a 4-4 performance.
17 players were on the IR for the Giants!
After Keyshawn left the game, Terrance Copper, Quincy Morgan, and Patrick Crayton were the ONLY WR dressed for the Cowboys.
Eli Manning had 3 TD passes in his 1st 6 games and then had 3 last night.
Eli Manning is the 1st NY Giant Rookie QB to throw 3 TD passes in a game since Phil Simms in 1979.
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