Cowboys pull out a win in Overtime.
Pretty it wasn't but sometimes you have to win ugly, or as Al Davis likes to say, 'just win baby' and win the Cowboys did.
The Cowboys appeared to have no desire to win early on, turning the ball over 3 of the first 4 times they had the ball but thanks to the defense, the Giants could get no more than 6 points off of the Cowboys early miscues.
Once the Cowboys stopped shooting themselves in the foot, they moved the ball effectively enough to record a 2nd quarter touchdown pass from Bledsoe to Witten but a last second field goal attempt was blocked forcing the Cowboys to enter half time with a bad taste in their mouth clinging to a 1 point lead.
If the Cowboys learned their lesson from their first half miscues, you couldn't tell it from the 3rd quarter. The Cowboys had a touchdown called back because of holding and then another penalty pushed them back so far that Jose Cortez missed a 48 yard field goal. The 3rd quarter ended as the first half did, with the Cowboys ahead 7-6.
The Giants took a page from the Cowboys first half woes and started turning the ball over, but like the Cowboys defense before them, the Giants defense only allowed the Cowboys 6 points off of their miscues. The Giants final turnover came on their own 1 yard line with just under 2 minutes to play. With their full set of timeouts the Giants forced the Cowboys to punt the ball out of their own end zone and with 50 some odd seconds the Giants had new life.
Just like the Redskins had done to the Cowboys a few weeks before, the Giants struck with the speed of a Cobra scoring the game tying touchdown in only 2 plays, the final a 27 yarder from Eli Manning to Jeremy Shockey.
Fortunately for the Cowboys they won the overtime coin toss and never relinquished the ball. The Cowboys drove down the field in a few plays and set up Jose Cortez for the game winning 45 yard field goal.
Ugly, yes! A Division Win - BIG YES!
Injuries; Flozell Adams - knee, Patrick Crayton - ankle.
Player of the Game; Lots of defensive players could get the nod, but I think Anthony Henry with a forced fumble and an interception on the goal line had his best game as a Cowboy and was the best Cowboy on Sunday!
Other players who deserve props; Despite the interception and 2 fumbles, Drew Bledsoe had another stellar day passing the ball. Keyshawn Johnson had his first 100 yard day of the season, leading the Cowboys in receiving. La'Roi Glover had 2 sacks and DeMarcus Ware recorded a sack for the 4th game in a row. Marion Barber got a lot of reps late in the game and had his best game as a Pro. Last but not least, Jose Cortez making the 45 yard game winning field goal.
Grades:
Offense - C-; Four turnovers will get you beat 9 times out of 10 but this was the 1 time the Cowboys could get away with it. The offense moved the ball well but continually shot themselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties.
Defense - A; Another top notch defensive performance. The defense carried the Cowboys on Sunday to victory. They limited the Giants to 98 yards for the 1st 3 quarters and allowed the Giants a 1st down on 3rd down only 1 time out of 11!
Special teams - B; Special teams won the game with the late field goal but the one blocked field goal and one missed 48 yarder almost came back to haunt the Cowboys.
Did you notice? DeMarcus Ware has a sack in 4 games in a row the most since Jim Jeffcoat had 5 in a row back in the early 90's.
Anthony Henry continues to prove he was worth the 10 million signing bonus.
Keyshawn recorded his 700th career catch laying on his back.
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
OT |
Final |
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7 |
0 |
6 |
3 |
16 |
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3 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
13 |
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Scoring Summary |
1st Quarter |
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FG |
Jay Feely 50 Yd, 10:36. |
2nd Quarter |
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FG |
Jay Feely 45 Yd, 8:42. Drive: 6 plays, 5 yards in 3:03. |
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TD |
Jason Witten, 2 Yd pass from Drew Bledsoe (Jose Cortez kick is good), 0:40. Drive: 16 plays, 83 yards in 8:02. |
3rd Quarter |
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none |
4th Quarter |
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FG |
Jose Cortez 29 Yd, 12:44. Drive: 15 plays, 79 yards in 8:48. |
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FG |
Jose Cortez 28 Yd, 4:40. Drive: 9 plays, 23 yards in 4:23. |
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TD |
Jeremy Shockey, 24 Yd pass from Eli Manning (Jay Feely kick is good), 0:19. Drive: 2 plays, 52 yards in 0:33. |
Overtime |
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FG |
Jose Cortez 45 Yd, 11:13. Drive: 8 plays, 51 yards in 3:47. |
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Passing |
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CP/AT |
YDS |
TD |
INT |
D. Bledsoe |
26/37 |
312 |
1 |
1 |
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Rushing |
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ATT |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
A. Thomas |
21 |
47 |
0 |
12 |
M. Barber |
11 |
30 |
0 |
11 |
T. Thompson |
3 |
13 |
0 |
8 |
D. Bledsoe |
3 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
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Receiving |
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REC |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
K. Johnson |
8 |
120 |
0 |
26 |
T. Glenn |
6 |
64 |
0 |
18 |
J. Witten |
5 |
56 |
1 |
26 |
P. Crayton |
4 |
46 |
0 |
17 |
M. Barber |
2 |
21 |
0 |
15 |
D. Campbell |
1 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
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Fumbles |
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FUM |
LOST |
REC |
YDS |
D. Bledsoe |
2 |
2 |
0 |
-3 |
K. Johnson |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
G. Ellis |
0 |
0 |
1 |
37 |
J. Ferguson |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
R. Williams |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Kicking |
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FG |
LG |
XP |
PTS |
J. Cortez |
3/5 |
45 |
1/1 |
10 |
Punting |
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NO |
AVG |
I20 |
LG |
M. McBriar |
3 |
40.3 |
2 |
51 |
Kickoff Returns |
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NO |
AVG |
TD |
LG |
T. Thompson |
5 |
20.0 |
0 |
26 |
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Punt Returns |
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NO |
AVG |
TD |
LG |
P. Crayton |
3 |
3.3 |
0 |
6 |
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Defense |
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T-A |
SCK |
INT |
FF |
R. Williams |
5-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
A. Henry |
4-3 |
0.0 |
1 |
0 |
L Glover |
3-0 |
2.0 |
0 |
0 |
B. James |
3-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
T. Newman |
3-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
W. Pile |
3-2 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
D. Ware |
3-1 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
S. Fujita |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
A. Glenn |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
M. Barber |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
C. Canty |
1-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
G. Ellis |
1-0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
A. Johnson |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
S. Shanle |
1-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
A. Singleton |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
T. Copper |
0-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
K. Davis |
0-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
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Next game; Sunday October 23rd in Seattle against the Seahawks. The Cowboys and Seahawks played in a thriller last year on Monday Night Football where the Cowboys stole the game with 2 late touchdowns. Expect the Seahawks high powered offense to be looking for some revenge. This will mark the Cowboys 4th and final trip to the West Coast this season. The Cowboys won 2 of the first 3 trips out West so far and hope to pick up their 3rd win in 4 trips come Sunday.
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