Three reasons the Giants beat the Cowboys

Every game has its moments. Every game has a winner. The Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants both had their moments, but it was the G-Men who emerged the winners. Here’s why:

1. Penalties: The Giants kept their performance generally mistake-free, but it was the Cowboys who made the costly errors. Eleven penalties for 84 lost yards were too much to overcome, compared to the Giants’ three flags. But it wasn’t so much how many penalties the Cowboys committed, it was how and when they occurred. How many times did the Dallas line jump its own snap? In my train of thought, a team could commit 20 penalties and still win. But if a team commits one penalty at the worst possible time—such as the personal foul facemask on the Giants’ touchdown drive before halftime, the intentional grounding late in the fourth, or the false start on Dallas’ final drive—the game could go south quickly.

2. The kicking game: Specifically, the Giants return game gave New York the field position battle, by a long shot. On four kickoff returns, the Giants averaged 26.5 yards per return, with a long of 45 by Hixon. Compare that to the Cowboys’ 22 yards per kickoff return, with a long of 29. Then, and possibly most important in last night’s game, was McQuarters’ 25-yard punt return to set up the New York score with 1:08 left in the third quarter. The Cowboys returned two punts for a total of eight yards.

3. The new-and-improved, Eli Manning: No, it wasn’t his second game in a row without an interception. It wasn’t his 12 for 18 completions with two touchdowns. It was his leadership abilities, facing a seven-point hole with 47 seconds left before the half, on his own 29 yard line. Within two plays, the Giants moved into Cowboy territory, later followed up by completions of 11, 19 and a touchdown pass for four yards with 11 seconds left. Manning grew up on that drive, and gave his team new life going into the locker room. Depending on how the trip to Green Bay goes, that may be put into “The Drive” folder of memories.

I hope my dabble into the NFL wasn’t too painful for the readers. I’ll try to be better next time.