At this point, it was starting to appear as if the Giants offense may be done scoring for the day. As it turned out the offense wouldn't so much as get another first down following the go ahead score. Thus, the collective hopes of the Giants and their faithful fans laid with the defense - a tired and injury-depleted defense at that.
To say the Cowboys dominated the time of possession on Sunday would be an understatement. The Dallas offense had the ball for nearly 37 minutes, running 69 plays; 28 more than the Giants. Adding to the tall task that lay ahead in the final 7 minutes was a shoulder injury sustained by Aaron Ross before the start of the fourth quarter which reunited him with fellow CBs Sam Madison and Kevin Dockery on the sidelines. If I told you before the game that to win, the Gmen would have to fend off two late go-ahead drives starting around mid-field with RW McQuarters and Geoffery Pope playing prominent roles in the pass defense would you have still tuned in?
Well that is exactly what the Giants did in nerve-racking fashion with one of the most inspired displays of team defense I have witnessed in all my years as a fan of the Big Blue. The first Dallas drive inside the 7 minute mark would get as far as the NYG 41 yard line before falling apart, thanks in large part to a Kawika Mitchell sack as well as a costly intentional grounding call on Tony Romo. The Giants defense started getting to and hitting Romo late in the game forcing him to rush throws with pressure ultimately resulting in two sacks.
Following another Giants 3 and out, the stage was set for Tony Romo to earn his first playoff win in dramatic fashion and for me to go on suicide watch. Being a Giant fan I have been on the receiving end of some terrible playoff losses which featured similar scripts. Sucking down beer like it was the anecdote for my nerve-induced nausea I paced in my living room, hands in pocket. Panicked text messages poured in and while I checked them during the commercial breaks I was too nervous to reply. I found myself living each passing moment by the code of my strange superstitions, developed entirely during the 4th quarter - stand in the same spot, keep hands in pocket, put beer bottle down while play is in progress, rinse and repeat...
Amidst the late game madness, was a sequence of events which was so surreal I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't stuck in a bizarre lucid dream. It began with Tony Romo completing an improbable shovel pass on the run to Jason Witten for a gain of 18 yards to the Giants 22. Immediately after the play, Fox cut to a clip of Brett Favre completing a similar type of circus pass on Saturday versus the Seahawks as Joe Buck gushed about Romo's virtues.
With my guests and I already visibly rattled, we are then taken to a close up of a fiery Jerry Jones clapping with great intensity on the Dallas sidelines, Superbowl rings blinging in the setting Texas sun. Finally, with the room now comatose, the Fox cameras head back to the field capturing Justin Tuck writhing in pain on the Texas Stadium carpet.
As demoralizing as that sequence was, it served to make the game-ending interception by RW McQuarters that much sweeter. The Giants had overcome great odds in avenging their lone road loss of the season, raising their record away from East Rutherford to an incredible 9-1. And, as always, to the victor goes the spoils. A bumbling, disheveled Wade Phillips looking like he just got bounced from a dive bar at 3am. A frowning Tony Romo left searching for answers and the icing on the cake, a sobbing TO feebly defending his QB.
With two ghosts of playoff past - Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens - sent packing, the Giants now head on to Green Bay for what promises to be their toughest test of the season: Brett Favre in Arctic Lambeau.
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