A Clean Sweep My 5 Points from Cowboys vs. Giants

My 5 Points: Cowboys vs. Giants
by. William C. Walker Jr.

Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray (29) runs behind the block by wide receiver Dez Bryant (88) in the third quarter at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Sunday, November 23, 2014. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News)

November 25, 2014

I apologize for the tardiness on my latest 5 point review of the Cowboys vs. Giants.  If you missed the game I'm sure you've seen the high-lights on what was a surprisingly close game.  Entering in the game on a 5 game losing streak were the Giants, and the Cowboys were coming off the bye.  Even though it was a division game and a rivalry in prime-time, many didn't expect the game we saw.  Without further adieu here are my 5 points on Cowboys vs. Giants.

5. That Catch: Despite the vast majority of media reports on the amazing Odell Beckham Jr. catch Dallas did win the game.  But I'd be lying if I didn't say that catch by Beckham was amazing.  The fact that NBC had a great video package of Beckham making the catches in pregame, then two plays later Beckham makes the same catch.  Flat out brilliant and a sight to behold, even though I'll argue it was more offensive pass interference than defensive.  That still doesn't take away that guy caught the ball with 3 FINGERS.  I'm just happy that Dallas won't have to see Beckham again until next year.

4. 2nd Half Defense: The Cowboys defense in the first half was horrendous.  There's no other way to describe it, the Giants at one point during the first half was 7 for 7 on 3rd down.  Odell Beckham Jr. was a one man wrecking crew against the secondary, and for the life of me Dallas refused to double him.  Whatever adjustments or words Rod Marinelli had for his defense it worked.  While the New York offense racked up 21 points in the first half they were held to only 7 in the 2nd.  A defense that refused to make plays came up with pressure.  Even though everyone will remember Beckham's spectacular catch no play was bigger than Barry Church's interception when New York was at the Dallas 18 yard line.  Eli Manning threw a horrible pass missing a wide open receiver with the ball tipped to Church who returned it to the 50 yard line. The icing on the cake was comeback player of the year Rolando McClain stop Rashad Jennings from picking up the first down on 4 & 2 to end the game.

3. The O-line Shines: Once again Dallas's young offensive line puts in a stellar performance.  None was more evident than on the Cowboy's last drive with just under 3 minutes and 80 yards to go.  The line gave Romo all day to pick apart the Giants secondary.  The highlights were clearly when on 2 separate plays where Romo nearly had 7 seconds to find a receiver.  You heard me right, 7 SECONDS. That's practically unheard of, and when you have receivers like Dez Bryant and Jason Witten asking defenders to cover them for 7 seconds is darn near impossible.  As if the pass rush wasn't beautiful enough they continued to open up wide lanes for DeMarco Murray to run through.

2. Dez & DeMarco!: Out of the Cowboys 53 offensive plays Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray accounted for 36 touches.  This dynamic duo has been the one two punch that's been leading this offense.  DeMarco Murray is on pace to finish the season with over 1900 yards rushing.  Breaking Emmitt Smith's single season franchise record.  What makes this so great is that when teams decide to put 8 in the box, it gives Dez Bryant the chance to exploit one on one match-ups.  With both players in a contract year the two continue to excel.  Murray has now crossed the century mark in rushing for the 10th time out of 11 games.  Not to be outdone Dez now has 13 touchdowns in the last 16 games dating back to last season.  They're not Emmitt Smith or Michael Irvin but with this play these two have a chance to write their own history.

1. Romo at his Best: Tony Romo at the age of 34 with a bad back is playing the best football of his career.  With his masterful drive for the game winning score.  Going 6 for 6 for over 60 yards and a 13 yard touchdown strike to Dez Bryant.  Despite the perception of Tony Romo not being clutch or always coming up short in the big moments.  With the win over the Giants Romo has now become the current quarterback with the most 4th quarter comeback victories since he took over the starting QB job in 2006.  I don't know where this season is going to end but I know the more that Romo plays like this, the greater the chance that this team will be playing in late January.