By Patti Traina
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The New York Giants responded to coach Tom Coughlin's "all in" challenge by turning in their most complete game of the season, a 31-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys in front of 81,077 at MetLife Stadium.
The win caps a successful final quarter of the season for the Giants, who won three of their final four games, including their final two, en route to the NFC East title.
"There were times tonight when it was a little nerve wracking, particularly in the third quarter, but we straightened it out and finished the game the way we wanted to finish it," Coughlin said.
The win gives the Giants the NFC East title, and they will play host to the Atlanta Falcons at 1 p.m. ET next Sunday.
"That was nothing. Next week is going to be even better," Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said. "We're in the playoffs!"
Meanwhile, the Cowboys, who were their own worst enemy in this game, will begin their offseason.
The first half of the game was all Giants as they jumped out to a 21-0 lead. Receiver Victor Cruz posted a 74-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter on a 3rd-and-1, aided by a downfield block by fellow receiver Hakeem Nicks.
Running back Ahmad Bradshaw had the other two first-half touchdowns for the Giants, both coming in the second quarter. The first came on a five-yard run and the second on a 10-yard pass from quarterback Eli Manning.
The Giants' defense kept Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo off balance throughout the first half. Although Romo completed 10-of-12 passes in the first 30 minutes of play, he only managed to get 97 yards as he was sacked three times by New York.
"Give them credit; they did a great job," said Romo of the Giants' pass rush that sacked him six times by the end of the game. "Early in the game they got after us pretty good."
Dallas, which also had six first-half penalties among its litany of mistakes, also converted just one of its six third-down attempts in the half as the Giants defense continued to bring the pressure and cover the Dallas receivers tightly.
"Our biggest issue on offense early on was the negative plays," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said of the first half issues. "They did a good job rushing the quarterback and getting some sacks. They got us out of rhythm, got us into some bad down-and- distance situations. We were trying to get some of that rhythm going, but when you're in those bad down-and-distance situations, behind the chains too much, harder to do that against a good pass rushing team. They've got a lot of good pass rushers and we just couldn't get that started."
The Cowboys finally got on the board in the third quarter when Romo found receiver Laurent Robinson for a 34-yard touchdown reception to make it 21-7.
In the second half, the Cowboys continued to squander their opportunities. After finally getting on the board thanks to a 34-yard pass from Romo to receiver Laurent Robinson, the Cowboys appeared to have forced a Giants turnover at the Dallas 40 when Giants running back DJ Ware was stripped of the ball and the fumble was recovered by linebacker Sean Lee.
However, an offside penalty called against Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware nullified the turnover and the Giants continued on the drive.
The Cowboys eventually got the ball back thanks to the Giants' inability to convert on 4th-and-1. However, after driving all the way down to the Giants' 10-yard line, Dallas, facing a 4th-and-1, came up short of the first down on a quarterback sneak by Romo, which was stopped by Pierre-Paul and linebacker Michael Boley to snuff out the potential Cowboys scoring drive.
The Cowboys finally got a break thanks to a Giants mistake when on a 13-yard punt return by Dez Bryant, Devin Thomas was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which gave Dallas the ball at the Giants' 41. Working from the no-huddle, Romo connected with Robinson for their second score of the day three plays later, this one being a six-yard strike to narrow the Giants' lead to 21-14.
Unfazed by the Cowboys' surge in momentum, the Giants offense went right back to work on the ensuing drive. Manning and Cruz connected on passes of 44 and 20 yards, the second one giving New York first-and-goal on the Cowboys' eight.
"He just keeps on going and thank God he does," Coughlin said of Cruz, who finished with six catches for 178 yards and a touchdown.
After Manning was sacked by Ware for a loss of 10 yards, he scrambled on third down for eight yards to set up a 28-yard field goal attempt for kicker Lawrence Tynes, who earlier in the game had missed a 40-yard field goal wide right. Tynes' 28-yarder gave the Giants a 24-14 lead.
New York drove the final nail in the Cowboys' coffin as with 4:04 left on the clock, Manning found Nicks for 36 yards to give the Giants first-and-goal on the Dallas 4. They followed that play up with a back shoulder fade from Manning to Nicks for the four-yard touchdown and the 31-14 lead.
"We were long overdue for this opportunity and we came out here and captured it as a team," said Giants safety Antrel Rolle. "We knew we needed two wins back to back in order to make ourselves eligible for the post season and everyone threw in all their poker chips and we were all in."
The game against Atlanta will mark the Giants' first playoff game since the 2008 season, when as the NFC's top seed they were defeated in the divisional round by the Eagles, 23-11.
The Giants, who have never faced the Falcons in the postseason, are tied with the Falcons 10-10 in the regular-season series, with the Giants having outscored Atlanta 363-354 in those 20 games played.
Dallas, which dropped four out of its final five games, fell to third place behind the Eagles with the loss.
"I can't put it into words," said linebacker Keith Brooking about the loss. "People don't understand what we've been through and how hard we worked, what we put into this and the sacrifices we make. It's tough man."
Game Notes: Cruz, who had a first-quarter 74-yard touchdown reception that gave the Giants a 7-0 lead, now has five touchdown catches of 65 yards or more, the most since Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch had six for the Rams in 1951. … Pierre-Paul, who had sack of Romo in the first half, finished with 16.5 sacks for the season, the highest number of sacks by a Giants defender since defensive end Michael Strahan set the NFL record with 22.5 in 2001 … Manning, who finished with 346 yards, recorded his 22nd career 300-yard passing game. That put him ahead of Phil Simms in the franchise record books for the most 300-plus games by a quarterback.
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