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Wade Phillips led the Cowboys to a 13-3 record in the regular season which gave them home field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs. But, once again Phillips couldn’t even win one playoff game as the Giants beat them on their own football field. Phillips now has a record of 61-42 (.592 %) during the regular season in his career as a NFL head coach but he’s a terrible 0-4 in the post season.
The Cowboys controlled the football for 36:30 of this game but it didn’t matter as their season ended with a thud on Sunday. Tony Romo picked a bad day to have a sub par game. He completed 18 of 36 passes for 201 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception. He also carried the ball 3 times for 17 yards (5.7 ypc). Marion Barber was the workhorse for the Cowboys in the running game as he carried the ball 27 times for 129 yards (4.8 ypc) with 1 TD run. Jason Witten (7 rec, 81 yards) and Terrell Owens (4 rec, 49 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Cowboys. The Cowboys finished up with 154 yards rushing on 33 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 36 passes for 182 yards.
DeMarcus Ware led the way for the Cowboys on defense with 4 tackles and a sack. The Giants finished up with 90 yards on 23 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 18 passes for 140 yards.
This will be the third game between these two rivals which were both won by the Dallas Cowboys. Still, the Cowboys haven’t played in the last couple of weeks and they rested their players in the last regular season game against the Redskins so they could be rusty. The Giants however are playing their best football of the season and they are 8-1 on the road this season with the only loss at Dallas.
The key to the game for the Giants when they have the football will be mixing up the play calling. That’s because the Giants will be in trouble if they know when Eli Manning will be throwing the football. CBs Terence Newman and Anthony Henry are outstanding cover corners so look for Manning to throw the ball a lot to tight end Kevin Boss over the middle of the football field.
The Cowboys will try to also mix up the play calling to slow the Giants pass rush which has been outstanding all season long. Look for the Cowboys to lean on Marion Barber in the running game and TE Jason Witten in the passing game. The Giants defense will likely focus on stopping Terrell Owens who dominated them this season. With that in mind look for the Cowboys to use Patrick Crayton and Terry Glenn often.
PREDICTION: COWBOYS 31, GIANTS 27
Skeptics were abound that thought Tony Romo could have been a flash in the pan last season but they were wrong about him. Romo played in all 16 games this season for the Cowboys and he completed 335 of 520 passes (64.4%) for 4,211 yards with 36 TD passes and 19 interceptions (97.4 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 31 times for 129 yards (4.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs. Romo has now played in 48 games in his NFL career and he has completed 555 of 857 passes (64.8%) for 7,114 yards with 55 TD passes and 32 interceptions (96.5 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 67 times for 229 yards (3.4 ypc) with 2 TD runs.
Brad Johnson got to play in every game last season (because he was the holder) but he only threw passes in one game. Johnson played in all 16 games for the Cowboys last season and he completed 7 of 11 passes (63.6%) for 79 yards (85.0 QB Rating). He also carried the ball 5 times for -5 yards (-1.0 ypc) this season. Johnson has now played in 161 games in his NFL career and he has completed 2,627 of 4,248 passes (61.8%) for 28,627 yards with 164 TD passes and 117 interceptions (83.1 QB Rating). He also has carried the football 274 times for 658 yards (2.4 ypc) with 8 TD runs.
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The Cowboys only played their starters in the first half of this game but the Redskins dominated them the whole way. Tony Romo only completed 7 of 16 passes for 86 yards with a interception. Brad Johnson followed Romo in the game and he completed 7 of 11 passes for 79 yards. Julius Jones rushed for 7 yards on 8 carries (0.9 ypc) to lead the Cowboys in rushing. Sam Hurd led the Cowboys in receiving with 64 yards on 3 catches (21.3 avg). The Cowboys finished up with 1 yard rushing on 16 carries (0.1 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 27 passes for 146 yards.
Bradie James led the Cowboys defense with 12 tackles in this game. The Redskins finished up with 131 yards rushing on 37 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 31 passes for 223 yards.