Julius Jones will be glad if he doesn't have to face the Giants again this year. In two games, he picked up 54 yards on 24 carries. He's gone seven games without averaging 4 yards a carry. The Giants did a lot of moving up front that made it difficult for the linemen at times, leaving Jones with little room to run. Marion Barber continued to be a monster near the goal line, rushing for two more touchdowns. He also had a 25-yard pickup.
RUN DEFENSE
C
Tiki Barber did not run for more than 100 yards, like he did when these teams first met, but he still picked up 90 with a long gain of 20 yards. His backup, Brandon Jacobs, had 29 yards on five carries. The Cowboys missed too many tackles, especially coming up from the secondary. But DeMarcus Ware dropped Jacobs for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-1 to help set up the go-ahead field goal before halftime.
PASS OFFENSE
B
For the first time as a starter, Tony Romo struggled, but when it mattered most, he came up with a 42-yard completion to Jason Witten. Romo slide- stepped the rush all day but threw two interceptions and fumbled once. Terrell Owens led the Cowboys with eight catches for 84 yards but had two more drops. Like Romo, however, Owens, Terry Glenn and Patrick Crayton produced when it mattered most.
PASS DEFENSE
C-
Eli Manning had his second-best yardage day of the season, picking up 270 yards and completing 24 of 36 passes. He did not face the same pressure his brother, Peyton, faced three weeks ago. The Giants made sure they knew where DeMarcus Ware was in all situations, Anthony Henry was called for a questionable pass interference penalty, but he and Aaron Glenn came up with huge end-zone pass deflections.
SPECIAL TEAMS
B+
When a team wins a game on a 46-yard field goal, the bad plays get pushed aside. Martin Gramatica missed from 44 yards on the game's first drive but rebounded with makes from 41, 35 and 46 yards. Miles Austin was solid as a kick returner with a 26.8-yard average but had a personal foul for making a tackle after a fair catch. The kickoff coverage team allowed its longest return – 28 yards – on NY's tying drive in the fourth.
COACHING
B
Running game coordinator Tony Sparano and passing game coordinator Todd Haley told Tony Romo they were not sitting on the ball with a minute to go and attacked deep on the first play. Defensively, the Cowboys played coverage most of the day against Eli Manning, and the front four was unable to get pressure. It worked partly, with Plaxico Burress averaging just 7.2 yards per catch, but Manning ate up underneath routes late.
OVERALL
A
It wasn't pretty, but it was gutty. The Cowboys have won four straight games in a variety of fashions but this might have been most impressive because they answered every Giants challenge. As well as things have gone since Tony Romo has been the starter, the Cowboys still had to show they could win a big division game in a hostile environment. The defense made just enough plays. The offense made just enough plays. And the special teams made just enough plays. It's the type of win that can boost a team for the rest of the season.
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