EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" blared from the Giants Stadium speaker system as Martin Gramatica walked out on the field with six seconds to play Sunday.
The song's memorable beat picked up again when the New York Giants called a timeout in an attempt to ice the kicker as the temperatures dipped into the 30s and the crowd of 78,666 roared even louder.
But Gramatica, signed by the Cowboys last Monday to replace Mike Vanderjagt, the NFL's most accurate kicker in history, was oblivious.
Gramatica calmly, coolly and confidently made a 46-yard field goal attempt with one second left to give the Cowboys a 23-20 victory over the Giants and put his new team in excellent playoff position with a month to play.
"It's hard to believe," Gramatica said. "I just thank God that I am here. That is all that I have been wanting, and I haven't really been able to get a second chance. This is my second chance, and I want to take advantage of it."
When his new teammates saw him at practice, they were struck by how small he was (5-8, 190 pounds) and how his practice jersey was two sizes too big for him. But they also noticed how he did not miss a kick during practice, something Vanderjagt, who will earn $3.3 million from the Cowboys this year, did all too frequently.
"His first game back in the league for a while and that kick, you know you can't get much more pressure than that for the division lead," coach Bill Parcells said. "He did a good job. I told him he was making me look good."
And the Cowboys are looking good, too.
At 8-4 with four games to play, they have a two-game lead in the NFC East over the slumping Giants. They have won four straight games, their longest streak since Parcells' first year (2003), when they last made the postseason.
With three of their final four games at Texas Stadium, the Cowboys have put themselves in position to land a first-round bye in the playoffs. A win Sunday against New Orleans could leave the Cowboys with the conference's second-best record.
"This was a defining moment in our season," linebacker Bradie James said. "This is a great win. They say you win championships in the division on the road. Now we have this team behind us, and we are worrying about who is next.
"We are No. 1, and we want to stay lonely on top."
But the Cowboys found themselves needing Gramatica's heroics because, for the first time in the second half, their defense could not come up with a big play. Eli Manning directed a seven-play, 63-yard drive by connecting on all six passes for 59 yards, including the final 5 on a fade pass to Plaxico Burress.
"Fortunately, they scored fast enough," Parcells said.
Before the Cowboys' offense went on the field with 1:00 to play, running game coordinator Tony Sparano and passing game coordinator Todd Haley decided to attack, forgetting overtime.
The Cowboys came out with an empty-backfield set with Tony Romo in the shotgun, a signal of their going-for-it intentions from their 32. Side-stepping the rush, as he did for most of the game, Romo let loose with a pass to Jason Witten, who had linebacker Antonio Pierce on his hip. Forty-four yards later, the Cowboys were in business.
Romo completed 20 of 34 passes for 257 yards and was intercepted twice.
After a Marion Barber run for a yard, the Cowboys called timeout with 16 seconds to go. Then left tackle Flozell Adams was penalized for a false start – Parcells wondered if it would doom his team – that moved the ball back to the New York 30. With 11 seconds to play, Barber picked up 2 more yards, and the Cowboys called their final timeout.
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LOUIS DeLUCA / DMN Martin Gramatica (left) boots the winner as Dallas moves to 8-4. |
On came Gramatica, up pumped the volume on "Under Pressure," and then came the Giants timeout.
Witten turned to the Cowboys sideline and clapped twice, a sign that he believed Gramatica would make the kick.
A month earlier, the Cowboys lined up for the game-winning kick from 35 yards away at Washington's FedExField, but Vanderjagt's attempt was blocked, returned 30 yards and moved to the Dallas 29 after a facemask penalty.
Nick Novak then made a 47-yarder to hand the Cowboys what has been their only loss since Romo has been the starter.
"I just felt confident," Witten said of his gesture. "I don't know anything about kicking, but when they called that timeout, I just didn't think it would affect him. I figured he was going to make it."
E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com
| NOT TOO BEASTLY |
| Dallas improved to 2-3 in the NFC East and increased its lead to two games. The Cowboys are 12-11 in the division under Bill Parcells. Here's how they fared each season. |
| Season | Record |
| 2003 | 5-1 |
| 2004 | 2-4 |
| 2005 | 3-3 |
| 2006 | 2-3 |
