Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants Rivalry History
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The Giants won this year’s first meeting, 36-22, in the Monday night game on Oct. 23.
After jumping out to a 12-0 lead and owning a 12-7 advantage at halftime, the Giants outscored the Cowboys in the second half, 24-15.
Eli Manning threw touchdown passes to Plaxico Burress (a 50-yarder on the game’s first series) and Jeremy Shockey. The former gave the Giants a lead they would never relinquish just 2:59 into the game. Tiki Barber rushed for 114 yards, his third consecutive 100-yad gain. The Giants ran for 155 yards against the NFL’s top-ranked rushing defense, one that had had allowed only 67.0 yards a game.
The defense was equally impressive, limiting the Cowboys to 69 yards on the ground. Dallas quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo were sacked six times and threw four interceptions – one apiece to Sam Madison, Pierce, Fred Robbins and rookie Kevin Dockery, who returned his 96 yards for a touchdown to put the game out of reach late in the fourth quarter.
The longtime rivals split their two games in 2005, with each team winning at home.
The Giants took a 17-10 decision on Dec. 4, when they held the Cowboys to just 206 total yards. Dallas averaged 2.9 yards per play and 3.0 yards per rush, and Bledsoe completed only 15 of 39 passes for 146 yards and was intercepted twice. The defense forced four turnovers – two interceptions and two fumbles - and scored a touchdown when Pierce returned a fumble 12 yards on the first play of the second half.
The special teams also played a big role. Punter Jeff Feagles was outstanding, averaging 44.7 yards on six kicks, two of which he placed inside the 20. His last punt, a 49-yarder, was downed by David Tyree at the four-yard line with just 1:22 left in the game.
Barber rushed for 115 yards. Brandon Jacobs scored on a one-yard run and Jay Feely kicked a 27-yard field goal to help the Giants jump out to a 17-0 lead. Dallas scored 10 points in the third quarter, but couldn’t get near the goal line in the final period.
The Cowboys won last year’s first meeting, 16-13 in overtime, in Texas Stadium, where Jose Cortez kicked a 45-yard field goal 3:47 into overtime. The Giants never owned the ball in the extra period.
The Giants trailed, 13-6, when Jacobs lost a fumble at the Dallas goal line late in the fourth quarter. But the defense forced the Cowboys to go three-and-out, and the Giants took possession at their own 48 with 52 seconds remaining. They needed only two plays and 33 seconds to score as Manning connected with Burress for a 28-yard gain, then found Shockey for a 24-yard touchdown that tied the game with only 19 seconds remaining.
The Giants lost the overtime coin toss, which proved to be pivotal. The Cowboys took over on their own 23 and Bledsoe quickly completed consecutive passes of 10 yards to Patrick Crayton, 13 yards to Terry Glenn and a huge 26-yard down the left sideline to tight end Jason Witten that gave Dallas a first down on the Giants’ 28-yard line.
Two plays later, Pierce’s pass interference penalty gave the Cowboys a new set of downs at the 23. Dallas lost three yards before Cortez, who had made two attempts and missed two earlier, came on to try to win the game. His kick was nipped by Justin Tuck, who had blocked an earlier try, but it was not enough to prevent it from splitting the uprights.
In 2004, the Giants swept the series, winning in Dallas, 26-10, before earning a last-minute, 28-24 victory in the season finale in Giants Stadium. The Cowboys won both games in 2003 and the Giants earned a series sweep in 2002.
Dallas won 12 consecutive games from the Giants from 1974-1980. The Giants’ longest winning streak in the series was six games, from 1988-90.
In 2003, rivalry picked up a bit more energy because former Giants coach Bill Parcells patrolled the Cowboys sideline for the first time. This will be the 10th time the Giants have faced Parcells since he left the Giants in May, 1991, four months after winning his second Super Bowl. They are 5-4 against their former coach, including 4-3 with Parcells as coach of the Cowboys.
The series became even more intriguing two years ago when Tom Coughlin joined the Giants as head coach. Coughlin was a Giants assistant under Parcells from 1988-90, and the two coaches remain close friends.
The 2003 season finale was a Giants-Cowboys prime time thriller. The Giants were putting on their uniforms prior to the game when center Shaun O’Hara approached Barber. “Are you ready for a storybook ending?” O’Hara asked the Pro Bowl running back. Obviously, he was. Barber scored on a three-yard run up the middle with just 11 seconds remaining to give the Giants a memorable four-point victory over Dallas, a triumph that broke an eight-game Giants losing streak. The victory was also the first for Manning as the Giants’ starting quarterback.
As if that wasn’t enough, Barber, who earlier had set the franchise career rushing record, set a new single-season standard on the game-winning play. After Dallas had taken a 24-21 lead with 1:49 remaining, Manning led the Giants on a six-play, 66-yard drive that began with a 23-yard pass to Barber. The Giants picked up 15 more yards to the Dallas 28 when Leonardo Carson was penalized for roughing the passer. Barber ran for 10 yards and Marcellus Rivers caught a five-yard pass. Barber then gained 10 yards on a pair of runs to set up a first-and-goal from the three with 16 seconds left. The Giants called their final timeout and let Manning decide what to do. He handed the ball to Barber, who sent the Giants into the offseason with a much-needed victory.
Manning completed 18 of 27 passes for 144 yards and three touchdowns – to Visanthe Shiancoe, Tyree and Barber. The running back had one of the most memorable games of his extraordinary career. He rushed for 95 yards, caught three passes for 21 yards, scored two touchdowns and set three significant franchise records. Barber set a single-season rushing records with 1,518 yards, two more than Joe Morris had in 1986. Barber increased his career rushing total to 6,927 yards, which tops Rodney Hampton’s old standard of 6,897 yards. And Barber finished the season with an NFL-best 2,096 yards from scrimmage, which is also a new Giants record. The old mark of 2,085 yards was set by Barber in 2000.
The Giants won despite being severely undermanned. Their top two receivers, Shockey (back) and wide receiver Amani Toomer (hamstring) did not suit up. Their defensive line was so depleted, the starting tackles were Davern Williams and Damane Duckett, players who joined the roster just over a month ago and had hardly played. Offensive lineman Morgan Pears, who was promoted to the active roster on Christmas Day, played on the defensive line in goal-line situations. Despite that, the Giants outscored Dallas in the fourth quarter, 21-8.
The Giants and Coughlin got the upper hand earlier that season in Texas Stadium, stretching their winning streak to four games entering the bye week.
Dallas jumped out to a 10-6 halftime lead as Keyshawn Johnson caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Vinny Testaverde and Billy Cundiff kicked a 41-yard field goal. The Giants countered with field goals of 31 and 51 yards by Steve Christie.
The second half belonged to the visitors. Late in the third period, Shockey out-jumped safety Roy Williams on a fade pattern and scored on a one-yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner. In the final quarter, Christie kicked three-pointers from 47 and 26 yards - capping a performance that earned him the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award. Barber capped the 16-point victory with a three-yard touchdown run with 2:14 remaining in the game. Barber rushed for 122 yards on 23 carries and caught five passes for a team-high 76 yards.
In their first meeting of the 2003 season, the Cowboys entered Giants Stadium for a highly-anticipated Monday night matchup in Week Two. In one of the wildest games of the season, the Giants dropped a 35-32 overtime decision as Cundiff tied an NFL record with seven field goals.
The Giants trailed early in the third period, 23-7 and in the fourth quarter, 29-14. But a frenzied comeback enabled them to take a 32-29 lead on Matt Bryant’s 30-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining. But disaster struck when Bryant’s squib kickoff bounced out of bounds, giving Dallas the ball on its 40-yard line. A 26-yard pass from Quincy Carter to Antonio Bryant advanced the ball to the Giants’ 34-yard line. Cundiff then kicked the game-tying 52-yard field goal as time expired. Dallas carried the momentum into overtime, and Cundiff kicked a 25-yarder with 6:03 remaining to win the game and stun the home crowd.
After a 29-yard Ralph Brown interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter, the Cowboys scored 20 unanswered points through the first and second periods to take a 20-7 halftime lead. Carter scored on an eight-yard scramble to tie the game, and two Cundiff field goals, plus a 41-yard interception return by Al Singleton, extended the lead to 13.
Cundiff kicked a 42-yard field goal to open the second half scoring, but the Giants responded with a seven-play, 69-yard touchdown drive that ended with Ike Hilliard’s five-yard catch in the end zone. After two more Cundiff field goals, from 21 and 36 yards, the Cowboys held a 15-point lead with 12:43 remaining in the game.
Kerry Collins and the offense took the field, and promptly put together a 69-yard scoring drive. Collins threw for 40 yards on the six-play march, completing passes to Toomer, Tim Carter, Barber and Shockey, who caught a one-yard pass in the end zone for the touchdown.
After the Giants’ defense held, Collins and the offense went right back to work. Collins found Hilliard on consecutive plays for gains of six and 38 yards, earning a first-and-10 at the Dallas 20. Collins then found Toomer for the 20-yard touchdown, and the Giants had a chance to tie the game with a two-point conversion. Defensive pass interference penalties in the end zone on the first two conversion attempts gave the Giants a third chance, and Barber barreled left into the end zone to tie the game.
The Giants held the lead for those final 11 seconds, but couldn’t hold it and fell to 1-1 on the season.
The second 2003 meeting between the clubs occurred on Dec. 21 in Dallas. The playoff-bound Cowboys held the Giants to three points, controlling the injury-depleted squad on both sides of the ball en route to a 20-3 victory. The Giants’ lone points came on a 45-yard field goal by Bryant in the first quarter. Cundiff kicked four field goals of his own, setting an NFL record for most field goals against one team in a single season (11).
The Giants twice beat Dallas in 2002, winning 21-17 in Texas Stadium on October 6 and routing them in Giants Stadium on December 15, 37-7. In the first game, played on a steamy Texas afternoon, Collins threw three touchdown passes, one each to Toomer (a 56-yarder), Hilliard (12 yards), and the game-winning 17-yarder to Marcellus Rivers with 6:51 remaining in the fourth period. Four minutes earlier, the Giants had fallen behind when Quincy Carter threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Bryant. Barber rushed for 94 yards and Toomer caught five passes for 98 yards for the Giants. Collins completed 18 of 27 passes for 228 yards.
In the rematch, the Giants needed no late heroics, posting the biggest regular-season victory of the Jim Fassel era. The 30-point margin was their largest against Dallas since a 41-10 triumph on Nov. 11, 1962. Ron Dayne scored two touchdowns, Barber and Kenny Holmes added one apiece and Bryant kicked three field goals for the Giants, who led 37-0 before Dallas scored a late touchdown. Barber rushed for 81 yards, Toomer caught six passes for 91 yards and Collins threw for 190 yards in the lopsided win.
In 2001, the teams split their series, with each team winning at home after mounting an impressive comeback.
On Nov. 4, 2001 in Giants Stadium, the home team found itself in a 24-7 hole at halftime. Collins threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns (one by Dexter Coakley, the other by Mario Edwards) and Joey Galloway caught a 16-yard touchdown pass. But the Giants owned the second half, as Collins threw touchdown passes to Hilliard and Joe Jurevicius and Morten Andersen kicked a 40-yard field goal. In overtime, Collins’ eluded a rush and threw to Hilliard, who turned the pass into a 33-yard gain. The Giants gained nine more yards before Andersen, playing in his 300th NFL game, kicked a 42-yard field goal to send the Giants home as winners. The victory enabled the Giants to end a three-game losing streak.
The Giants did not fare as well in the rematch, on December 9 in Texas Stadium. They jumped out to a 13-3 lead behind two Andersen field goals and Collins’ short touchdown pass to Rivers. After holding a 13-6 halftime lead, the Giants were outscored in the second half, 14-0. Emmitt Smith scored on 1-yard run and Carter tossed the game-winning 3-yard touchdown pass to Jackie Harris early in the fourth period.
The Giants and Cowboys first met on Dec. 4, 1960 in Yankee Stadium. Dallas, a first-year expansion team, entered the game with a 0-10 record. The Giants, playing their seventh and final season under coach Jim Lee Howell, were 5-3-1 and had lost their last two games. The game ended in a 31-31 tie, the only non-defeat in Dallas’ 0-11-1 inaugural season. The Giants split their last two games to finish 6-4-2.
The Giants jumped out to leads of 14-0 and 21-7, but couldn’t hold off the Cowboys, who tied the score early in the fourth period on Eddie LeBaron’s 25-yard pass to L.G. Dupre. The Giants jumped backed ahead on their next possession, when Bob Schnelker caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Lee Grosscup, giving the home team a 31-24 lead. But with just 2:37 left, LeBaron threw his third touchdown pass of the game, an 11-yarder to Bill Howton for the tie.
Mel Triplett, Joe Morrison and Kyle Rote also scored for the Giants. The two teams were remarkably close statistically. They each had 19 first downs. The Giants had 337 total yards, the Cowboys 334.
Each team earned its first victory of the series on the opponent’s home field in 1961. On October 15, the Giants made their first-ever visit to Dallas a successful one with a 31-10 triumph. Two weeks later, the Cowboys won the return engagement in the Bronx, 17-16.
The Giants swept the season series in 1962 and 63 before the first meeting in 1964 ended in a tie, still the most recent deadlock in the series. Dallas then began to control the series. The Cowboys won five in a row, eight of nine and 11 of 13. The Giants broke through for upset victories in 1968, 70, 72 and 74. But after that last triumph, the Cowboys, then one of the NFL’s perennially strong teams, ran off 12 victories in a row against the Giants, who struggled through most of the 1970s.
The Giants ended their long losing streak to Dallas on Nov. 9, 1980, in one of the most surprising upsets of the year. After winning their opening game, the Giants had lost eight in a row. The Cowboys, who would reach the NFC Championship Game that season, were 7-2. But the Giants pulled off a shocking 38-35 victory, their first win over Dallas in Giants Stadium. The game turned in their favor in the fourth period, when linebacker Brad Van Pelt stopped Robert Newhouse for no gain on a fourth-and-one from the Dallas 47. Phil Simms then hit rookie receiver Mike Friede with a 40-yard pass off a flea-flicker, which set up Joe Danelo’s game-winning 27-yard field goal with one minute remaining. Rookie safety Gary Woolford clinched the victory by intercepting a Danny White pass. The Giants rolled up a season-high 462 yards of total offense in the game. Simms threw for 351 yards and three touchdowns.
On Dec. 19, 1981, the Giants earned their most significant victory in the Dallas series. Needing a win to finish the season 9-7 and stay alive for a playoff berth – which they secured the next day when Green Bay lost to the Jets – the Giants pulled out a 13-10 overtime triumph on Danelo’s 35-yard field goal. Danelo had tied the score at 10-10 with a 40-yard field goal with 30 seconds to play in regulation. He later hit the upright on his first game-winning try in overtime. There were several other big plays. Faced with a fourth-and-13 with just 1:44 to play in the fourth quarter, Scott Brunner hit John Mistler for a 22-yard gain, setting up the tying field goal. Prior to Danelo’s missed field goal attempt in overtime, Lawrence Taylor, playing the first season of his Hall of Fame career, stripped the ball from Tony Dorsett and recovered the ball. Another rookie linebacker, Byron Hunt, came up with a big interception and returned the ball to the Dallas 24. Danelo then came
on and won the game. Danelo had missed field goal attempts of 21 and 27 yards in the first period.
The Giants-Cowboys rivalry was interrupted in 1982, when the teams did not meet in a strike-shortened season. When it resumed, the teams traded season sweeps, with Dallas pulling off the trick in 1983 and 85 and the Giants winning both games in 1984.
The Giants’ 1986 Super Bowl season got off on a losing note when they dropped a 31-28 Monday night decision in Dallas. Herschel Walker scored the winning points on a 10-yard draw in the game’s final moments. Simms completed 22 of 45 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns.
Later that season, both teams were 6-2 when they met in Giants Stadium. Joe Morris rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns for the second time in a week as the Giants earned a big 17-14 victory. The Giants needed a big day from Morris, because Simms completed only six of 18 passes for 67 yards. But the defense sacked Dallas quarterbacks Danny White and Steve Pelluer six times. Harry Carson led the Giants with 13 tackles. The Giants would not lose another game as they rolled to their first Super Bowl title. Dallas would win just once more to finish 7-9.
The Cowboys took both games from the Giants in 1987. In Week Two, Raul Allegre missed a 46-yard field goal attempt with five seconds left and Dallas escaped Giants Stadium with a 16-14 victory over the defending Super Bowl champions. Five weeks later, the Giants fell to 1-6 – including three losses in strike replacement games – when they were out-scored in the fourth period, 19-7, and lost, 33-24 in Dallas. Roger Ruzek kicked four field goals in the period, which included a 26-yard touchdown by defensive end Jim Jeffcoat on an interception of a deflected Simms pass.
The following season the Giants began their most extended period of dominance in the series, winning six in a row and seven of eight from the Cowboys. The streak included 28-7 and 31-17 victories in 1990, the Giants second Super Bowl season.
Dallas swept the series in 1992 and 93, including a 16-13 victory in the 1993 season finale that proved to be critical to the postseason fortunes of both teams. The final game of `93 season was actually played on Jan. 2, 1994 in Giants Stadium. The winner would be crowned NFC East champions and earn home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The loser would have to travel through the postseason via the wild card route.
David Treadwell of the Giants kicked a 31-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime, but Dallas pulled out the triumph on Eddie Murray’s 41-yard field goal with 4:46 left in overtime. Smith, playing with a painful shoulder injury, rushed for 168 yards and caught 10 passes for another 61 yards. Rodney Hampton rushed for 114 yards on 30 carries for the Giants. Dallas led at halftime, 13-0, and had out-gained the Giants 238-68 and held the ball for 22:24. Jarrod Bunch scored the Giants’ only touchdown, on a one-yard run in the third period, and Treadwell added two field goals to force the tie.
The Giants finished 11-5 and, as an NFC Wild Card, beat Minnesota but were routed in a Divisional Playoff game in San Francisco. Dallas was 12-4 and took advantage of its home team edge in the playoffs by winning its second consecutive Super Bowl.
The teams split their two games in 1994, with the Cowboys winning big in Dallas (38-10) before the Giants again took the finale in New Jersey (15-10) to complete a season-ending six-game winning streak. But at 9-7 the Giants finished out of the playoffs.
In 1995, the teams opened the season in Giants Stadium and Dallas stormed to a 35-0 Monday night victory. Later in the season, the Giants lost in Texas, 21-20. The following year, the Giants pulled off a 20-6 upset of Dallas in Giants Stadium. The Giants swept both meetings on their way to the NFC East title in 1997.
The Cowboys took both games in 1998, each team won as the home team in 1999 and the Giants swept the series in their 2000 NFC Championship season. The Giants intercepted five Troy Aikman passes in a 19-14 victory on October 15. Two months later, the Giants overcame a 13-0 halftime deficit to win, 17-13, in Texas Stadium to pick up their fourth consecutive victory and clinch the NFC East title. Toomer and Barber scored touchdowns and Brad Daluiso added a field goal for the Giants.
