Giants Proving To Be Road Warriors

In their remarkable upset of top-seeded Dallas, the New York Giants not only paid the Cowboys back for the two losses in the regular season, but they also avenged their only loss on the road during the entire season. With the win, the Giants advanced to the NFC Championship against Green Bay and improved to 9-1 away from home this year. New York looked overmatched in two losses to Dallas earlier in the season, but with everything on the line this time around, it was the Cowboys who crumbled. Only one win separates New York from the Super Bowl, and there’s nowhere they’d rather be playing this one than away from home.

Displaying composure that had never been seen in previous years, Eli Manning stabilized the Giants offense for the second straight week, and did just enough to ensure a tense 21-17 victory. Once again, Manning’s stats didn’t amaze, but 12-18, 163 yards and 2 TD’s was enough to carry New York on this day. Manning found Amani Toomer for both of his touchdowns, and Brandon Jacobs ran for the game-winner early in the fourth quarter, clinching the second upset of Divisional Weekend, and setting up a rematch with Green Bay in Lambeau for a spot in the Super Bowl.

The Giants, especially Manning and head coach Tom Coughlin, have dealt with harsh criticism all year long, but have responded extremely well in the last four weeks. It began in Buffalo when the Giants squeezed their way into the playoffs with a comeback victory in a hostile road venue. Then, with nothing to play for in Week 17, New York did a commendable job in trying to stop New England from going 16-0 in a 38-35 loss. In the NFL, there aren’t many moral victories, but the Giants were thrilled with the way they were playing entering the postseason. Facing an opponent on the road in the playoffs wouldn’t be intimidating at all, as New York had gone over three months without a loss on the road since their Week 1 loss in Dallas.

Last week, New York couldn’t have started their playoff debut much worse; it seemed Manning would embarrass himself for the third year in a row in the postseason. But New York displayed their tough skin, and righted the ship in putting together an impressive road victory for Eli’s first playoff win. His second career playoff win was pretty impressive, too.

Playing in Texas Stadium the second time around, New York displayed much more composure in dethroning the NFC’s top team. Eli never made his characteristic mistakes, and the Giant defense disrupted Tony Romo’s rhythm just enough to steal a victory. The stats say Dallas should have won; they out gained New York by over 100 yards, and had the ball for 13 more minutes than the Giants, but they were never able to make the game changing play that helped seal their two wins over New York in the regular season.

Marion Barber ran for over 100 yards, Jason Witten had another solid game, and Owens caught yet another touchdown pass, his 16th in 16 games, but Dallas just couldn’t come up with the goods when they needed it most. All year long, the Cowboys had flamboyantly displayed their overwhelming talent on offense, peaking in midseason while looking unstoppable when they had the ball. However, Dallas cooled down the stretch, and it didn’t look any more evident than during the game’s most important moments. During a potential game-winning drive, Romo was harassed by New York’s relentless pass rush, and was unable to find his receivers that had bailed him out all season. Uncharacteristic drops by their wideout core and inaccurate throws on the run from Romo led to the game ending interception by RW McQuarters in the end zone with only seconds remaining.

Having won their last two road postseason games in such impressive fashion, one would be dumb to discount New York’s chances of pulling another upset in Lambeau, but early indications have the Packers lined up to receive the NFC’s bid to the Super Bowl already. No team in the NFC would rather be facing a game in the frozen tundra with a bid to the Super Bowl at stake more than New York. The Giants are armed, dangerous, and picking up steam.