Just when you think the Dallas Cowboys have discovered every excruciating way to lose a game, they find a way to top themselves.
They fell short to the New York Giants 29-24 on Sunday night when a Dez Bryant 37-yard touchdown catch with 10 seconds left in the game was overturned on review. Bryant made a fantastic effort, but replays showed his hand hit out of bounds before his posterior hit inbounds. The Giants remain undefeated in the house that Jerry Jones built.
This loss had so many ingredients we've grown accustomed to with these Cowboys.
Excruciating turnovers
Dallas turned over the ball six times. Giants pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul made an insane leaping grab of a screen pass from Tony Romo and took it back for a touchdown. Bryant appeared to run a poor route on one of Romo's four interceptions. Bryant also fumbled a punt. Miles Austin didn't compete for a jump ball on another pick. Felix Jones lost a fumble in the fourth quarter with the Cowboys trailing by two points.
Questionable game management
On NFL Network
NFL Replay
will re-air the
New York Giants' 29-24 win over the
Dallas Cowboys in Week 8 on Tuesday, Oct. 30
at 8 p.m. ET.
The Cowboys had a second-and-1 from the Giants' 19-yard line with 1:23 left. They threw three consecutive incompletions. On second down, the Giants had five men in the box. On fourth-and-1, the Giants had six men in the box. The Cowboys didn't run the ball either time. No matter how little Cowboys coach Jason Garrett trusts Jones, you have to run the ball there. The Giants were conceding the run.
If Peyton Manning or Tom Brady were in that situation, wouldn't they change the play to a run?
Tantalizing talent
It's not like the Cowboys were outplayed in this game. Just like in their Week 6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Cowboys looked like the better team in many ways. Their defense played very well despite all the turnovers. They held Eli Manning to 192 yards with one interception. Witten, Austin and Bryant all topped 100 yards. Witten had 18 grabs. Romo made some fantastic plays on third down.
The Cowboys trailed 23-0 before coming all the way back to take a 24-23 lead going into the fourth quarter. They couldn't hold on.
This loss was wilder than most, but the end result remains the same. The Cowboys find a way to lose the big ones.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
