Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. New York Giants 21 at Dallas 17 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW New York Giants: QB Kerry Collins continues to tally strong numbers when he gets time to throw the ball. His three TD passes today could have been four but for an under thrown ball to Amani Toomer that was intercepted. He looked comfortable in the pocket and has two excellent WR's to throw the ball to. He did fumble twice, one of which was lost. WR Amani Toomer had another good game. He failed to crack the 100-yard (5-98) barrier but he did get the touchdown. He would have had another TD but Collins under threw the ball. Ike Hilliard also scored but was lacking in the yardage department (3-38). RB Tiki Barber ran hard all afternoon (17-94) and is clearly the focus of the running game. He was very active in the passing game with 4 catches for 29 yards and a terrific blitz pickup to give Collins time to hit Toomer on the long TD. TE Jeremy Shockey left the game in the 1st quarter with turf toe and didn't return. He had just one catch for 11 yards. CB Will Peterson also re-aggravated his ankle injury. Dallas Cowboys: QB Quincy Carter had solid numbers on the day (23-42, 262) with no interceptions. He's not worth starting but he might worth keeping an eye on in deeper leagues. RB Emmitt Smith had one or two mid-nineties flashbacks but was held in check for most of the day. He broke three tackles and outran the defense on his 30-yard touchdown run but was mostly stopped for small gains today. Troy Hambrick isn't getting enough carries to be considered a vulture, either. WR Joey Galloway has as firm a hold on the #1 WR job as any receiver in football. He finished with 8 catches for 109 yards, but also saw as many balls thrown to him as the rest of the team combined. Safety Darren Woodson injured his ankle and did not return. Woodson's replacement, Tony Dixon, also left the game with an injury just 2 plays later. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Side note for both teams: (The new turf, called RealGrass, looks cool but raised some eyebrows as both teams suffered injuries that might be attributed to the turf. Numerous players lost shoes during the course of the game, and the injuries began early and continued to mount all afternoon. In addition to injuries, Dallas QB Quincy Carter lost his footing twice---once during a completion to Joey Galloway, and once during a 3rd down run in which he ended up just short of the first down marker. RB Michael Wiley tripped and fell during what was supposed to be a HB option pass.) Take it for what it's worth. The Cowboys reportedly loved playing on the surface when they practiced in San Antonio's Alamo Dome this Summer. New York Giants QB: Kerry Collins - He was efficient and completed 2/3 of his pass attempts. Collins also showed nice touch on the long touchdown pass to Amani Toomer. Adjusted well to the loss of Shockey early in the game by spreading the ball more to his other tight ends. Looked very confident in both Toomer and Hilliard throwing to them before they broke open on several occasions. Completed passes to seven different receivers. Did fumble twice but only recovered one of them. The interception was a downfield pass he just badly under threw to Amani Toomer. Kept his composure in the pocket despite good pressure from Dallas that included two sacks. RB: Tiki Barber - Still the obvious runner of choice in New York with more than three times as many attempts as Dayne. Ron Dayne split the first few carries of the game, but it was clear he wasn't going to have much of an impact after that. Barber finished the game with 123 total yards and got the ball on two separate 3rd and 1 calls, including the one that iced the game in the 4th quarter. Barber averaged more than 5 yards per carry totaling 94 for the game. Also caught 4 passes for 29 yards. Showed good strength on runs up the middle. Had a terrific block on a blitzing linebacker to give Collins time to let Toomer get open on the long touchdown pass. Used his speed to create mismatches on linebackers on short crossing routes and routes into the flat. Didn't score but had attempts on the ground and in the air on the Giants' first scoring drive. Ron Dayne - With 5 weak rushing attempts and zero receptions Dayne is clearly an afterthought in the Giants offensive scheme. WR: Amani Toomer - He consistently got behind the Dallas defense and would have had another touchdown if Collins hadn't under thrown the intercepted pass. Got strong and out muscled the defender for the ball on his long scoring catch. Got close to cracking the century mark with 5 catches for 98 yards in the game. He is a deep threat but isn't afraid to go across the middle. The announcers mentioned Amani Toomer's off-season conditioning during which he shed 15 pounds to become quicker and more explosive off the line. It appears to be paying off. Ike Hilliard - Scored on a 12-yard catch that included a lunge from the two-yard line with two Cowboy defenders hanging on him. Another legitimate deep threat for the Giants who runs across the middle as hard as he runs down the sideline. Drew a long pass interference penalty on an important third down play in the third quarter. Didn't have as many catches or yards as Toomer (3-38) but was still looked to frequently. He did make a headsup play to recover a Tiki Barber fumble that could have proven costly to New York. TE: Jeremy Shockey - Left the game in the first quarter with a turf toe. He didn't return. This type of injury can really nag a player for a long time. Be aware of that and listen to see how the Giants characterize the injury this week. Dan Campbell/Marcellus Rivers - These two are the second and third tight ends on the roster. They filled in nicely after Shockey left. They combined for four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. 99% of those would have been Shockey's numbers had he been in the game. If the toe injury keeps Shockey out for an extended time, it's tough to tell right now who will take over the bulk of the receiving TE's duties. New York Pass Defense: Dallas was forced to use two, and sometimes three, blockers to keep Michael Strahan off of Quincy Carter. Strahan was held without a sack but all of the attention he attracted freed other defenders up to hit the Dallas QB and total two sacks. The Giants secondary dropped two sure interceptions and one that would have been close making this a much close game that it should have been. They had none for this game. Joey Galloway used his speed to keep the Giants' corners honest, which opened up the shorter passing lanes for Carter to complete most of his passes. New York Rush Defense: For some reason the Giants allowed Emmitt Smith to have his best game of the year. They only allowed 91 yards rushing for the whole game but Smith got 70 of those. And 30 of that came on one touchdown run where three Giant defenders missed tackles. It seemed like New York was making tackles in the backfield for most of the game but gave up one big running play. Giants Special Teams: The Giants special teams woes did not get any better today. Matt Bryant's opening kickoff went out of bounds, and P Matt Allen's first punt of the day was terrible but managed to roll for decent yardage. On the other side of the ball, the Giants did manage to snuff out a fake field goal attempt by Dallas. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Dallas Cowboys QB: Quincy Carter - Really doesn't look comfortable throwing the ball but had decent numbers for this game (23-42,262). His TD pass was a rocket to Antonio Bryant in the back of the endzone on a play-action pass. He also almost had another long TD pass to Bryant. He clearly has the most confidence throwing to Joey Galloway, though. Did not throw an interception against a decent Giant secondary and facing a fierce pass rush. Got knocked down quite a bit and sacked twice. Completed passes to nine different receivers. It felt like he could be much more effective if he had a second quality target he could throw downfield to. Ismail still hasn't been replaced by either of the other Dallas WR's and that has clearly hurt the development of Quincy Carter. Carter was stuffed by Brandon Short on a strange 4th and 1 call, but it was more a case of poor play-calling than anything else. RB: Emmitt Smith was having flashbacks to the mid-nineties on a few plays when he ran roughshod over the New York Giants. His 30-yard touchdown run was vintage Emmitt as he broke three tackles and left the pursuit clutching at air. The rest of the game was a cold reminder that these are no longer the good old days. Emmitt did catch two passes for just twelve yards. Smith was routinely left with no room to run due mostly to injuries along his offensive line. Larry Allen started the game at left tackle but didn't finish the first quarter and left after re-aggravating his ankle injury. He returned in the second half at guard but only played sparingly. All of the juggling clearly limited the effectiveness of the Dallas rushing attack. Troy Hambrick - With just three carries for 10 yards the future of the Dallas running attack is still clearly waiting in the wings. WR: Joey Galloway has as firm a hold on the #1 WR job as any receiver in football. He finished with 8 catches for 109 yards, but also saw as many balls thrown to him as the rest of the team combined. Quincy Carter is, by far, more comfortable throwing the ball to Galloway than any other receiver on this team. Galloway earned that trust today by catching almost every pass thrown to him despite having a partial cast on his right thumb. He accelerated past cornerbacks to get open deep. He adjusted well to balls thrown off the mark by Carter. The problem is that there really isn't another receiving threat in Dallas to take some of the coverage away. He caught 8 passes for 109 yards but no touchdowns. That's a decent day's work in a yardage league. It's especially impressive considering the cast on his hand and the Giant's tough secondary. Darnay Scott/Antonio Bryant - These two combined for 3 catches and 24 yards with Bryant scoring a touchdown on a play-action pass from the 5-yard line. In order for Carter to develop into a solid starter the second and third WRs need to be much more productive. Scott is clearly the slow, possession-type player with Bryant being the dynamic playmaker. Rookie Antonio Bryant was not targeted on a pass until there were 4 minutes left in the first half. In a deeper league Bryant might be worth stashing on your roster as he gains experience. Bryant just missed on a 2nd long TD pass where Carter slightly overthrew him. TE: Tony McGee was a dependable outlet receiver for Carter when he got in trouble. He was second on the team with 4 catches totaling just 27 yards. Dallas Pass Defense: Had 2 sacks and one interception. Collins had decent time in the pocket and the Giants did an overall good job of picking up the Dallas defensive blitzes. It looked like the Dallas secondary was just overpowered by the Giants wideouts. Ike Hilliard scored his TD with two DB's hanging on him and Toomer's long TD came after he out muscled a CB for the ball. Dallas Rush Defense: Even with Dat Nguyen missing the Cowboys linebackers are very fast. The Giants had some success running up the middle but were shut down when they tried to run wide. Tiki Barber turned a few cutbacks into decent gains but the rush defense overall was strong. They allowed Barber a first down to seal the win on the game's last play before kneel downs. They did come up big with a stop on the previous Giant possession, but when it mattered most New York was able to move the ball. Cowboys Special Teams: Terrible performance. K Billy Cundiff missed a 45-yard field goal that hit the upright, P Micah Knorr got away a poor punt because he almost dropped the snap, and perhaps the most bizarre play of the game occurred on the Cowboys second possession. Coach Dave Campo called for a fake field goal, despite the fact that the game was scoreless and it would have been about a 35-yard attempt. It was broken up by S DeWayne Patmon, and it really came into play later when Dallas could have used a few extra points.