Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (second left) celebrates with receiver Terrance Williams (left) after scoring the game tying touchdown against the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

 

By David Humphrey/Fort Worth Star-Telegram


Tony Romo threw an 11-yard touchdown with 7 seconds left in the game to give the Dallas Cowboys a 27-26 win over the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium on Sunday night.
The Cowboys drove 72 yards in the final 1 minute, 29 seconds to get the win in the season opener for both teams.
On the game-winning play, Romo took a snap that hit him in the shin. He picked the ball up and threw a pass to Witten in the middle of the field at the goal line. Dan Bailey made the 33-yard extra point, under the new conversion rules, for the win.
The Cowboys had to overcome three turnovers, two tipped interceptions off Romo and a fumble returned for a touchdown. Dallas also played most of the fourth quarter without Dez Bryant, who left the game with a foot injury.
Romo completed 36 of 45 passes for 356 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Witten caught eight passes for 60 yards and the game-winning score. Lance Dunbar, who had two big catches on the final drive, had eight catches for 70 yards.
Eli Manning completed 20 of 36 passes for 193 yards. However, it was the Giants’ defence that kept them in position to steal a road victory.
Both Giants coach Tom Coughlin took responsibility for play-calling miscues with just under two minutes to play.
“It’s my fault at the end of the game,” Coughlin said. “There is nobody else to blame but me. The decision to throw the ball there on third down was not a good decision. It should have been a run, whether we scored or not. The clock would have at least given us the opportunity to take a few more seconds off.
The Cowboys play at Philadelphia next Sunday.
The Cowboys began the game with six first downs on a 79-yard, 17-play drive that bogged down at the 3. The drive took 10 minutes, 27 seconds.
Dallas couldn’t overcome a false start on second and goal at the 5. Romo followed with 7-yard pass to Dunbar and an incompletion, on a fade route, to Dez Bryant.
Dan Bailey made a 21-yard field goal to make it 3-0.
The Giants made two first downs on their first three plays before Rashad Jennings was stripped of the ball by Anthony Hitchens. Hitchens also recovered the fumble at the Cowboys’ 47. During the scramble for the ball, cornerback Brandon Carr was flagged for a personal foul.
After a review, the call was reversed and the Giants maintained possession at the Cowboys’ 34.
On the next play, Eli Manning threw a pass to Odell Beckham Jr., who was flattened by safety J.J. Wilcox. The play was ruled an incompletion. Coach Jason Garrett challenged the play and lost. A 2-yard run was followed by an incompletion. On fourth down, Josh Brown’s 50-yard field goal tied the game at 3 with 1:58 left in the opening quarter.
Taking over at its 3-yard line, the Giants moved out to their 33 on a pass from Eli Manning to Larry Donnell, who fumbled the ball out of bounds while being tackled. Garrett challenged the play and won and the play was ruled incomplete. The Cowboys were out of challenges at that point, but wasn’t charged with a timeout. The Giants punted on the next play.
The challenge would lead to points nine plays later when Bailey made a 32-yard field goal to give Dallas a 6-3 lead with 5:31 left in the half.
The drive stalled at the 14 when Bryant dropped a pass on a drag route on third and 4.
Similar to the opening drive, but this time with Darren McFadden in the backfield, the Cowboys kept the ball 5:22.
After an exchange of possession, the Cowboys took over at their 13 with 2:54 to go.
However, Cole Beasley fumbled after making a 15-yard catch and run near the sideline. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie scooped it up and ran 57 yards for a touchdown. Trumaine McBride forced the fumble.
On the first play after the touchback, a pass thrown behind Witten bounced off his hand and was intercepted by Uani Unga. Six plays later, Brown made a 40-yard field goal to give the Giants a 13-6 halftime lead.
Statistically, the Cowboys dominated in total yards (201-86), first downs (12-6) and time of possession (22:06 to 7:54), but still trailed at the break because of the two turnovers.
The Giants took the second-half kickoff and marched to the Cowboys’ 12 where Brown made a 30-yard field goal to push New York’s lead to 16-6 at the 9:48 mark. Aided by a third-down pass interference call on Rodgers-Cromartie, the Cowboys drove 80 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. Romo threw a 2-yard touchdown to Gavin Escobar in the back of the end zone to make it 16-13.
Three plays into the fourth, McBride caught a deflected pass off Devin Street, who took a big hit over the middle, and returned the interception to the 1-yard line. On the next play, Jennings dove over the pile for the touchdown to give the Giants a 23-13 lead.
Dallas answered quickly, using just six plays to cover 76 yards in less than 3 minutes and with Bryant out of the game with a foot injury.