The New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys rivalry is the most hateful, brutal, and physical one in all of football. The fanbases have disdain for each other, the players have disdain for each other, and the owners have disdain for each other. In order to get to the playoffs, the Giants and Cowboys have to go through one another each season.
While the Cowboys have won more games than the Giants over the last 15 years, the G-Men have the only two wins that really matter, Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI. Some of the heat in the Giants and Cowboys rivalry has died down thanks to the recent struggles of both franchises, but there have been some epic battles over the years.
The rivalry produced hateful battles in the 1990s and nobody will forget the 2000s and 2010s when Eli Manning dominated Tony Romo. No Giants fan will ever forget when Manning signed the locker room wall in 2009 after the Giants won the first ever game at Jerry’s World. One of the rivalries strangest memories was the last Monday night the two squared off at MetLife Stadium, as a black cat famously ran on the field, which could serve as the perfect metaphor to illustrate the Dallas Cowboys franchise.
The juice of the Cowboys\Giants rivalry has returned this week, as the Giants 2-0 hot start has New York City buzzing. With two important games to be played between the two franchises, Monday night’s “white out” game, and again on Thanksgiving afternoon, you can bet the two storied franchises will add another chapter to their long lasting rivalry. Before, they add another chapter to the rivalry books, let’s revisit some of the rivalries best moments. Here are four Giants-Cowboys memories fans will never forget.
4. Victor Cruz’s game-winning touchdown
With the Giants trailing the Cowboys 19-13 in the 2016 season-opener, Manning led the Giants on a nine-play, 54-yard touchdown drive that lasted 3:59 seconds. Manning threw a big 20-yard completion to then rookie Sterling Shepard to start the drive, and capped it off by throwing a touchdown to Giants legend Victor Cruz, Cruz’s first touchdown since 2014.
The touchdown was the game-wining score for the G-Men, as they spoiled Dak Prescott’s debut and handed Ben McAdoo a win in his first game as Giants head coach.
The touchdown by Cruz enabled him to bust out his patented salsa dance for the first time in two years. While Cruz had two very famous touchdowns in his career, the 99-yard touchdown against the New York Jets on Christmas Eve 2011 and the first quarter touchdown in Super XLVI, his touchdown in Dallas, known as the return of the Salsa, was his most memorable.
The Giants 2016 season battles with the Dallas Cowboys were quite memorable. After losing the season opener to the Giants, led by star rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas won 11 straight games, before the Giants took them down for a second time, 10-7 on a December Sunday night. Odell Beckham Jr. caught a 61-yard touchdown to win the game for Big Blue.
Dallas quite memorably had the NFL’s best record at 13-3 in 2016, and were 13-2 in games that Prescott started, with his only two losses coming against the Giants. Dallas flamed out as per usual in their first playoff game against Green Bay, thanks to Aaron Rodgers jaw-dropping throw to Jared Cook.
3. The 2007 playoffs
For Giants fans, this is the most memorable game in the rivalry’s long history. After going 10-6 and snagging the NFC’s No. 5 seed, the Giants defeated the Tampa bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card Round, setting up the first and only ever postseason matchup between the Giants and Cowboys. The Cowboys, the No. 1 seed in the NFC, swept the Giants in the regular season, and assumed they would have a breezy coast into the NFC Championship game.
The Giants came out with a major chip on their shoulder, and flew right down the field on the first drive of the game, taking an early 7-0 lead, as Eli Manning fired a 52-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer. The Cowboys began to take the game over and went up 14-7 late in the second quarter, but Manning found Toomer for another score right before halftime to tie the game up at 14.
The Giants defense balled out in the second half, and allowed just three points. Brandon Jacobs powered one into the end zone early in the fourth quarter to put the Giants up 21-17. The offenses stalled for both teams in the second half, but the Cowboys drove down the field and had the ball inside the redzone with less than 30 seconds left. Giants safety R.W. McQuarters intercepted a Romo pass to the endzone with 16 seconds left, clinching a stunning victory.
There really is nothing sweeter than ending your rival’s season, especially in the playoffs, in their own house. The underdog Giants famously won the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys failed to advance to the championship round with the greatest roster their franchise has assembled in a quarter century. Yup, we loved seeing that.
2. Eli Manning gets the best of Tony Romo in 2011
The 2011 season ended with triumph in New York, but the season was quite the rocky road. After starting the season 6-6, the Giants traveled to Dallas in early December, in what amounted to a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive.
In a wild back and forth game, Manning threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns. Despite trailing Dallas by 12 with 3:21 to go, the Giants scored two touchdowns in a 149 second span to take a 37-34 lead. Jason Pierre-Paul blocked Dan Bailey’s 47-yard field goal attempt as time expired, to turn the Giants season around in dramatic fashion.
The Giants got another crack at Dallas during the final week of the 2011 season. The stakes in that matchup were about as big as any in the rivalry’s history: the winner wins the NFC East and heads off the playoffs, while the loser’s season would end.
Dallas was no match for the Giants, as Manning continued his torching of Romo in big games. Manning threw a 74-yard touchdown to Cruz in the first quarter, and the Giants never looked back. Manning threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns in what turned out to be a 31-14 rout over Dallas. The two wins over Dallas propelled the Giants into the playoffs, where they went on a magical run yet again, to claim the franchises second Lombardi Trophy in four years.
1. Odell Beckham Jr.’s unforfettable catch
The Giants did not win this game, but Nov. 23, 2014 will forever live in NFL infamy. Rolling out to his right on a boot leg, Manning fired a ball deep towards Odell Beckham Jr., who extended his right arm and caught the football one handed, at full extension, with Cowboys defensive back Brandon Carr interfering with him.
Five years ago today, @obj broke the internet. (Nov. 23, 2014) pic.twitter.com/XwtdekPHin
— NFL Legacy (@NFLLegacy) November 23, 2019
There are really no words that can properly describe how ridiculous this catch was. On this play, Odell showed off more athleticism than we have ever seen an athlete show in a sports play. The slow motion and back angles of this play make it even more ridiculous, as does his laser focus on the football.
That was by far the greatest, most athletic catch ever, and it is pretty awesome that the highlight, which will never die, happened against the Dallas Cowboys.