The Cowboys looked like they were on the ropes when they fell behind 23-0 early in the second quarter against the Giants, but they may have been just borrowing the rope-a-dope strategy from Muhammad Ali.
They’ve scored 24 straight points to grab a 24-23 lead with time winding down in the third quarter. They’ve scored two touchdowns on Tony Romo rollouts since the start of the second half. The first was a run by Romo on fourth-and-goal from the foot of the end zone and the second looked like a mirror image until Romo flipped the ball to John Phillips in the end zone for another score.
The Giants defense has still been able to get pressure on Romo, but the Cowboys quarterback is standing up and making the throws he didn’t make in the first half. Eli Manning, meanwhile, is 3-of-10 for 27 yards since the Giants grabbed that 23-0 lead. We mentioned the Giants’ conservative offensive approach at halftime and it appears to be coming back to haunt them in the second half.
Of course, this could just be Manning’s latest variation on the thrilling comeback so we’ll keep watching to see how this seesaw affair plays out.