ARLINGTON, Texas - Add opposing quarterbacks to the endangered species list. At least when they face the Giants.
In seven weeks the Big Blue bullies have knocked five passers from games, but none undoubtedly was sweeter or had more implications for the rest of the season than the crushing blow linebacker Michael Boley leveled on Tony Romo in Monday night's 41-35 win that got close at the end.
"You celebrate the wins," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said of emerging despite a sloppy start and finish. "That's all I can tell you."
Boley came blitzing in untouched early in the second quarter and landed on top of Romo, breaking the quarterback's left clavicle and essentially ending the Cowboys' season. Any hopes the Cowboys had of playing in the Super Bowl they will be hosting come February fractured like their quarterback's collarbone.
"The guard didn't see me, so I came scot-free," Boley said. "When he hit the ground, I heard him let out a little scream, so I knew something was up. After I got up and started running, I looked back and he was still down."
Without Romo, the Dallas offense could muster no life with backup Jon Kitna. Then again, even with Romo, they had to rely on the charity of the Giants to put points on the board. The Cowboys had 75 net offensive yards at halftime, much of them coming on plays of 17 and 14 yards. The 14-yarder was the completion Romo threw to Miles Austin just as Boley creamed him. Through three quarters, the Giants outgained the Cowboys 408 yards to 97.
The loss leaves Dallas Romo-less for the foreseeable future - certainly beyond the next meeting with the Giants in three weeks - and buried in the rubble of a 1-5 record. The Giants improved to 5-2 to take a commanding grip on the NFC East heading into their bye week.
Eli Manning threw for 306 yards and four touchdowns but was picked off three times. Hakeem Nicks had nine catches for 108 yards and two scores, giving him eight, and Ahmad Bradshaw gained 126 of the Giants' 200 rushing yards.
After falling behind 20-7 midway through the second quarter, the Giants ran off 31 unanswered points in their next five possessions to crush the Cowboys.
The Giants outgained Dallas 497-254, had a 24-14 edge in first downs and held the ball for 37:31.
Besides a 93-yard punt return for a TD, Cowboys rookie Dez Bryant scored twice in the final 3:17 on passes from Kitna.
The Giants said during the week that they had no interest in putting the proverbial dagger in the Cowboys, finishing their season early - unprecedented before the Rangers' season ended in North Texas! - and squashing the dreams of Jerry Jones. Only one team in NFL history recovered from 1-5 to make the playoffs.
"We're not worried about anything as far as putting a nail in the coffin or anything like that," Justin Tuck said last week. "We're just handling what we can handle."
The only bright spots for the Cowboys were the ones that the Giants gave them. Manning threw picks on the first two possessions that Dallas turned into a 10-0 lead before five minutes had elapsed. Both picks came off the hands of a Giants receiver.
The Giants made it 10-7 with a 79-yard drive featuring a tip-toe catch by Nicks along the sideline that needed a challenge by Coughlin to count, and a 7-yard TD pass to Nicks.
But the Giants kept giving. Brandon Jacobs fumbled at the Giants' 43, setting up a Cowboys field goal for a 13-7 lead. On the next possession, Matt Dodge boomed the best punt of his career, a 69-yarder, only to have Bryant elude a poor angle by Duke Calhoun and return it 93 yards for a 20-7 edge.
That was the last of the freebies for the Cowboys. The Giants drove 80 yards, capped by another touchdown pass to Nicks. After a three-and-out by Dallas, the Giants took the lead for good on a 14-yard pass from Manning to Steve Smith.
A Jason Witten fumble, forced by Barry Cofield and recovered by Deon Grant with 36 seconds left in the half, gave the Giants time to send out Lawrence Tynes for a 53-yard field goal and a 24-20 edge.
After that, it was all Giants. Manning hit Mario Manningham for a 25-yard touchdown and Jacobs ran 30 yards for a score, both plays in which Cowboys defenders shied away from hits.
Maybe the spirit of the Cowboys already had been fractured beyond repair.