10 Best Cowboys-Giants Games of the Last 12 Seasons

The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, hated rivals in the bone-jarring NFC East, have played some incredibly thrilling games.

It has been an extremely captivating match up since the game was first played between the two in 1960. However, the last 12 years has had no shortage of notable and amazing games. Without further ado, the 10 Greatest Cowboys-Giants game of the last 12 years.

No. 10: Carter/Campo Brain Trust Game - Jan. 6, 2002

I need to begin this sections with an ESRB-style warning to all Cowboys fans reading this article.

The following two words have been known to cause seizures among Dallas Cowboys fans from 2001-2004:

Quincy Carter.

There. Got that out of the way. Now that I've braced you onto the game recap.

A fairly uneventful game for the first three quarters, Kerry Collins and the Giants took over the ball early in the fourth quarter up 14-10.

With a wave of her graceful hand (for what would prove to be the last time this game), Lady Luck deigned to pop the pigskin out of the hands of Collins, leaving the Cowboys with the recovered fumble.

A few plays later, Quincy Carter connected with Antonio Bryant to go up 17-14 on a five-yard touchdown grab.

Not one to be phased, Collins methodically led the Giants 80 yards down field for a rebuttal touchdown to go up 21-17.

Only three more things need to be said about this game:

1. Quincy Carter overthrew a WIDE open Antonio Bryant on what would have amounted to a 49 yard touchdown to take the lead.

2. With 2:09 left in the fourth quarter, Dave Campo faced 4th-and-9 on his own 48-yard line. He chose to punt. He also reportedly sleeps with a nightlight on. The Cowboys never got the ball back.

3. The only reason this game is important is because it is a microcosm of the inundation of false hope and crashed dreams that have haunted every fan of the Dallas Cowboys since 1997 (more on that later).

The combination of Quincy Carter as quarterback and Dave Campo as head coach was more devastating than crossing the streams in Ghostbusters. Nice combination you had assembled there, Jerry.

(It has absolutely nothing to do with me grasping at strings trying to find 10 ridiculously significant games out of only 25 possibilities. I promise.)

No. 9: Sloppy OT Thriller - Oct. 16, 2005

Staying in the vein of "games that were so bad they were good," the "epic" showdown between the Cowboys and Giants on Oct. 16 might be the most exciting eight turnover game played in the history of the NFL.

Midway through the third quarter, the Cowboys had turned over the ball four times. Paradoxically, Dallas still led the Giants 7-6 in a half most would akin to watching paint dry.

Eli and the Giants took over midway through the third, and proceeded to turn the ball over on four of the next five drives, including a fumble on the Dallas one-yard line with 1:18 left to go down seven.

An Eli Manning-to-Jeremey Shockey touchdown pass with 19 seconds left tied the game to force OT in one of the most putrid four quarters of football ever played. The Cowboys proceeded to win the toss, march down the field, and win on a Jose Cortez 45-yard field goal.

On a side note, am I the only Cowboys fan out there who is glad our kicker doesn't sound like a brand of tequila you would find at a frat party?

No. 8: Quincy's False Hope - Dec. 9, 2001

With the 53rd pick in the 2001 draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Quincy Carter, a former Georgia standout who had given up his career as a Major League Baseball prospect.

The Quincy Carter Era brings up a mix of emotions in Cowboys fans: rage mixed with more rage. However, this was the game that sucked every Cowboy fan in to maybe believing this scrambling gunslinger from Georgia could be the the heir apparent to Troy Aikman.

Ten games into his rookie season, Carter had only played five quarters due to nagging hamstring and thumb injuries.

In his first full game as a starter the previous week, Carter spearheaded an exhilarating comeback win against the Redskins after being down 10 in the fourth quarter, thereby earning him the chance to start the next game against the Giants.

This second chance to start was a huge deal, and nothing can explain it better than Carter's wikipedia article: "- "His erratic play in his first two starts led to more questions, enough that Dallas signed -- and started -- Ryan Leaf.” Wow.

The Giants roared out of the gate, scoring on three of their first four possessions. The Cowboys defense finally shored up, and after three quarters of even football, Carter set up the game winning touchdown on an 11 yard scramble on 3rd-and-11 on the Giants' 14-yard line.

Carter finished with 194 yards passing (watch out Marino), most of those going to revered Cowboys burner Rocket Ismail, who finished with 10 catches for 118 yards.

No. 7: Romo's First Shot - Oct. 23, 2006

The score, circumstances, and box score of this game show nothing but a 36-22 trouncing of the Dallas Cowboys by the New York Giants. However, this game represents one of the most significant moments in recent Cowboys history.

The Giants defensive line absolutely slaughtered cement-footed Drew Bledsoe with sack after sack through most of the first half. Down 13-7 and driving towards the end zone with less than a minute left in the first half, Bledsoe threw an interception so horrendous planes fell from the sky.

The Tuna (Bill Parcells, not Jim Halpert from The Office), had seen enough.

Tony Romo started the second half and never looked back. Never mind the fact that he threw an interception on his very first pass, followed by two more in the second half.

But evidence of Romo's improvisational abilities and uncanny pocket presence were more than apparent to the battered Cowboys faithful who had watched Drew Bledsoe and Vinny Testaverde complete touchdowns to the other team for two plus years

Say what you want to about Romo's ability to win a big game (however ridiculously premature that statement may be), but he is absolutely an upgrade over Anthony Wright, Clint Stoerner, Chad Hutchinson, and Drew Henson.

No. 6: Tiki's Coming Out Party - Oct. 18, 1999

It was Troy Aikman's twilight year, and the Cowboys found themselves up 10-3 in the middle of the fourth quarter.

With the game seemingly more out of hand then the score indicated, a previously little known backup named Tiki Barber took a punt back 85 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 10.

On the Giants' next possession, Tiki took a pass out of the backfield 56 yards to set up a field goal that would eventually win the game 13-10.

This game was the first time of many that Tiki Barber slaughtered the Cowboys, and was a main reason for the Giants relative dominance over the Cowboys over the next decade.

He ended the game with 23 all purpose yards...backing up Ron Dayne.

No. 5: Eli's First Victory - Jan. 2, 2005

On a record setting night for Tiki Barber a.k.a. "the only player in the NFC East as likely as Brian Westbrook to make me break something in anger," it was the young rookie from Ole MIss who shined in this installment of this bitter rivalry.

In 2005, the Giants sat 5-3 with a promising season ahead of them. Jim Fassel then made the call to start Eli Manning, and the Giants proceeded to lose their next seven games.

Neither team was going to make the playoffs, so this game was played purely for bragging rights among two of the most bitter rivals in the NFL.

The most noteworthy aspect of this game was that Tiki Barber proceeded to set the Giants single season and career rushing records (1,518 yards and 6,926 yards).

The most exciting aspect of this game started when the Cowboys went up 24-21 on a one-yard Julius Jones scamper and a Jason Witten two point conversion with 1:44 left in the game.

In a showing indicative of what Eli could accomplish in the coming years as a crunch time QB, Eli drove the Giants down the field and got them into scoring position on the Cowboys three yard line with 11 seconds left and no time outs.

A pass play was obviously called given the situation, but Eli recognized a hole in the defense and audibled to a run, leading to a Brandon Jacobs touchdown, a Giants victory, and me committing ritualized sepukku on my living room floor.

To this day I remain amazed at what a gutsy call that was for a rookie quarterback to make. Too bad it came at the Cowboys' expense.

No. 4: End of an Era - Oct. 5, 1997

Fresh off winning three super bowls in four years, the Cowboys had won eight of the last 10 match-ups with the New York Giants.

After a largely uneventful first half, the Giants took the lead on an electrifying 61 yard pick-six by safety Tito Wooten to go up 13-6. After a Cowboys punt, the Giants proceeded to drive down the field again to score a touchdown on a one yard full back dive, going up 20-9 with 8:42 minutes left in the game.

Aikman finally jump started the dormant Cowboys offensive attack, throwing a touchdown to Anthony Miller, and completing the two point conversion to "I Should Have Been An Acclaimed Swedish Yodeler" Eric Bjornson to put the count at 20-17.

The Cowboys regained the ball late in the fourth quarter, and an Aikman-to-Stepfret-Williams (isn't that the guy who dances around with the umbrella in the Outkast videos?) completion put the Cowboys on the G-Men's 49-yard line with 18 seconds left and no timeouts.

The Swedish Swashbuckler Eric Bjornson once again rose to the forefront, as he caught an Aikman toss on the Giants 30 yard line on the very next play.

However, instead of going immediately to the turf, he decided to channel his inner Barry Sanders/Jessica Simpson and threw some jukes out there, broke some tackles, and was eventually brought down on the 17 yard line...in bounds.

Aikman and the Cowboys got on the ball and were able to spike the ball with one second left, but in a move that would become a familiar sight to Cowboys fans for the next decade, right tackle Erik Williams was not set on the play.

Illegal Procedure. Ten second (or in this case one second) runoff. Game over.

Could Bjornson have gotten down before 10 seconds left on the clock? Who knows. But this game signaled the end of an era of Cowboys dominance, both over the Giants and the league, as the Cowboys are still to this day waiting to win a playoff game.

No. 3: Tuna's First Win as a Cowboy - Sept. 15, 2003

For Giants fans, the sight of Bill Parcells in Cowboys garb must have been more stomach curdling than all 38 Saw movies combined. That being said, on Sept. 15, 2003, the Cowboys and Giants played what Tuna called at the time the "greatest game I've ever been involved with."

On this epic Monday night, the Dallas Cowboys had the troublesome G-Men pretty much under control. Cruising up 15 in the fourth quarter, Cowboys fans everywhere were excited to kick back and savor the victory for the final minutes.

Kerry Collins had other plans, rampaging the Giants back from a 29-14 fourth quarter deficit to put the Giants up 32-29 on a Matt Bryant field goal with 11 seconds remaining.

Much like their foes from across town were undone by the Patriots last Monday night, the Giants were doomed by their special teams. Matt Bryant planted a squib kick that took a bad bounce to the right....and trickled out of bounds at the one yard line.

Cowboys get the ball on their 40 yard line with 11 seconds left and no timeouts.

Quincy Carter proceed to complete a 25 yard strike to Antonio Bryant, who was able to get out of bounds with mere seconds remaining. Billy Cundiff proceeded to drill a career long 51 yard field goal to force overtime as time expired.

Cundiff then kicked his NFL-record tying seventh field goal of the game to beat the Giants in OT 35-32.

No. 2: Fassel Makes Good on "Guarantee" - Dec. 18, 2000

In 2000, the New York Giants came out the gates on fire, catapulting the G-Men to a 7-2 record.

However, after two double-digit losses to the Rams and the Lions and facing increasing New York fan and media brutality, Fassel decided to draw a line in a sand and make a guarantee that the slumping Giants would get to the playoffs. Here is the NY TImes article covering it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/27/sports/sports-of-the-times-with-season-at-crossroads-fassel-dares-his-team.html

They proceed to win the next three games, and came into Dallas on Dec. 18 riding a new found wave of confidence behind their leader's brash guarantee.

Dallas led 13-0 midway through the third quarter. The Cowboys were supremely confident the game was in hand, as the Giants hadn't come back from more than three points down all season.

An Amani Toomer 33-yard touchdown catch made the score 13-7, and Emmanuel McDaniel returned an interception to the Dallas 13 on the ensuing drive.

Tiki finished off the drive with a touchdown run, and a Brad Deluiso 49-yard field goal with 1:49 cemented both the Giants win and the Giants spot in the post-season with a 17-13 victory.

More importantly, it delivered on the audacious guarantee Jim Fassel made in November that this team would in fact make the postseason.

No. 1: Showdown in the Playoffs - Jan. 13, 2008

The first and only meeting of the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants remains the obvious choice for the greatest game played between these two teams in the last 12 years.

The Giants came into Dallas heavy underdogs, with Dallas fresh off the heels of a franchise-best 13-3 season in which the Cowboys defeated the G-Men handily in both matchups 45-35 and 31-20.

After a promising start, a mistake and penalty marred first half left the Cowboys tied with the Giants at 14 going into the half.

Midway through the third quarter, Tony Romo finally seemed to jump start the offense and started to methodically march towards the end zone.

The Cowboys drove the ball deep into Giants territory, but a dropped pass in the end zone and a false start penalty killed any momentum the Cowboys amassed, and the Cowboys had to shamefully settle for a field goal on a drive that took up 8:07 of the third quarter.

Down 17-14, R.W. McQuarters stepped up huge and picked Tony Romo, returning it 25 yards to the Dallas 37.

Eli took advantage of the beneficial field position and marched the Giants down the field for a Brandon Jacobs touchdown to go up 21-14...with 13:29 left in the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys and Giants then proceeded to play football of such poor quality for a majority of the fourth quarter that the FCC made an in game recommendation that children under 16 years old stop watching.

Then it was Romo's chance to shine. Down by four, at home, in the playoffs against a bitter division rival, Tony Romo took over the ball with 1:50 left in the game.

Orchestrating play after play, Romo seamlessly drove the Cowboys down to the Giants 21 with 33 seconds left. A story book ending and the Cowboys first playoff win in 11 years seemed all but inevitable.

However, the following four downs went as follows: false start, short pass in bounds that forced the Cowboys to burn last time out, incomplete pass in the end zone when Patrick Crayton gave up on a seemingly catchable ball, and an R.W. McQuarters interception on 4th-and-13 with only seconds remaining.

The Giants went on to win two more road playoff games before pulling off the biggest upset in the history of the Super Bowl by defeating the 18-0 New England Patriots.

The Cowboys suffered yet another disappointing end to a promising season, and became the first No. 1 seed to lose in the divisional round since this format was created in 1990.