Buh-Bye Giants Stadium...and Good Riddance

According to Wikipedia (my third favorite website behind BTB and profootballreference.com), the first Giants game ever at Giants Stadium was in 1976 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Then the Giants were led by former Dallas QB Craig Morton (still hard to believe Schramm got a first round pick for that trade!) and were awful, while the Cowboys were at the height of the Staubach era, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the Pokes won on that inaugural day, or that they won the next few games at Giants Stadium.

But by the early 80s Simms, LT and Parcells had arrived and the Giants dominated Dallas at home; in the late 90s, the likes of a battered Troy Aikman, Quincy Carter, Anthony Wright, etc were no match for Jim Fassel's Giants, and in recent years Eli's Giants have done pretty well at Giants Stadium against the Cowboys as well - all this resulting in Dallas having a sub .500 record in East Rutherford, NJ (14-18 - there was no game at NYG in 1982).  

It's been a tough but exciting three decades at Giants Stadium, and here are my favorite Cowboy wins during that time -

6) 2006: 23-20...Romo rolls left and hits Jason Witten on a 42-yard bomb to set up Martin Grammatica's last second, game-winning FG

5) 2003: 35-32...Parcells' first game back to Giants Stadium as a Cowboy. One of Quincy Carter's first passes of the night was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, but he recovered enough to throw for over 300 and lead Dallas to a 29-14 4th quarter lead - but the fun was just getting started. Kerry Collins threw a couple touchdowns and Giants kicked a field goal for a 32-29 lead with 11 seconds left. Then the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving Dallas possession at their 40, and then Carter made the clutchest throw I have ever seen to Antonio Bryant with 4 seconds left at the Giants 34 yard line. Billy Cundiff hit a 52 yard field goal as time expired, and then won the contest in overtime with his 7th field goal of the game. I still remember running around outside in my front yard when they somehow managed to pull this one out.

4) 1985: 30-29...Danny White throws for 4 ints but 343 yards and 3 TDs as the Cowboys win a classic matchup. Phil Simms passed for 432 yards in the loss.

3) 1998: 31-7...Jason Garrett subs for an injured Aikman and throws an 80-yard TD to Billy Davis, as well as a 55-yard bomb to Deion Sanders. Neon Deion also had a 59-yard punt return touchdown and a 71 yard game-sealing interception return, in an incredible prime time performance on MNF.

2) 1992: 34-28...The young and relatively unproven Cowboys had just defeated the defending world champion Redskins and raced out to a stunning 34-0 lead agaisnt their next division rival, only to have Phil Simms lead four second-half toudown drives and cut the Cowboys lead to six points. Dallas needed to convert a critical 3rd and 6 to run out the clock, which Troy Aikman did by completing a nine-yard slant to Michael Irvin to clinch the victory. To me, the team showed great character and a sign of great things to come with this stellar win.

1) 1993: 16-13 (OT)...This game is so famous and Emmitt Smith's gutty performance so iconic that it seems almost anti-climactic to list it here. It's like saying that "Stairway to Heaven" is the best classic rock and roll song. But it did include the greatest individual performance by a Cowboys player ever, all things considered. For the young ones who may not recall what exactly happened on January 2, 1994, this was the game that pitted the 11-4 Cowboys against the surprising 11-4 Giants. The winner would clinch the NFC East and home field throughout the playoffs, the loser would be relegated to the wildcard. Emmitt injured his shoulder at the end of a 46-yard run, but he stayed in to finish the game, which the Cowboys won in overtime. Smith carried the ball 32-161-0 and had 10 catches for 61 additional yards and a touchdown. Not only did the win clinch the NFC East, but it gave the weary and banged up Cowboys a week of rest, which combined with home field propelled them to another world championship, and pretty much cemented Emmitt's honor as the 1993 NFL Most Valuable Player and his place in football valhalla.   

Those games in the late 70s were a little before my time. My first memory of the dark-uniformed Cowboys playing at the Giants was in 1980