Cowboys vs Giants is a long-time rivalry with some uniquely shared coaches

The Dallas Cowboys rivalry with the franchise in Washington was, for a long time, the premier rivalry in the NFL, and some would say in all of sports. That rivalry has cooled down as both franchises went through spells of poor football. Much of the heat from that rivalry shifted over the Philadelphia Eagles, as those two teams are in a bitter feud over who is king of the NFC East.

Riding under the radar of those two is the Cowboys rivalry with the New York Giants. These two franchises have a long history between them and have certainly shared some coaches along the way.

The numbers

When it comes to wins in this rivalry, it’s been pretty one sided. The Cowboys have a 72-47-2 record against the Giants in the regular season. There’s no debate who has gotten the better of this rivalry. Unless you count the playoffs. Strangely enough, they have only met one time in the postseason. That was after the 2007 season when the Cowboys were the top seed, but the Giants stole one 21-17, putting a bitter end to a season where the Cowboys had Super Bowl aspirations.

The Cowboys started to dominate the series back in the 1960s as the New York franchise was falling on hard times. The Cowboys had a record of 9-6-2 in the 60s. The 70s was a total wipeout for the Giants as the Cowboys won the decade 17-3.

In the 1980s the Giants started to rebound as a franchise and the season series between the two was 9-9. Since then it has gone back and forth, with the Cowboys currently in the ascendancy winning 10 of the last 11 contests.

Shared coaches

When the Cowboys started out back in 1960, they needed a head coach. They got one from the New York Giants pipeline. Tom Landry played for the Giants in the 1950s and when he retired he went on to become their defensive coordinator. Of course, he famously went on to be the Cowboys first head coach and to a Hall of Fame career as a coach.

Then there was the Tuna. Bill Parcells coached the Giants in the 1980s and won two Supper Bowls with the franchise. To close out his career, he coached the Cowboys from 2003-06.

Finally there was Jason Garrett. He was a longtime backup quarterback for the Cowboys in the 1990s, but played with the Giants toward the end of his career. He also coached the Cowboys until he was let go in favor of Mike McCarthy, then spent one season as the Giants offensive coordinator.

Famous games

1960 - This was the first meeting between the two franchises and it ended up in a 31-31 tie. This game was notable because this was Dallas’ first year playing and they had lost 10 straight games before they managed the tie.

1994 - The Emmitt Smith game. The Cowboys and Giants were in a battle for the top seed in the conference in the last game of the year. Smith separated his shoulder in the first half, but somehow managed to continue playing while in obvious pain. He totaled 168 yards in the game and led Dallas on their game-winning drive.

2003 - The Tuna Bowl. Bill Parcells made his first visit back to New York as the Cowboys coach. The Cowboys miraculously pulled off a last second field goal to send the game to overtime, where they eventually won the game 35-32. The Cowboys kicker, Billy Cundiff, had seven field goals in the game.

2008 - The two teams met for the only time in the playoffs. The Cowboys were at home and were the #1 seed, but the #5 seed Giants beat them 21-17 and went on to win the Super Bowl.

2009 - In the first game at the Cowboys new stadium, nicknamed JerryWorld, the Giants pulled off a win in the final seconds with a field goal, prompting Eli Manning to scribble ‘33-31, first win in new stadium’ and his name.

2014 - This game featured a Cowboys comeback in the second half for a win. But all anybody really remembers about this game is the famous one-handed Odell Beckham Jr. catch. Maybe he’ll make a few more of those playing for the Cowboys this year.

2019 - The black cat game. The Giants were dominating the Cowboys 9-3 when a black cat ran on to the field and delayed the game. The cat must have been bad luck for the Giants because the Cowboys rallied to a 37-18 win.