The Giants returned to the NFC championship game for the first time since 2000 by shocking the Cowboys 21-17 in Dallas on Sunday.

 

Here are 10 Cold, Hard Football Facts culled from the Giants' second-straight upset victory.

1. OK, now you can say that Eli Manning has arrived. Yes, we thought the Eli Manning hype train was over-steamed heading into yesterday's game. But just because we didn't think Eli Manning had a third great game in him doesn't mean we're not impressed by his string of performances.

 

Manning's numbers in the regular season were Rex Grossman-like (73.9 passer rating), but he's played two great playoff games against tough secondaries. In those two upset road wins, Manning let 13 balls touch the turf and none wound up in the other team's arms.

 

That's impressive stuff for any QB, and for a guy who's never put it together in the regular or postseason, it's downright unbelievable. You go, little bro!  

2. Tony Romo picked a bad time to turn in the only QB clunker of the weekend. After the Cowboys ran for over 100 yards in the first half, New York adjusted to Marion Barber with more bodies near the line and Barber ran 11 times for 28 yards in the second. The New York secondary, already without regulars like Sam Madison, lost Aaron Ross in the second half, and should have been ripe for the picking as the Giants continued to play run.

 

Romo, though, self-destructed in a big way. He was 10 of 22 in the second half, and treated the end of the game as if Dallas was down by 14, not 4. Dallas' offensive line played well enough to win, but Romo couldn't get it done (64.7 passer rating).

First the botched hold in Seattle, then "Weekend with Jessica" loss to the Giants. Another horrible January for Romo, who will henceforth be referred to as "Mr. November."

3. Defense finally joined the party. After three straight divisional games ruled by offenses that were a deadly mixture of efficiency and explosion, the Giants-Cowboys game featured some big defense by New York.

 

New York held Dallas to 4.7 yards per offensive play, which is excellent for any game but unbelievable against an explosive offense on the road. New York allowed 8.7 yards per play in its first meeting with Dallas, 6.0 per play in the second game, so it was a hell of an improvement by Tom Coughlin's crew.

 

4. Amani Toomer is clutch. Touchdowns and Amani Toomer don't exactly go together like peanut butter and jelly. The veteran Giants receiver had three TDs in 2007, three in 2006. In 2004, he went a whole season with no TDs, despite 51 catches. But Toomer has three TDs in two playoff games this season, adding a pair vs. the Cowboys.

 

Toomer actually has a damn good playoff resume for a secondary type of player. In seven games (four wins), Toomer has 32 catches for 456 yards and 7 touchdowns. That translates to 73 catches, 1,042 yards and 16 TDs over a 16-game schedule – incredible in a playoff atmosphere.

 

5. Don't buy into playoff myths like "the third time's the charm" from this one game. Just because New York beat Dallas after losing the first two meetings, it doesn't mean that it's harder to beat a team three times. As pro-football-reference.com noted this week, favored teams are now 9-4 trying to beat a team a third time in the playoffs.

 

The Giants' win also gives plenty of credence to the "don't rest your players" theory. Dallas, Tampa Bay and Indianapolis rested, and were upset. New England, San Diego and New York played hard to the end, and are still around. Is there something to it? We'll look into this phenomenon in the upcoming week.

 

6. Dallas' Offensive Hogs dug deep on a 10-minute drive in the first half. A 10-minute drive in the NFL is quite uncommon, but Dallas showed why it was at or near the top of our Offensive Hog Index rankings all season. The Cowboys followed a nine-play, 96-yard drive with a 20-play, 90-yarder so epic that it needed a score by John Williams (the composer, not the former Steelers fullback). Dallas held the ball for 10:28 before turning it into a touchdown, picking up five third-down conversions on the way and scoring on a Marion Barber 1-yard run on 3rd and goal.

 

How could that same dominating team score only three more points the rest of the way? It's a question Jerry Jones will be asking a lot over the next few weeks.

7. Don't blame Jason Garrett. The Dallas offensive coordinator might take some blame for Romo's panicky fourth-quarter performance, but he called a winning game. Dallas had the ball all game, and were held three-and-out only once. Despite committing 11 penalties, most on the offensive side, Garrett's playcalling was a step ahead of the Cowboys' execution.

 

8. Playoff success has eluded Terrell Owens. Owens is one of the best receivers ever, and well worth having on your team regardless of his attitude or antics. But T.O. has now lost six of his last seven playoff games, and his career playoff stats (54 catches, 751 yards, 5 TDs in 11 games) are not up to his normal standards.

 

9. The nickname "Mr. November" really is perfect for Romo. Check out Romo's five passer ratings in November games this year: 141.7, 123.1, 102.5, 123.5, 110.4. And then three losses in five games after November. If that doesn't make Romo "Mr. November," we don't know sarcastically derogatory nicknames.

10. Roy Williams showed why he didn't belong in the Pro Bowl, Michael Strahan showed why he did. The Giants averaged 9.06 yards per pass attempt against the Dallas secondary, the same one that sent three members to the Pro Bowl, including Williams as a replacement for Sean Taylor. Williams had one tackle and no other stats vs. New York, and the Giants ran the ball well enough (4.4 yard per carry from the tailbacks) to sustain long drives. Meanwhile, Strahan, who didn't have big sack numbers (8.5) in the regular season but keyed the best DL in the business, stepped up with seven solo tackles in the New York upset.