Glauber: Giants' 'D' set stage for win over Cowboys

ARLINGTON, Texas

Considering all the big plays in the Giants' 41-35 win over the Cowboys on Monday - from Eli Manning's four touchdown passes, to Dez Bryant's two scoring catches and an electrifying 93-yard punt return for a touchdown, to Brandon Jacobs' 30-yard touchdown run - an incomplete pass on a slant pattern early in the first quarter hardly qualifies as a game changer.

But it may have been that play, as well as two nondescript runs before it, that helped key the Giants' stunning come-from-behind win over the Cowboys, whose hopes of a Super Bowl effectively were wiped out at Cowboys Stadium, site of the NFL's title game on Feb. 6.

We take you back to the sequence that helped set the stage for the Giants' fourth straight win: Eli Manning had just been intercepted a second time, and the Cowboys, leading 7-0 after converting the first one into a touchdown, had a third-and-goal from the Giants' 8. Tony Romo dropped back and looked for Miles Austin on a slant route to the left of the formation. But under a heavy rush, and with cornerback Terrell Thomas the nearest defender to Austin, the ball went off Austin's hands and fell incomplete. The pass came after the Giants held Marion Barber to zero yards on two previous rushing plays.

The Cowboys settled for a field goal and a 10-0 lead.

So what was the big deal about the drive? It turned out to be a major statement by a defense that has been at the core of the Giants' resurgence this season.

"I thought one of the biggest plays of the game was holding them to a field goal after the second interception," coach Tom Coughlin said. "I thought that was critical."

Coughlin knew the kind of momentum shift that might have been created with a touchdown and a 14-point deficit. Holding the Cowboys to a field goal was thus a huge lift. The Giants drove for a touchdown on their next possession. Not long after, the defense knocked Romo out of the game with a broken clavicle.

It was the latest evidence that a Giants' defense that was at the heart of last year's collapse from a 5-0 start is a major factor in this year's revival. Defensive end Justin Tuck agreed with his coach about the significance of the early defensive stand.

"Holding them to a field goal lifted our defense," he said. "That was a big confidence booster, not only for the defense, but for the whole team. We understood that we could play with these guys.''

The Giants wound up having to sweat out a late Dallas comeback after building a 38-20 lead, but make no mistake: Despite getting sloppy in allowing backup Jon Kitna and rookie sensation Bryant to combine for two late touchdowns, this defense is easily among the most effective in the NFL.

Mistakes? Plenty to go around. On offense, defense and special teams. But heading into the bye week at 5-2 - tied for the most victories in the NFC - the Giants are setting up things quite well for the rest of the season.

They can thank a touchdown-producing machine of an offense, but they also can point to a potentially dominating defense that has made a habit of punishing opposing quarterbacks. Romo is the fifth quarterback sent to the sidelines by the Giants this season, joining Carolina's Matt Moore, Chicago's Jay Cutler and Todd Collins, and Detroit's Shaun Hill.

"That's the head of the snake," Tuck said, referring to the quarterback position. "When you take the head out, it creates a lot of trouble. I've never seen a team be successful without good quarterback play."

The upcoming schedule isn't easy, but if the defense continues to play as it has during the last month, there's no reason the Giants can't set themselves up for a playoff run.

"We'd like to be 7-0, but 5-2 going into the bye, we'll take it," Tuck said. "We're on a run. Sometimes it isn't pretty, but it's effective."

No argument there.