Pick six by Cowboys is turning point

The difference between Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett, his midweek replacement as head coach of the Cowboys, quickly became evident. Garrett put his players in pads for the Wednesday practice and immediately raised the intensity level by letting everyone know when they made a mistake and what was expected.

So the Cowboys who showed up Sunday at New Meadowlands Stadium were not the 1-7 bunch some critics accused of quitting on Phillips. They came ready to play, from quarterback Jon Kitna to brilliant receiver Dez Bryant down to rookie cornerback Bryan McCann, who came off the bench in a pinch to make the biggest play in the Cowboys' 33-20 upset.

"Coach Garrett is more fiery than coach Phillips was," said McCann, whose 101-yard interception return in the second quarter was the longest in Cowboys history. "You see a lot of teams carry the personality of their coaches, and coach Garrett is more fiery, more feisty and more intense. I feel he brought that to the team."

Kitna showed early he could hit the big pass play on the Giants, connecting on a 45-yarder to Bryant that set up a 13-yard TD pass to Bryant for a 6-3 lead. But the Cowboys' defense was having trouble against Giants quarterback Eli Manning, and it figured to get worse when starting cornerback Mike Jenkins left with an injury and was replaced by McCann, who got two snaps at corner the previous week in his NFL debut.

Dallas led 9-3, but the Giants had third-and-goal at the 2 when McCann found himself singled up against Hakeem Nicks, the home team's best receiver. "I figured it was coming my way, but I was expecting the fade route [to the corner], to be honest," McCann said. "To get those, you have to come off the line immediately so the timing will be right. [Nicks] stuttered his feet at the line. As soon as he did that, I knew he wasn't going outside. So I moved inside. You've got to know your opponent."

Manning's pass burrowed into McCann's gut and he took off on a 101-yard sprint with no one in front of him, turning a potential 10-9 deficit into a 16-3 lead.

"That's a huge swing, a 14-point swing," Garrett said. "If you're looking for one play that changes things, that's the play."

To Garrett, the way McCann stepped up is an example of what the Cowboys were missing. Discussing Jenkins' injury, Garrett said: "Adversity is part of football. Guys get hurt. It's how you respond, and ultimately, it's about mental toughness. That's something all good teams and all good players have. We've got to keep developing that, and I think it was on display today."