DALLAS, 25 October 2006 — Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes to lead the New York Giants to an impressive 36-22 road win over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday, while Tiki Barber rushed for 114 yards in the team’s fourth win of the season. Manning hit Plaxico Burress with a 50-yard strike to open the scoring and Jeremy Shockey with a 13-yard pass in the third as the Giants (4-2) took over first place in the NFC East Division.
“That was really a poor performance,” Dallas coach Bill Parcells told reporters.
The Giants quarterback went 12-for-26 for 189 yards and Kevin Dockery returned an interception 96 yards in the fourth quarter for New York.
Dallas quarterback Drew Bledsoe struggled again for the Cowboys (3-3) and was replaced by Tony Romo in the second half, who threw two touchdown passes and three interceptions.
Terrell Owens caught six passes for 98 yards for the Cowboys, including an eight-yard TD pass, and appeared to be much more involved in the offense with Romo at QB than he was with Bledsoe.
The Giants set the tone early by scoring on the opening drive as Burress took a long pass from Manning on the fifth play to put New York 7-0 ahead.
LaVar Arrington was credited with a safety later in the first quarter when he sacked Bledsoe in the end-zone to make it 9-0 after the first quarter.
Arrington’s eventful game ended in the second quarter when he tore an Achilles tendon chasing down Julius Jones on a running play and is likely to miss the rest of the season.
“That’s the one sad thing about this game, when you lose a player,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.
Doctors told the player he could be out for six months but should be able to regain full fitness.
“It felt like somebody hit me in the back of the leg, but there was nobody there,” Arrington said.
Jay Feely’s 31-yard field goal early in the second quarter put New York ahead by 12 points, but Bledsoe completed a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive with a one-yard run to leave the Giants 12-7 ahead at halftime.
New York extended their lead with a pair of third quarter touchdowns, as Manning found Shockey in the end-zone and Brandon Jacobs scored on a three-yard run to give the Giants a 26-7 lead.
Dallas came back in the fourth quarter, however, as Romo found Owens to reduce the deficit to 26-15, sending the sell-out crowd into a frenzy at the prospect of a comeback.
But Feely added a 32-yard field goal before Dockery carried an interception from his own four-yard line for a touchdown to clinch the win.
Romo, who finished 14-for-25 for 227 yards, hit Patrick Clayton with a 53-yard TD pass late in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
