The New York Giants’ defense forced six turnovers and held off the Dallas Cowboys 29-24 after blowing a 23 point lead to improve to 6-2 on the season.

On 2nd and 6 at the Giants 37 yard-line Dallas quarterback, Tony Romo dropped back and threw the ball to wideout Dez Bryant in the end-zone. Bryant caught the ball and the play was initially called a touchdown. The play was reviewed and overturned because Bryant’s hand touched out of bounds. Romo converted a first down to tight-end Jason Witten to move up to the 27 yard-line.

Romo, threw an incomplete pass to Miles Austin and was left with one second on the clock. On the final play Romo scrambled out of the pocket and threw the ball out of the back of the end-zone handing the Giants the victory.

Romo struggled early and often against the Giants. Romo completed 36-of-62 yards for a career high 437 yards one touchdown, one rushing touchdown and four interceptions. Dallas’ first four drives resulted in three interceptions. Romo’s third interception was intercepted by defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul who took it back 28 yards for seven.

Tight-end Jason Witten had a career day catching 18 passes for 167 yards. Witten’s 18 catches broke his previous team record. In addition, his 18 catches was the most by an NFL tight-end. Austin also caught nine passes for 133 yards and Bryant caught five receptions for 110 yards.

The Cowboys were unable to run the ball against the Giants front seven. They compiled 19 yards on 17 carries.

As for Eli Manning and the Giants offense they were unable to move the ball very effectively. Manning completed 15-of-29 passes for 192 yards and one interception. Wideout Ruben Randle led the receiving crew with 68 yards. Both Hakeem Nicks and tight-end Martellus Bennett caught four passes. The Cowboys secondary contained Victor Cruz limiting him to two catches for 23 yards.

Running back Ahmad Bradshaw, carried the ball 22 times for 78 yards and one fumble. Also running back Andre Brown carried the ball three times for 21 yards and punched in a touchdown towards the end of the first quarter.

Giants kicker, Lawrence Tynes was a perfect 5/5 scoring 17 of the Giants 29 points. Tynes play was essential considering the Giants offense was unable to produce anything inside Cowboys territory.

Giants safety, Stevie Brown, was the defensive MVP for New York. Brown, led the team with eight tackles, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

The victory gives the Giants an early NFC East lead with the second place Eagles and Cowboys sitting at 3-4. The Giants will look to expand their winning streak to five games next week as they welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to MetLife Stadium. As for the Cowboys they will have another tough match-up against the undefeated Atlanta Falcons.

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The Chicago Bears forced Tony Romo to throw five interception to improve to 3-1 and defeat  the Dallas Cowboys 34-18.

The Bears defense had a busy evening, forcing turnovers the entire night. Bears safety, Major Wright, had two interceptions giving him a total of three on the season, and the second best in the NFL.  Cornerback, Charles Tillman, picked off Romo in the 1st quarter and ran it back 25 yards for a touchdown. Linebacker, Lance Briggs, picked Romo off in the 3rd quarter and took it back 75 yards for another touchdown. Cornerback, D.J Moore, also had an interception. The Bears lead the NFL with a total of 11 interceptions. Bears Safety, Chris Conte, led the Bears with 11 tackles.

Romo’s five interceptions tied a career high for the Dallas quarterback. Interestingly enough, Romo’s first five interception game was back in 2007, also on Monday night. Four weeks in, and Romo currently leads the NFL with eight interceptions. Romo did throw one touchdown to wide receiver, Miles Austin. Austin finished the game with four receptions for 57 yards.

Romo’s awful performance ended late in the 4th quarter and back-up, Kyle Orton, took over. On Orton’s only drive, he completed 8-of-9 passes for 89 yards and one touchdown. Orton’s lone touchdown was too tight-end, Jason Witten; Witten finished the game with 13 receptions for 112 yards. Cowboys running back, DeMarco Murray, struggled running the ball for a third straight week. Murray had 11 carries for 24 yards. Murray was featured in the pass game, catching seven passes for 57 yards.

Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler had a season best 75% completion percentage, threw for 275 yards and had two touchdowns. After being contained under 100 receiving yards the last two weeks, Brandon Marshall caught seven passes for 138 yards and one touchdown. Devin Hester caught Cutler’s first touchdown pass of the night, and Hester caught three passes for 38 yards. The Bears were delighted to welcome Matt Forte back after missing last week because of an injury. Forte had 13 carries for 52 yards.

The Bears are currently atop the NFC North Division with the Minnesota Vikings at 3-1. Chicago will be on the road again next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. As for the Dallas Cowboys, they are in a three-way tie at 2-2 in the NFC East Division. Luckily for the Cowboys, they can rebuild and get things together during their bye week. The Cowboys will be back in action in Baltimore to take on the Ravens October 14th.

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By now, the dramatic stakes to this match-up are almost universally known. The Cowboys went into this game controlling their own destiny, while the Eagles have managed to surprisingly remain in the hunt, despite initially appearing to be the disappointment of the year. The last meeting between these two teams resulted in the Eagles enjoying a one-sided 34-7 win at home, which only adds fuel to the fire for Saturday’s game in Arlington.

Ever since that week eight game in Philadelphia, the Eagles have remained somewhat inconsistent, but established themselves as a dangerous team after last week’s blowout victory over the Jets. This will prove to make things rather difficult for the Cowboys team, who still has a bad taste in their mouth after the disappointing losses at the last second to the Cardinals and the Giants. In the event of a Giants loss to the Jets, a win this week would not only guarantee a playoff spot for the Cowboys, but also provide them with much needed momentum.

Although the Eagles made a strong statement last week with a dominant win over the Jets, there is still reason to question their defense. This comes off as a bit ironic considering the main off-season acquisitions that dubbed the Eagles a “Dream Team” were the defensive acquisitions of Nnamdi Asomugha, Cullen Jenkins, and Jason Babin. In spite of these acquisitions, the Eagles have consistently struggled against the run due to the poor LB play as well as Juan Castillo’s poor usage of the Wide 9.

In the passing game, Nnamdi Asomugha has proven to be less effective playing zone as opposed to when he was able to shut down opposing receivers in man-to-man with Oakland. Even so, Asomugha has not had a bad season, by any means, contrary to what many have claimed. He and Asante Samuel are arguably the best CB duo in the league, but most of the liabilities on the back end have belonged to the safeties. Whether Kurt Coleman has played alongside Jerrod Page or Nate Allen, neither combination has managed to be an effective security blanket for the Eagles.

Luckily, Jason Garrett’s Coryell offense is one that relies on combining a power running game with a deep passing attack. The idea, of course, is to stretch the defense vertically with the running game, effectively opening up deep passing lanes. Based on how the Eagles defense has been described earlier, this type of offense is one that can induce the biggest mismatch for them. Their poor run defense should allow the Cowboys to vertically stretch the safeties, while the poor safety play should be the perfect catalyst for the Cowboys to expose the defense with the deep ball. A key match-up to watch for during this game will, therefore, be Miles Austin versus Asomugha/Samuel. If Austin can use his deep speed to his advantage, it will be very hard for the Eagles to defend the Cowboys’ vertical passing attack.

Of course, this is all dependent on which version of Felix Jones decides to show up, as well as whether or not Doug Free and Tyron Smith are able to stop Trent Cole and Jason Babin, respectively. Both match-ups will prove to be huge x-factors in the outcome of the game. Jason Babin currently leads the league in sacks with 18, while Tyron Smith is a highly regarded prospect who, despite being disappointing at the start of the season, has proven to be a huge rookie sensation. Watching him try to block Jason Babin will be interesting, considering Babin got the best of him in week eight.

While Jason Babin on Tyron Smith may be the more interesting match-up, Trent Cole on Doug Free will likely be more crucial. Doug Free is having an off year after playing so well last season and has especially struggled the past two weeks against Jason Pierre-Paul and Adrian Clayborn. If this pattern of struggling heavily against good pass rushers continues, Trent Cole is going to have a field day. This will prove to be a critical component to the outcome of the game, since Romo will not be able to expose the highly suspect safety play of the Eagles if he is not given enough time to let the vertical routes develop.

On the opposite side of the ball, a very good match-up will be DeMarcus Ware on Eagles Left Tackle Jason Peters. Assuming that DeMarcus Ware plays through his minor injury suffered a couple weeks ago against the Giants (he is listed as questionable), this match up will display the premier pass rusher in the NFL against someone who has played like a candidate for the premier offensive tackle in the NFL since joining the Eagles. When these two went head-to-head in week eight, Ware was able to pick up four sacks against Peters. However, these numbers are a bit misleading considering most of the sacks were of the coverage variety.

D-Ware has to be able to put Michael Vick under pressure consistently in order for the Dallas defense to even stand a chance against the Philadelphia offense. It is doubtful that the Cowboys will be able to contain LeSean McCoy, and the Eagles’ receivers will likely wreak havoc on a very shoddy Cowboys secondary. As such, DeMarcus Ware’s performance is, in fact, crucial towards the Cowboys’ success in this game. Taking into account all other aspects of the game, however, it appears as if things are a lot more certain for the Eagles. Simply put, it is much safer to say that Trent Cole will be able to get pressure against Doug Free than it is to say that Ware will be equally good against Peters. In addition to that, one can feel a lot more confident in LeSean McCoy being able to run on the Cowboys, than the inconsistent Felix Jones being able to run on the Eagles. With these factors in mind the Eagles may have a slight edge over the Cowboys going into this game despite the home field advantage favoring the Cowboys.

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After back-to-back heartbreaking losses, Tony Romo and the Cowboys weren’t going to leave this one to chance.

Four Romo touchdowns on the team’s first five drives easily propelled Dallas to a 31-15 victory over Tampa Bay on Saturday night. The Dallas quarterback looked as focused as ever during one of his best performances on the year.

“I was just finding guys who were open and the guys do the rest,” said Romo. “I thought the offense played good as a whole.”

At 8-6 the Cowboys now control their own destiny in the NFC East. Wins over the Eagles and Giants over the last two weeks would earn them a postseason berth as division champions.

And while all is good and well for America’s team, things could not be any worse for the Buccaneers (the Bucs). The loss was Tampa Bay’s eighth in a row, dropping their record to 4-10 after an impressive 4-2 start. The losing streak has head coach Raheem Morris on the hot seat just one year removed from a 10-6 season.

The players openly acknowledged a sense of fear for Morris’ future before the kickoff. With playoff aspirations long gone, they admitted that their main motivation to finally win lay in protecting his job.

A 25 yard third down run by Josh Freeman on the game’s opening drive created the immediate positive atmosphere that the players have been searching for so desperately. However, that enthusiasm lasted for literally less than a minute.

With no one open, Freeman ran up the middle once again on the next play. As he went into his slide, Cowboys linebacker Anthony Spencer chased him down from behind and punched the ball loose. Bradie James would recover Tampa Bay’s league-leading 32^nd turnover for Dallas at their 44 line yard.

Romo would then lead a 7 play drive that ended with a scrambling 8 yard touchdown throw to Miles Austin to give the Cowboys an early 7-0 lead. Austin showed great fight as he out-wrestled Tampa safety Sean Jones for the ball all the way to the ground.

The Bucs offense was unable to rebound for the remainder of the first half. Not only were they shut out, but they also couldn’t attain a single first down following Freeman’s opening drive run.

While Tampa was completely inefficient offensively over the first 30 minutes, Dallas was the exact opposite. The Cowboys went into halftime with a 28-0 lead behind three Romo touchdown passes and one rushing score.

Romo’s second touchdown was an 8 yard throw to Dez Bryant that capped off a 10 play, 69 yard drive. He would then lead a 64 yard drive in the second quarter that ended with a 9 yard touchdown throw to Laurent Robinson. And with 20 seconds remaining in the half, Romo called his own number to finish off a 62 yard drive with a one yard touchdown run.

Romo looked nearly perfect during the first half. He completely cut up the Bucs defense, going 18-22 for 189 yards. With the luxury of a big lead, he took it rather easily in the second half. He was not responsible for any more touchdowns and his final line read 23-30 for 249 yards.

“I thought he just had a good feel for what we were doing against what they were doing,” said coach Jason Garrett. “I thought he got back quickly and got the ball out of his hands, and when he had to move and make plays, he was able to do that too. He made a lot of big plays and not many bad plays.”

Freeman’s night was a completely different story. He passed for only 14 yards in the first half and had a total of just 148 yards through the air going 17-27 with one touchdown toss.

Tampa Bay tried to get back into the game after opening the second half with a strip-sack of Romo that was recovered by linebacker Dekoda Watson and run back 4 yards for a touchdown. Following a Dallas field goal, the Bucs were able to make it a two possession game thanks to a touchdown catch by Dezmon Briscoe and a successful two point conversion to cut the lead to 31-15 with 23 seconds remaining in the third, but the Cowboys held the Bucs scoreless in the fourth and held on to win by the same score.

Tampa Bay will now look to end the losing streak in Carolina next week, while the Cowboys will continue their playoff push hosting Philadelphia.

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The Bills come into the game on Sunday looking to avoid losing two in a row for the first time this season when they travel to Jerryworld to square off with the Cowboys who are trying to keep pace with the Giants for the NFC East. “The focus is trying to win a game. … We got everything in front of us — we hold our own destiny in our own hands, so we gotta go take care of business,” coach Chan Gailey said.

Buffalo, who sit at 5-3 tied atop the AFC East with the Patriots and the Jets, failed to take care of any business last Sunday against the Jets. They fell 27-11 and saw their high power offense, which is tied for the highest scoring in the AFC with the Patriots at 27.8 points per game, sputter as the Jets made them look like the one win Dolphins. The Bills went 3 for 11 on third down and turned it over three times.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two interceptions and had his worst game of the year going 15 of 31 for 191 yards and a touchdown. ”It was a bad game,” said Fitzpatrick. “We certainly didn’t have our best effort out there, and I think that’s where a lot of disappointment and frustration comes in.”

Fitzpatrick will look to bounce back facing a Cowboys pass defense that’s right in the middle of the pack ranked 16^th giving up 232.5 yards per game. The Bills are led by running back Fred Jackson who is having a career year leading the AFC at 100.4 yards per game and helping the Bills to the 7^th ranked rushing attack with 135 yards per game.

However, the Jets held the team to only 96 yards on the ground and forced Jackson’s first fumble of the year. They will look to get back to the run, as Dallas has struggled lately giving up 401 yards on the ground the past two weeks. Dallas will get Sean Lee back who is their leading tackler and this should help them somewhat.

For Buffalo to keep pace for the AFC East title they’ll have to go at least 2-1 on their three game road trip facing Dallas, Miami, and then the Jets again before heading home to face Tennessee. ”It will be a difficult stretch, but we don’t have to play all three of them at the same time,” Jackson said. “If we go out and continue to make plays like we have been throughout the season, we feel like we’ll be OK.”

Buffalo has struggle so far on the road this year by going 1-2, but the losses came against the Giants and the Bengals, both who are in first place in their divisions. Each loss was only by three points. The Cowboys sit at 4-4, but are looking to make a push in the second half of the season as they benefit from an easy schedule. They also benefit from the first place Giants having a tough stretch over the next few weeks.

After the Bills the Cowboys face Washington, Miami, and Arizona who have a combined record of 6-18. After that, the Giants come to town in what looks to be a pivotal matchup. ”We’ve done a lot of things to build on over the first eight games, a lot we can be positive about. … But we have to get better,” said Garrett

When starting running back Felix Jones got hurt, people expected the running game to take a step back, but the opposite has happened with rookie DeMarco Murray shining rushing for 466 yards in three games. They hope he can keep it up against a Bills run defense that ranks 20^th giving up 120.8 yards per game.

“We are going to have a great 1-2 punch when Felix gets healthy,” Witten said. “It’s going to put us in a great situation.” The Cowboys are a little banged up with Felix Jones still being questionable and wide receiver Miles Austin out for possibly a month after he reinjured his hamstring last week.

With no Austin, Dez Bryant figures to see a lot more targets, along with tight end Kevin Ogletree and wide receiver Laurent Robinson. Buffalo’s defense, while rich with playmaking ability, they lead the AFC with 15 interceptions, isn’t that great. They rank 25^th against the pass giving up 260.4 yards per game.

The game should be a close contest as both teams can put up a lot of points in a hurry. Both teams need to win to keep pace in their respective races, but with the Bills on the road and Dallas’ defense being run by Rob Ryan, Rex’s twin brother, they will see a dose of the same stuff they saw against the Jets. The Cowboys should be able to get a win at home. Final Prediction: Bills 17 Cowboys 27.

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