Cowboys Corner

Postgame quotables, Winning Quarterback version

A smattering of quotes from Giants quarterback Eli Manning, following New York's 21-17 playoff win over the Cowboys:

On his feelings after the game: It's just a great feeling. It was a great game and a team win. We've been doing it all season. We didn't make any mistakes on offense, not many if any penalties and their defense did a great job at the end. So did ours, holding their offense to 17 points hasn't been done many times this season. We just had a bunch of big plays throughout the game. It wasn't fancy. Amani Toomer catching that ball on the first series, and taking it to the house was big. Then getting the ball back after their offense kept it for 10 minutes in the second quarter with 47 seconds left and going down the field and scoring was big as well. We needed to get that and tie it up at halftime. Then we had one more good drive in the second half. I am just very excited about our team and the ways we are finding to win games.

On the Cowboys last drive: I was a little nervous. It's a team, when you look at Dallas, they just find ways to win close games in the fourth quarter. It was just a great job by our defense, stepping up and getting that interception at the end. It's not easy to stop those guys, especially when they have two chances and are down four with pretty good field position and our defense stopped them twice.

On the last drive of the second half: We knew we weren't going to take a knee. We had pretty good field position and two timeouts left. We were going to try and give it a shot. They played quarters and Steve Smith had a big catch on a corner route and took a hit. He had another good catch on the sideline and was able to get out of bounds, and then Kevin Boss had a great catch to get us down to the five-yard line. He did a good job concentrating and getting out of bounds. We were able to run it in from there. Some individual big-time plays by our guys.

On the enormity of the touchdown before the half: It was big. They had all the momentum with that lon drive. Our defense was gassed. They were just out on the field for so long. We were on the sideline for ten minutes of game time. We didn't have a whole lot going our way and to get a touchdown on that drive was a big momentum builder for our team.

Postgame quotables, T.O. version

In case you haven't seen this interview on television yes, Terrell Owens became very visibly upset over the course of his postgame interview. Crying may not be the right word, but it's very close.

Were there opportunities for him in the last pass of the game: There were opportunities throughout the whole game. You just can't pinpoint that last drive. I ran my routes according to what was called and just came up short.

Was he limited because of his injury: I wasn't. I had all faith in God and I believed that I could get back on this field in a timely matter the way that I did today. I couldn't have done it without God.

On how difficult a loss like this is for Romo: This isn't about Tony. You guys can point the finger at him. You can talk about the vacation. And if you do that, it's wrong. It's not fair. It's really not fair. That's my teammate. That's my quarterback. If you guys do that, it's not fair. We lost as a team.

On if it was something schematically that the Giants did to shut them down: No, there were opportunities and we made them sometimes and sometimes we didn't. It's the playoffs and every play counts. Every play is magnified. You can look at the game and point out miscues, post-play penalties, offsides penalties. We got ourselves in a hole.

Is there disbelief because he felt this team could have reached the Super Bowl? I know we would have, and we didn't make enough plays. It's really a shame on our part because we have the talent on this team.

On why he gets emotional about defending Romo: Because it's unfair and I've been through it. He gives it his all every day. I know the media. He's the quarterback of this team and win or lose, it's going to fall on his shoulders. But let it fall on the team's shoulders.

On how bad he wanted to win for Wade Phillips: Of course. We're a team. We're a family and he's our head coach. I know he wanted to win as bad as anybody else. We lost.

Postgame quotables, Tony Romo version

On how devastating this loss it: It hurts. It's hard for us because right after last season, we started building for this time and when it doesn't happen, it's very disappointing. I was sitting there remembering all the little things you do to put yourself in a position to succeed, all the things players do to try to win games. What you guys don't see is the stuff we believe in. It's what we do in February and March. Then the season takes care of itself. We had good position going into the playoffs, and it's just so disappointing because you put in so much time. When you don't come through, especially at the quarterback position, it's a tough pill to swallow.

On if there's a difference in how he felt last year and now this year: No. They both sucked.

On how deflating the Giants' touchdown was at the end of the first half: Momentum-wise, it obviously didn't help. Give the Giants credit, they did a good job today. Our guys up front battled them hard, and it was a great game. But I'm just very frustrated and very disappointed.

On the last offensive play on fourth down: We had a double post, that's what we call it. They kind of doubled T.O. and Terry had a guy running with him up the middle and I think he was the only guy with single coverage on the play. It's fourth down, theoretically, in another time, in another game, you check it down. But you really can't there. I had to throw it.

On the offensive production not being the same in the past month: I felt like we moved the ball today. Their offense kept us off the field, too. We had some long drives that we had to go down to get a field goal, and at least that was a positive.

On how he feels about his team: We obviously didn't win this game tonight, but I think the Giants are a good football team. I thought we were a good football team -- I still do. We had too many things tonight that hurt us. Whether it was penalties or things that allowed them to stay on the field, or us to get off the field. I think when you look at the field-position battle, we really got killed in that battle.

On he Giants: I felt like they were the toughest team. I told guys all year that I felt like we'd see them again. They were the toughest team we faced this year, besides New England.

On if he has any regrets based on the decisions he's made in the past weeks: No. I don't live with regrets. I'm content in my own skin. If I try and be a good person and I'm strong enough in my faith, if I'm strong enough in what I'm trying to do then I feel like I'm doing it the right way.

Postgame quotables, Winning Coach version

A dash of postgame comments from New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin:

Overall thoughts: Obviously a great win for the New York Giants and I am so proud of our players. They really rose up. Our defensive guys were on the field a majority of the time, had to make two big-time stops there on our side of the 50-yard line at the end of the game. So many guys contributed, so many guys played. They got 21 and we knew a field goal wasn't going to do it for them and we had an opportunity to play it that way. And fortunately for us, we were able to come away with a victory. It would have been great to end the game with the ball in our hands, but the last four minute drive didn't happen and our defense had to go back out there and did a great job. The kickoff return was huge, putting the ball at midfield and giving us great field position. We had a punt return again into their territory. We didn't score there and that was the deciding drive right there.

On the drive at the end of the half: Well, that was huge because we had relatively little time left, but we did have two timeouts and we made some big plays down the stretch. We weren't worried about throwing the ball down the middle. We were able to get the ball our of bounds to keep the time at a minimum there a couple of times. But to drive it down and score with two big plays and two rookies making big plays ... and then the touchdown to Amani was those points to open the gate. Those long drives there in the second quarter, I don't know if we had three plays in the second quarter, but we were able to go ahead and score there and that sent us into the locker room with some momentum.

On the Cowboys holding the ball for nearly 11 minutes: To be able to come right back and score. To be able to take the ball with that amount of time and with that pass rush, and to be able to take the ball down and score, that was a big lift for us going into halftime.

On his offense not turning the ball over: Last two games in the playoffs, we haven't turned the ball over and that was huge. Eli took very good care of the ball and did an outstanding job there. They are an outstanding defensive team, they rushed the passer and did a great job. But despite that, we were able to hang in there and make the plays that were necessary. I can't say enough about the way our defensive guys hung in there at the end.

On being one step closer to the Super Bowl: I'm not going to take about that. I think it's a great win for us and I told the players last night that when we won today, we would go into Green Bay on Sunday afternoon. We'll get back to New York as soon as we can and try to get ourselves ready for Green Bay.

Postgame quotables, Cowboys defense version

Terence Newman: It was really tough. Our defense has played will all year. We came out today and just couldn't get anything going. At times, we made some key stops in the fourth quarter but until then we just stunk, we didn't help our offense out that much at all. ... We are definitely disappointed. You go into every season thinking you are going to make it to the Super Bowl and then for us to lose at home after a 13-3 season, it definitely hurt. ... We have a special team, but someone else has a more special team.

Anthony Spencer: We played very well during the regular season to get this far and to lose like this is just, like, you really can't do ... I don't know ...It's the playoffs. It's do or die, either you win or go home. We definitely made some plays but we didn't make enough plays when it comes down to it.

Marcus Spears: You don't talk about those things because it comes back to haunt you. You deal with those things, you come in to halftime and try to adjust it so that hopefully the offense gets us in the endzone one more time. But you can't let those kind of things happen. I think they got the ball with 30 seconds and defense had to step up and make a play. We didn't. ... New York runs well. That's what they do, that's what they came to do. I don't know how many yards they ended up with, but we started getting the running game in hand eventually. But it was a total team effort. Maybe if we didn't let those runs pop in the first quarter, we wouldn't be in this situation right now. ... You never go into games like this thinking you're going to lose. You're playing a divisional opponent that you've played twice already. We went out expecting a win. We didn't get it done and those kind of things happen in football. But it surely is had when you don't have any games left.

Postgame quotables, Wade Phillps version

"We fought all the way, it looks like we had a lot of penalties that really hurt us field position-wise. We just couldn't make the plays when we needed to make them. The Giants were a good football team. We knew that. We knew it was hard to beat somebody three times in one year. Really, I thought the touchdown before the half was the one that really hurt us. That and they played real well in the second half. I think they held us to three points in the second half. We lacked field position through the game, and that was our fault. And we had the penalties on key plays, certainly. We had the 15-yard penalty on the reception to Witten for a first down.

"I'm disappointed overall. It was 14-14 at half and we still had a chance to win.

"I think we're a very good football team. From year to year, it changes obviously.

"We had a mixup on personnel. We had too many guys out there and couldn't afford a penalty in that situation so we called a timeout.

"I thought we moved the ball well, we played aggressive, we ran the ball better. We didn't have any trouble running the ball, I thought. I thought we established a better running game. I think we were controlling the game. We let them back in and that gave them hope. Then we gave them field position and had to settle for three points instead of seven.

"In the first half, we had them worn-down a little bit defensively.

"We felt like we could throw, we did throw it well. I don't know how many yards we had, but we did throw it well.

"We didn't play well enough to win. We didn't coach well enough to win.

Postgame quotables, Jerry Jones version

On the team's record: This is as good a record that the Cowboys have had at this point. I know everybody's in here disappointed because this was a home game and we could have done some other good with it, but we've just got to really realize what this feels like and what it'd feel like if you did this in a playoff game.

On his assessment of the team today: Apart from the fact that we'd like to be 13-1, our defense played well enough to win. Offensively, we all know we can execute and score touchdowns, so we've got a good team. We just played a good team and we knew that coming in and they played well out there today. That's the way I look at it. I'd hate to play Philadelphia in the playoffs -- they're a good team.

On if Romo was distracted: Let's just give Philadelphia some credit. We don't want to make any excuses, but we'd like to play better. We just have to play better is the only thing I can say. You'd like to have gone 15-1, but we know how difficult that is to d. You're going to get beat in the NFL, but I just hate that we got beat here at home. But we have two more games and I'd rather have this memory now then have it in the playoffs.

Postgame quotables, Jason Garrett version

On the loss: It's hard to win games in the NFL and we tell our guys that every week -- it's hard. Always understand that it's always going to be a full day's work when you go out there. Philadelphia is a good football team; they're very good on defense; they've played well on defense when they've got their guys back. We knew it was going to be a challenge and we just weren't up to it today and we've got to come back tomorrow and get ourselves going again.

On what has been tough about winning games in December: We're not going to worry about the past. We're going to worry about today, learning from it and then moving forward.

On of Romo's injury affected his throwing ability: It seemed like he was capable of throwing the way he was capable of throwing it. We just didn't execute well as an offensive group.

Was Romo's bad throwing day because of his injury? It's a group effort. We win as a group and we lose as a group. It starts with coaching and filters its way all the way down to all the players on both sides of the ball. We didn't have our best game, from an execution standpoint on offense, at all with throwing the ball, running the ball, or anything. We're going to try to learn from this and go forward. We weren't as clean as we needed to be and we've got to do a better job as coaches of getting our guys a chance to get open. And then we've got to execute once the game starts.

Postgame quotables, Tony Romo version

On dealing with the loss: It's frustrating. There's a lot of competitive guys on this football team, and you don't work very hard throughout the week to go in and lose a ballgame. It's frustrating.

On when he suffered the thumb injury: I don't know. I'm not sure. I think it was in the middle of the game somewhere. I think I hit it on a helmet. I don't know what it was.

Is he worried about the injury? I threw the ball, so if I can throw it at some point, I can throw it next time.

Did he feel his game was off at the beginning? I think the Eagles did a great job tonight. They had a really good scheme tonight and they did a good job. Really, they had a couple of things go their way that you can't account for. Sometimes, it was like a defensive lineman jumping in a window right when we're passing it. On a couple of third downs, they did that twice. Those are just things we can't account for.

Romo's assessment of his play and the play of the offense: They did a great job, obviously, and put a lot of defensive pressure on us. We didn't handle it as well as we've been. It's frustrating because I played poorly and I wished I had played better. I take the blame for some of it. We made way too many mental mistakes tonight. This was probably our highest mental errors for our team, offensively at least, and their defense did an outstanding job tonight.

Postgame quotables, Wade Phillips version

"Well, we haven't had this feeling in a while. You know, obviously we didn't play the best game. It's a division opponent, so you know each other pretty well. They played well. We didn't play well. [Brian] Westbrook's certainly a great player. We held him down most of the game, but he came through with some plays at the end. He made some plays, and offensively, it was mistake after mistkae. We had an opportunity to make plays; we had opportunities to get ahead and certainly win the game, but we didn't end up doing it. So that's where we are."

On Tony Romo's performance: Well, you know you're not going to have a great game every week. I think they did a great job against us. We didn't do well enough protecting the quarterback. We got sacked four times and that's not normal for us. The first game we played them, they didn't even come close to us. I though their pressure certainly hurt us this game.

Is Tony Romo hurt? I don't think so.

On the defense only giving up 10 points and losing the game: Well, we've won by giving up 35 (points). It's a team effort, that's what it takes to win. Each individual game is only a piece. So our defense didn't play well enough to win the game. We had to hold them to six or less.

On the extent of Andre Gurode's injury: I don't know anything about any of the injuries. You know, we got about three guys hurt in the game. We will have to wait and see.

On concerns about the team's performance in the last two weeks: We've played well enough to win 12 games. We didn't play well enough to win this one, so that's where we are 12-2.

On the loss helping the team in the long run: Well, there aren't many good losses, but we're going to go back and rededicate ourselves and get ready to play the next ballgame. We got a short week this week. I think our guys are the right kind of people. I think they will fight hard, come back and rededicate themselves and be ready to go.

On Brad Johnson warming up on the sidelines: I don't know anything about that.

On what offensive mistakes he saw today: Sacks. Interceptions. Fumbles - those are mistakes.

Was Philadelphia's success from scheme or was it because Romo was having a bad day? I would ahve to look at the tapes to see exactly what did or didn't happen. Their guy didn't have much better. He got sacked four times. He just didn't throw any interceptions, which we knew he wouldn't. We just had more turnovers than he did.

Did you think of switching quarterbacks at any point? No. I didn't have any idea what he (Brad Johnson) was doing, but we wouldn't switch the quarterback.

On Andre Gurode's injury and its affect on the offense: I felt we went for it on fourth down and made it. And maybe that would be the difference there, and we didn't take advantage of that. Anytime you have an all-star caliber player go out it hurts you some. And certainly the calls, and protection and so forth.

On Terrell Owens not being a factor: We didn't get the ball to our best player. That concerns me. We didn't run the ball well enough, we didn't play well enough.