​UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 09: Football: Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo (9) in action, rushing and scoring a touchdown against the New York Giants. Irving, TX 9/9/2007 (Photo by Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (SetNumber: X78615 TK1 R1)
It’s Day 72 of our 100-day countdown to kickoff as we revisit the 100 most iconic games in Dallas Cowboys history. This series avoids a single narrow criterion for rankings, instead weighing factors such as the game’s importance to the organization, its memorability, unusual events, its place in NFL lore, Cowboys firsts, and performances where the team dominated. We celebrate a wide variety of Cowboys games, from hard-fought thrillers to one-sided blowouts, because variety is the spice of life. At the end of each entry, we’ll provide links to every day of the countdown so you can revisit any you might have missed.
Today we look back at the explosive start to one of the Cowboys’ best regular seasons in the modern era. Dallas opened the 2007 campaign at home against the Giants on Sunday Night Football, marking Wade Phillips’s head-coaching debut and Tony Romo’s first full season as the starter.
Sunday, September 9, 2007 — 8:15 p.m. ET
Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Final Score: Dallas Cowboys 45, New York Giants 35
The Giants struck first, with Eli Manning connecting with Plaxico Burress on a 60-yard touchdown early in the opening quarter, though the extra point failed. Dallas responded with a Nick Folk field goal and then surged ahead in the second quarter. Marion Barber converted a critical fourth-and-1 into an 18-yard touchdown run, and Romo found Jason Witten for a 12-yard score to propel the Cowboys to a 17-6 lead. New York wouldn’t quit, connecting again between Manning and Burress before halftime, and Lawrence Tynes added a late field goal to bring the score to 17-16 at the break.
The third quarter belonged to Romo. He connected with Terrell Owens for a 22-yard touchdown, and later scampered in from nine yards to extend Dallas’s advantage to 31-19. The fourth quarter became a back-and-forth battle. Tynes added another field goal, Romo answered with a 47-yard TD to Owens, and the Giants rallied with touchdown passes to Derrick Ward and Burress. What had been a 38-22 Dallas lead dwindled to 38-35 with just over four minutes left, turning the opener into a high-stakes NFC East shootout.
Romo delivered the defining blow, finding Sam Hurd for a 51-yard TD with 3:11 remaining to push Dallas ahead by 10 and seal the victory. Romo finished with four touchdown passes, 345 yards, and a 128.5 passer rating. Jason Witten led the receivers with six catches for 116 yards and a TD.