A Thing of Beauty

Waiting for the Dallas Cowboys to take on the New York Football Giants on Sunday Night Football is sorta like waiting for Christmas when you were a kid.  It seems like it takes forever to get here, but it is so worth the wait.  Such was the case yesterday as I semi-patiently awaited the 7:30 PM kickoff, yet it was not pretty in the early going.  The Giants seemed to have the Cowboys number as they marched at will converting 7 straight third down opportunities when on the first play of the second quarter the Giants emerging Superstar Odell Beckham, Jr made an all world circus type catch for a TD to put the Giants up 14-3.  The Twitter-verse had multiple orgasms retweeting the photo and several NSFW versions of what Beckham was figuratively doing to the Cowboys.  

Things did not get any better when later in the quarter the Giants Andre Williams was clearly stripped of the ball by the Cowboys Barry Church when he was trying to plow into the End Zone and Dallas recovered the fumble.  Only the replay was inconclusive so the officials awarded the ball to the Giants who scored on the next play to go up 21-10 at the half.  Everyone in Met Life Stadium, everyone in the TV audience, hell even the officials knew it was a fumble but the replay did not give indisputable proof so they did not overturn the call.  With the Giants receiving the 2nd half kickoff, it look like it could be lights out for Dallas.

While the first half might rightly have been called the "Odell Beckham, Jr Show" as he caught 8 out of 8 passes thrown his way for 125 yards and 2 TDs, the second half belonged to Tony Romo, Dez Bryant and the Cowboys.  The Cowboys defenses also stepped up, forcing a 3 and out on the first two New York drives of the second half.  The defense which had allowed the Beckham to run free and the Giants to score a TD on their first 3 possessions, smothered Beckham in the second half making him a non factor and holding the Giants scoreless on 6 of 7 second half drives.

In the third quarter the Cowboys offense was sparked when slot receiver Cole Beasley slipped unnoticed into the pattern, caught a Tony Romo toss, then scampered 45 yards untouched into the End Zone to bring the Cowboys within 4 at 21-17.  The Giants answered with a drive of their own marching down to the Cowboys' 18.  And then it was the Cowboys’ turn to catch a bit of a break. On their lengthy march when on third-and-2 at the Dallas 30, Beckham picked up the first down and was hit by Church as he was going out of bounds. Initially, one official called the Dallas safety for a personal foul, but he was overruled by his peers and the flag was picked up.

Two plays later, Manning had receiver Preston Parker wide open over the middle, but threw high to his target, the ball tipped by Parker and into the arms of Church, who took the interception back 45 yards to the Dallas 48.  With the gift, the Cowboys capitalized with Romo waiting for Bryant to come open deep down the right side, connecting on a 31-yard score, the Cowboys now enjoying their first lead of the night, 24-21.

 

The Giants were not finished yet however, taking the ensuing kickoff and marching 93 yards in 6 minutes to take the lead 28-24 with 3 minutes left in the game.  Then came a thing of beauty: a perfectly engineered 7 play 80 yard drive for the go ahead score with 1:01 left on the clock.  The drive included a nifty Beasley coming up big again with a 21-yard catch to the New York 36 and DeMarco Murray running for 9 yards on 3rd and 1 to keep the drive alive.  On the two final plays of the series, Romo had all day in the pocket, first hitting Bryant on an 8-yard route and then finding Bryant again in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown, Dallas with the advantage for good, 31-28.  One New York writer said that Romo had enough time to work the NY Times Crossword Puzzle before deciding to throw the strike to Bryant for the win.  The defense then derailed the Giants last gasp effort to win or send the game into overtime when Dallas' battering ram Rolando McClain stopped the Giants Rashad Jennings cold short of the sticks on a 4th and 2 pass with 30 seconds to go, thus allowing the Cowboys to end the win with Tony Romo taking a knee on the final play

 

This sets up Thursday's Thanksgiving Day contest for first place with the Philadelphia Eagles.who are tied with the Cowboys atop the NFC East at 8-3.  The Cowboys play the Eagles twice in the next 3 weeks with a trip to Chicago to play the Bears in the middle which should go a long way toward deciding who will be the NFC East Division Champion and who will only be able to vie for a Wild Card slot in the play offs.  The next five weeks will prove whether this Cowboys team is for real or not.  I am hoping they are very real and make a legitimate run for that big game at the end of the season, but let's not jinx it just yet.  

 

You Monday with Mozart features the Master's Divertimento Number 15, KV 287.  Unfortunately the orchestra and conductor are not listed, however it is still a marvelous performance and a wonderful listening experience.  You may also hear Mozart's always delightful Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in G Major, KV 525 with a live performance from Amsterdam by the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra over on my tumblr. 

 

Then Monday would not be complete without some super sexy studs in supremely skimpy skivvies which you will find in abundance prancing about the page below the video in this week's edition of Monday's Undies.  If you feel like a "Midnight Snack" later, check out Cody Conner who is your Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for starting your week with me here at Nichevo, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!