The Sports Xchange

ARLINGTON, Texas — Despite needing a touchdown to win and being without timeouts, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had a certain sense of calm borne out of experience.

“You have to feel comfortable in that situation,” Romo said.

That poise helped Romo find tight end Jason Witten on an 11-yard touchdown pass with seven seconds left, giving the Cowboys an unlikely 27-26 win over the New York Giants on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium.

The desperation drive covered 72 yards in just 1 minute, 27 seconds, completing Dallas’ rally from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit. Romo hit Witten in the middle of the field after fumbling the shotgun snap.

Romo was asked how quickly his eyes found Witten.

“Pretty quickly,” Romo said after his 24th comeback victory. “I think Jason is obviously a special player. He’s obviously close to me, and it’s a great feeling to be able to see him score that winning touchdown. He’s the best.”

Dallas extended its winning streak to eight games over the Giants in season openers and to five games overall in the series.

The win came at a cost for the Cowboys, however. Wide receiver Dez Bryant broke a bone in his right foot and will undergo surgery that will sideline him four to six weeks, coach Jason Garrett said. Even so, Bryant hopped around outside the locker room to congratulate his teammates after the win.

“That’s a tough loss,” Romo said of Bryant.

New York turned three turnovers into 17 points, but poor clock management on the last scoring drive likely cost New York the game. Quarterback Eli Manning threw a pass out of the end zone on third down to stop the clock when the Cowboys were out of timeouts.

Both Giants coach Tom Coughlin and Manning took the blame for mismanaging the clock.

What we learned about the Giants:

1. They must do a better job with the clock when the game is on the line. There is no excuse for leaving the Cowboys, who had no timeouts remaining, 1:34 with which to respond after New York’s final scoring drive. Coach Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning both took responsibility for giving Dallas an extra 40 or so seconds to win the game.

2. The defense has playmakers. The Giants scored 17 points off three turnovers, with two coming in final minute of the first half to reverse momentum in a game the Cowboys were dominating. The third miscue enabled New York to take 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. “We played hard and put ourselves in position to win the game on defense,” Coughlin said.

3. Manning sure misses wide receiver Victor Cruz, who was out with a calf injury. The Giants quarterback may have the league’s best receiving tandem when Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr. are in place, but when he is missing one, it can get ugly. Manning passed for only 193 yards.

Etc.

–DE Jason Pierre-Paul may miss the entire season, according to reports. Pierre-Paul lost his right index finger and sustained other injuries to his hand in a July 4 fireworks accident. The Giants previously made a franchise tender to Pierre-Paul, which he didn’t sign, and recent talks over a revised contract broke down.

–CB Trumaine McBride had a hand in creating two turnovers. On the first, he stripped the ball from Giants WR Cole Beasley, and fellow CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie scooped it up and raced 57 yards for the game’s first touchdown. McBride also had an interception in the fourth quarter that he returned to the Dallas 1-yard line.

–WR Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t have much of an impact as the Giants struggled to move the ball. He was targeted eight times and made five catches for 44 yards. Beckham had at least 90 yards receiving in each of his final nine games last season.