Morning Rewind, 9/14: Romo to Witten and the Giants were smitten

By JOHN DORN

For most of four quarters, it seemed like the New York Giants would be able to pull it off.

Despite a defense that had its fair share of tackling issues, the Cowboys weren't able to capitalize most of the way. On the other side of the ball, Eli Manning threw for just 5.4 yards per attempt -- the 29th-lowest mark of his 170-game career -- and Odell Beckham came away with a pedestrian five receptions for 44 yards. Both sides left the door wide open for each other, but six field goals later, Dallas was the team with a chance to drive for the win in the final minute.

That drive was immediately preceded by a Giants field goal -- the result of a failed 3rd down play from the Dallas 1-yard line, where Manning mysteriously rolled right for a pass play, and instead of falling in bounds and taking a sack when no options were available, throwing it away and stopping the clock with 1:29 left.

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Eighty-seven seconds later, the game was won. Romo charged down field, spanning 72 yards over six plays with no timeouts, finally dishing to Jason Witten on an 11-yard score with seven ticks left.

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The most impressive part of the win for Dallas had to do with the absence of Dez Bryant -- who caught five balls for 48 yards before exiting with a foot injury. The most deflating part of the victory also concerns Bryant -- the receiver was later diagnosed with a break in his foot, which could keep him out until Week 8.

Still, this didn't stop Dez from celebrating the hardest of all the Cowboys.

A big win in the short term for Dallas. But in the long run? We'll see how it plays out.

Cowboys 27, Giants 26

Click below to listen to the AOL Sports crew breaks down Week 1 action ahead of Monday Night Football:


On the Gridiron

Jets 31, Browns 10
At long last, it was Johnny Football time. Johnny Manziel took over for Josh McCown after the starter suffered a concussion, and the second-year QB tossed his first career touchdown pass. He threw for 182 and ran for 35 more, but highlights were hard to come by for Cleveland against the Jets.

Rams 34, Seahawks 31
This was... not how Pete Carroll expected things to go. On the road in St. Louis, their division rivals stepped up for a chance to beat a Super Bowl favorite. Seattle had a chance to extend overtime with a field goal, and went to Marshawn Lynch in a 4th-and-short situation -- go figure! -- to no avail.

Titans 42, Buccaneers 14​
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In the first-ever battle between the first and second overall picks under center, Marcus Mariota put up a historic performance. The Titans shotcaller threw four touchdowns in the first half and finished with 209 yards and no picks. Jameis Winston, on the other hand, handed the ball over on a pick-six his first-ever attempt -- but found Austin Seferian-Jenkins twice in the end zone.

Bills 27, Colts 14
Another supposed Super Bowl contender fell to a seemingly lowly opponent on the road, and it was Andrew Luck's Colts. Luck threw for just 243 yards on 49 attempts, turning it over twice. Tyrod Taylor threw a touchdown and ran for 41 more yards in a convincing home win to start Rex Ryan's tenure.

Other Scores

• Packers 31, Bears 23

• Chiefs 27, Texans 20

• Dolphins 17, Redskins 10

• Panthers 20, Jaguars 9

• Cardinals 31, Saints 19

• Chargers 33, Lions 28

• Bengals 33, Raiders 13

• Broncos 19, Ravens 13

Around the Diamond
Yankees 5, Blue Jays 0
The Yankees finally salvaged a game after a lost series against the division-leading Blue Jays. Masahiro Tanaka got the much-needed victory, and New York sits 3.5 games back of Toronto and have a three-game cushion over the Rangers for the top Wild Card spot.

Cardinals 9, Reds 2
Suddenly feeling the heat in the Central division with the Pirates and Cubs breathing down their necks, the Cardinals are in a more dire situation than they've been all season. Now up by 2.5, they maintained their lead with a win over the Reds.

Nationals 5, Marlins 0
Washington is in a must-win scenario, essentially for the remainder of the season. They're down 9.5 games behind the Mets, but beat up on the Marlins on Sunday.

Mets 10, Braves 7

Granted it was against the Braves, but the Mets completed a four-game sweep, tying the game 7-7 after trailing by three runs with two outs in the ninth. Daniel Murphy cranked the tying home run, and New York took a three-run lead in the 10th inning.

Pirates 7, Brewers 6
As Pittsburgh tries to make a charge for the division crown, they're beating up on the cellar dwellars of the Central. They escaped their home stadium with a walkoff victory in the 11th inning over Milwaukee.

Other Scores

• Red Sox 2, Rays 0

• Indians 7, Tigers 2 (Game 1)

• Tigers 9, Indians 2 (Game 2)

• Phillies 7, Cubs 4

• Astros 5, Angels 3

• Twins 7, White Sox 0

• Rangers 12, A's 4

• Giants 10, Padres 3

• Rockies 3, Mariners 2

• Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 3

• Orioles 8, Royals 2

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