After an ugly first half, and a second half that was promising for at least a little while, the Dallas Cowboys fell to the New York Giants on Sunday night, 31-14, ending their season and any hope of a playoff berth.
The Giants first got on the board with a 74-yard catch-and-run from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz in the first quarter to give New York the 7-0 lead, the beginning of what would be an unthinkably ugly half for Dallas.
Ahmad Bradshaw ran two touchdowns in, in the second quarter, runs of five and ten yards, respectively. With the pair of scores by Bradshaw, New York extended their lead to 21-0, which--following a missed 52-yard field goal attempt by Dan Bailey late in the second quarter--stood as the score at half.
For awhile in the second half, it looked like Dallas might make a comeback.
Laurent Robinson caught touchdown passes from Tony Romo in each the third and early fourth quarter to bring Dallas to within a touchdown at 21-14--but the comeback was not to be.
Lawrence Tynes added a 28-yard field goal to once again extend the New York lead to ten at 24-14, then, with less than four minutes left, Hakeem Nicks caught a touchdown pass from Manning to put the game out of reach at 31-14, which was the final.
With the loss, the Cowboys finish the 2011 season at 8-8.
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