Well, that one hurt. After rattling off 4 straight wins, the Giants had everyone excited about a possible playoff run despite an 0-6 start. That dream came to an end on Sunday after a 24-21 loss to the division-rival Cowboys. Neither team played particularly well but Dallas came out on top thanks to a 14-play, game-winning FG drive. The Giants overcame a 15 point, second-half deficit and tied the game in 4th but credit to Romo for leading a game-clinching drive that didn’t even give us a chance to answer.

We had every opportunity to win the game, which makes it all the more frustrating, but the breaks did not go our way. In a microcosm of our season, we made too many mistakes, committed costly turnovers and didn’t make the big plays. Victor Cruz fumbled while fighting for a couple of extra yards and the Cowboys ran it back for a touchdown. We failed to score touchdowns in the red zone, settling for field goals twice after being inside the 10. Finally, we allowed the Cowboys to convert two pivotal third downs on the final drive of the game. You can’t do those type of things and expect to win.

On a positive note, the return of Andre Brown has sparked the Giants running game. It’s really surprising that we lost a game in which we ran for over 200 yards as a team. If only Brown never got hurt… I wonder what could have been. Being realistic, it was a long shot for us to overcome our 0-6 start and make the playoffs but I was beginning to think it was possible. Credit to Dallas though for sweeping us this season and now they can battle it out with the Eagles for the division title.

Going forward, you never know who might collapse or how this season might turn out. There have been plenty of upsets and each week is harder to predict that the last. That being said, the Giants are very unlikely to being playing in the Meadowlands hosted Super Bowl this year – and that’s disappointing. But you can’t win it all every year and these are the types of seasons that make years like 2007 and 2011 all the more special.