The Dallas Cowboys versus the New York Giants. A classic NFC East matchup that will be renewed this weekend on the NFL schedule. This week for our Throwback Thursday feature, we’ll go back almost exactly 10 years, to a prime time Sunday night battle played on November 23, 2014, between these 2 clubs. They entered the contest at opposite ends of the spectrum, the Cowboys at 7-3 for the year and the Giants at 3-7. It turned out to be a tale of 2 halves, as the Giants took control of the game early while Dallas rallied in the second half to assume command. Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning, a Hall of Fame candidate for 2025, got his team on the board with a drive that ended in a short 3 yard touchdown pass to his rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who was on his way to being named the Offensive Rookie Of The Year. The Cowboys countered with a Dan Bailey field goal that would turn out to be the difference in the game. It was Manning to OBJ again to start the second quarter, on a 43 yard TD throw, and the Giants now led 14-3. The half continued with the teams trading scores, Dallas cutting the lead to 14-10 when Tony Romo hit his tight end Jason Witten with a 4 yard touchdown toss and New York getting a 3 yard TD run from Andre Williams.
Romo came out with guns blazing in the second half and quickly engineered his club into the lead at 24-21 with a pair of scoring throws, 45 yards to reliable target Cole Beasley and 31 yards to Dez Bryant. Manning’s short touchdown pass to Adrien Robinson got the Giants the lead back in the fourth quarter, but Romo finished off the scoring by hitting Bryant for a 13 yard score, giving Dallas a 31-28 victory. Running back DeMarco Murray was an unsung hero for the Cowboys as he contributed a solid running game with 121 yards on 24 carries to complement Romo’s 4 touchdown passes. Despite the loss, New York gained the national spotlight with the play of the game, an amazing one-handed touchdown catch by Beckham Jr. that some pundits called the greatest catch of all time. Indeed it was what old time sportswriters would’ve called a “circus” catch. Today’s receivers, somewhat aided by modern gloves, seem to make these types of grabs routinely, but OBJ was definitely the pioneer at it. He has maintained a career in the league, with it’s share of ups and downs, and is still active today with the Miami Dolphins.
Odell Beckham Jr.’s “circus” catch