Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Ices Own Kicker and Loses Game

The Dallas Cowboys made enough mistakes during their 19-13 loss to the Arizona yesterday, but none was bigger than Jason Garrett's time-out call an instant before kicker Dan Bailey kicked what would have been a game-winning 49-yard field goal with :03 seconds left on the clock.

With the score tied at 13, the Cowboys head coach iced his own kicker right before the kick went through the uprights but was nullified.

Bailey's attempt at the re-do fell short of the goal posts and the Cardinals went on to win the game in overtime.

"I was glad they iced their kicker at the end so I didn't have to do it," joked Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt.

The Cards won the coin toss before OT and Kevin Kolb's short screen to tiny LaRod Stephens-Howling ended up being a serpentine 48-yard game-winning score.

Garrett said he called the time-out before the kick because "the play clock was running down."

"We just wanted to make sure that he [Bailey] had a real clean opportunity at it," explained Garrett.  "It was at about six [seconds] and we were still getting settled in."

Dallas (7-5) could have gotten a stranglehold on the NFC East title by winning yesterday.  Now, they remain only one game ahead of the second place New York Giants (6-6) —who lost a heart-breaker to Green Bay.  The Cowboys and Giants still face each other in home-and home games down the stretch.

"It is disappointing but we still have everything we want in front of us," said Dallas tight end Jason Witten.

"We called the time-out, but it is my job to regroup and make the next one,"  said Bailey.  "I didn't do that.  No excuses."

Controversial Play Leads to Giants Comeback Win Over Cardinals, 31-27

Another New York Giants player took a dive but, this time, the controversial fall was considered legit and it set up a thrilling 31-27 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Phoenix on Sunday.

With just under three minutes left in the game and the Giants trailing 27-24, Victor Cruz caught a pass  at the Cardinals 35 yard-line, stumbled a few more yards to the turf at the 31 yard-line before he crawled a couple more yards.  Cruz jumped up and left the ball on the ground with out being touched by a defender.  Three Cardinals players pounced on the ball like it was a fumble, but possession was given back to the Giants after the referees ruled that "The player [Cruz] gave himself up" by going to the ground.

Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt threw a flag to challenge the call just before the Giants hurried to beat his toss.  The Giants hasty play didn't stop Whisenhunt's request, but the challenge was overruled by the officials and the Giants retained the ball.

On the next play, Giants QB Eli Manning threw the game-winning 29-yard TD to Hakeem Nicks with 2:39 remaining in the fourth quarter.

It was the second week in a row that the G-men came from behind in the fourth quarter to win and kept the team tied with the Washington Redskins with 3-1 records and first place in the NFC East.

The Giants offense looked flat for the first three quarters until they scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter after falling behind 20-10.  The final two TD's came 58 seconds apart.

The Giants defense chased Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb all over the field throughout the game but couldn't contain running back Beanie Wells who rushed for 138 yards.  Kolb was sacked four times.

Manning finished completing 27 of 40 passes for 321 yards and 2 TD's.  Nicks caught 10 of those throws for 162 yards.

The Giants return to the Meadowlands next week to face the visiting Seattle Seahawks.