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| Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells was triumphant in his return to Giants Stadium in 2003. |
For most of his head coaching career, Bill Parcells called the Meadowlands in New Jersey home as he lead the New York Giants to two Super Bowl titles during his eight-year tenure as head coach from 1983 through 1990 and then helped the Jets to three straight winning seasons from 1997-1999.
So it was must be kind of strange for Parcells, but not unprecedented since he coached the New England Patriots from 1993 through 1996 and played in the Meadowlands every season, to be the coach on the opposing sidelines at Giants Stadiums as Parcells lead the Dallas Cowboys to to face the Giants in a Week 2 Monday Night football showdown.
Parcells had been talked out of retirement to became the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys after owner Jerry Jones had fired Dave Campo after three straight 5-11 seasons.
Gone were the days of the "Triplets" as quarterback Troy Aikman had retired following the 2000 season while wide receiver Michael Irvin was forced to retire one year prior with a career-ending neck injury while running back Emmitt Smith left the team after becoming the NFL's all-time career leading rusher in 2002.
Instead, the Cowboys had Quincy Carter at quarterback, Troy Hambrick at running back, and a trio of receivers to fill the gap left by Irvin.
Most NFL experts predicated a long season for the Cowboys especially after they lost their season opener 27-13 to the Atlanta Falcons as the Cowboys traveled to East Rutherford to take on their NFC East division rivals, the Giants.
While the Cowboys were not expected to make the playoffs, the Giants were looking to return to the playoffs after making them in 2002 following a 10-6 regular season only to have end it with a shocking 39-38 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card Round where the Giants blew a 24-point lead.
The Giants were led by head coach Jim Fassell, who was in his seventh season as the Giants' head coach having led New York to three playoff appearances and a NFC Championship in the 2000 season.
With an offense that featured quarterback Kerry Collins, running back Tiki Barber, wide receiver Amani Toomer, and tight end Jeremy Shockey, the Giants were seen as a serious threat in the NFC as they started the season with a 23-13 win over the St.Louis Rams in week 1.
But if the Giants were going to make waves in the 2003 season they needed their special teams to improve which let them down in their collapse against the 49ers as long snapper Trey Junkin had two bad snaps on potential field goals late in that game against San Francisco.
Special teams would be a huge factor in determining the winner of this game between the Cowboys and the Giants.
The game started with both teams trading punts until midway through the first quarter when the Cowboys at the ball at their 24-yard-line as Carter would throw a pass intended for Joey Galloway, only to have it intercepted by Giants cornerback Ralph Brown who ran it back for a 29-yard pick-six to give New York a 7-0 lead.
The Cowboys would get good field position to start their next possession as Zuriel Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to the Dallas 47-yard-line.
From there, the Cowboys would drive 53 yards in seven plays which culminated with Carter running it in for an eight-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 3:13 left in the first quarter.
The Giants would get the ball back at their 21-yard-line where they picked up one 1st down before turning it over as Cowboys defensive end Greg Ellis stripped Barber of the football forcing a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Dat Nguyen to give Dallas the ball at the New York 35-yard-line.
The Cowboys would drive to the Giants' 19-yard-line where they had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff to give Dallas a 10-7 lead just 48 seconds into the second quarter.
The Dallas defense would force the Giants to punt on their next possession to give their offense the ball at their 39-yard-line where Carter completed passes of six yards to running back Richie Anderson and 21 yards to Galloway to put the Cowboys at the New York 34-yard-line.
The drive would stall as the Cowboys would pick only three more yards on the next three plays leading them to call on Cundiff again to kick a 49-yard field goal which increased the Dallas lead to 13-7 midway through the second quarter.
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| Cowboys quarterback Quincy Carter completed 25 of 40 passes for 321 yards and scored on a TD run. |
Then after an exchange of punts, the Giants had the ball at their 31-yard-line facing a 3rd & 9 when Collins was intercepted by Cowboys linebacker Alshermond Singleton who returned the pick 41 yards for a touchdown to increase Dallas' lead to 20-7 with 3:05 left in the second quarter.
The Giants would get the ball back at their 28-yard-line where after two straight incomplete passes faced a 3rd & 10 when Collins connected with Toomer for a 40-yard completion to give New York a 1st down at the Cowboys' 30-yard-line.
However three plays later, Collins would be intercepted again, this time by Cowboys cornerback Terrance Newman to give Dallas the ball at its 20-yard-line with 1:51 left before halftime.
Running back Troy Hambrick carried the ball three straight times picking up 12 yards before the Cowboys put the ball in the air as Carter completed a two-yard pass to Anderson to set up 3rd & 7 from the Dallas 34-yard-line.
That is when Carter completed a 13-yard pass to Terry Glenn to give the Cowboys a 1st down at its 47-yard-line which was followed by another completion from Carter to Glenn this time for 27 yards and a 1st down at the Giants' 26-yard-line.
A holding penalty on guard Larry Allen would kill the drive forcing Parcells to call on Cundiff again this time to attempt a 53-yard field goal.
Cundiff would miss the field goal as his kick sailed wide left of the uprights which allowed the Giants to take a knee to run out the clock to end the first half with the Cowboys ahead 20-7 and set to get the ball to start the second half.
The Cowboys would get great field position for their opening possession of the second half as Giants kicker Matt Bryant's kickoff went out of bounds meaning Dallas would get the ball at its 40-yard-line.
A 25-yard pass to Antonio Bryant and a 18-yard pass to rookie tight end Jason Witten help push the Cowboys to the Giants' 15-yard-line until Carter was sacked by Giants defensive end Kenny Holmes for a 11-yard-loss forcing the Cowboys to settle for another Cundiff field goal, this time from 42 yards out to increase the Dallas lead to 23-7 with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
Now down 16 points, the Giants got the ball back at their 31-yard-line where they put together their best drive of the game thus far.
Two runs by Barber for 12 yards gave New York a 1st down at its 43-yard-line where Collins threw an incomplete pass on 1st down but would follow that up with a 18-yard completion to Ike Hilliard for another New York 1st down at the Cowboys' 39-yard-line.
That is when Collins went deep and threw a bomb for Toomer in the end zone where he was interferred with by Cowboys free safety Roy Williams which drew a penalty and gave the Giants the ball at the Dallas one-yard-line.
An dropped pass by Shockey and a four-yard-loss on a 2nd down Barber run pushed the Giants back to the five-yard-line for 3rd & goal when Collins found Hilliard for a five-yard touchdown to cut the Cowboys' lead to 23-14 with 8:11 left in the third quarter.
The Cowboys would quickly drive down the field on its next possession as Carter completed a 27-yard pass to Glenn to give Dallas a 1st down at the Giants' 45-yard-line, then tried to hit Bryant on a deep pass only to have Giants cornerback Will Allen get called for pass interference to give the Cowboys a 1st down at the New York 11-yard-line.
The Giants' defense would keep the Cowboys out of the end zone forcing them to settle for another Cundiff field goal, this time from 21 yards out which increased Dallas' lead to 26-14 with 4:53 left in the third quarter.
Then after forcing the Giants to punt on its ensuing possession, the Cowboys would drive 62 yards in 11 plays to set up Cundiff's fifth field goal of the game, a 36-yarder which pushed the Dallas lead to 29-14 with 12:56 left in the fourth quarter.
The Giants would start its next possession at its 31-yard-line needing to get a touchdown if they had any hopes of pulling off a comeback win.
An one-yard pass to Barber and an incomplete pass set up 3rd & 9 from the New York 32-yard-line when Collins completed a 20-yard pass to Toomer only to have him fumble the football after a hit by Williams which lead to an apparent recovery by Cowboys strong safety Darren Woodson, only to have nullified because the Cowboys were offsides.
The Giants would then get a 1st down when Dallas cornerback Mario Edwards drew a pass interference penalty on an incomplete pass from Collins to Tim Carter, giving New York 24 yards and a 1st down at the Cowboys' 39-yard-line.
From there, Collins would complete four passes in a row as he connected with Toomer for 21 yards, then with Carter for seven yards, then again with Toomer for 10 yards, before firing an one-yard touchdown pass to Shockey to bring the Giants to within eight points at 29-21 with 9:54 left in the 4th quarter.
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| Giants quarterback Kerry Collins completed 21 of 51 passes for 265 yards and threw three touchdowns. |
The Giants defense would force a Dallas punt to get the ball back at their 36-yard-line as New York would drive 64 yards in just three plays as Collins connected with Hilliard for six yards then again for 38 yards to put New York at the Dallas 20-yard-line where Collins would fire a 20-yard touchdown pass to Toomer to bring the Giants to within a two-point conversion of tying the game.
After two tries where the Cowboys were called for pass interference, the Giants kept on the ground as Collins handed the ball off to Barber who ran it in for the two-point conversion to tie the game 29-29 with 6:20 remaining in regulation.
The two teams would trade punts until the Giants got the ball at their 48-yard-line with 2:59 left in regulation and a chance to drive for the game-winning score.
The drive began with a 10-yard run by Barber for a New York 1st down at the Dallas 42-yard-line followed by an incomplete pass and then back-to-back completions by Collins for a total of 14 yards and another 1st down at the Cowboys' 28-yard-line.
An eight-yard pass to Tim Carter followed by runs of Barber that totaled eight yards put the Giants at the Dallas 14-yard-line where Fassell called on the field goal unit to give the Giants the lead with 14 seconds left on the clock.
Bryant came in and smoothly kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Giants a 32-29 lead with just 11 seconds to go in the game.
It seemed that after being dominated for three quarters of the game that the Giants were going to pull it out after being down 15 points early in the 4th quarter.
But when Bryant's kickoff went out of bounds, the Cowboys had a glimmer of hope as they had the ball at their 40-yard-line with the clock still at 11 seconds and one timeout in their pocket.
Carter would complete a 26-yard pass to Bryant who was pushed out of bounds at the New York 34-yard-line with four seconds left, giving the Cowboys a chance to call on Cundiff to attempt a 52-yard field goal.
While he had made five field goals in the game, Cundiff had missed one field goal from about this range earlier in the game.
This time Cundiff would not miss as his 52-yard kick sailed through the uprights as time expired to tie the game 32-32 and send it to overtime.
The Cowboys won the overtime coin toss and elected to receiver as they would begin their overtime possession at their 29-yard-line needing just a field goal to win.
Carter would complete three of five passes for 30 yards to start the drive as the Cowboys moved to the Giants' 41-yard-line where back-to-back runs by Hambrick netted zero yardage to set up 3rd & 10 when disaster nearly struck as Carter was stripped of the football after a sack by Holmes only to have Dallas left tackle Flozell Adams recover the fumble at the Cowboys' 48-yard-line, allowing the Cowboys to punt the ball away to the Giants.
The Giants would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Cowboys who took over at their 43-yard-line with another chance to drive down for the game-winning score.
A holding penalty on Will Allen gave Dallas five extra yards and a 1st down at its 48-yard-line as an incomplete pass and a six-yard scramble by Carter set up 3rd & 4 from the Giants' 46-yard-line where Carter hit Glenn for eight yards and a 1st down at the New York 38-yard-line.
Carter would then hand the ball off to Hambrick who picked up nine yards to set up 2nd & 1 when Carter handed the ball off to Anderson who was stopped for no gain to set up 3rd & 1.
That is when Carter completed a 23-yard pass to reserve tight end Dan Campbell to give the Cowboys a 1st & goal at the Giants' six-yard-line.
Parcells decided not to waste any more time and sent in Cundiff to not only to win the game with a 23-yard field goal but also tie the NFL record for most field goals in a game which was seven.
For the seventh time in the game, Cundiff would make a field goal with this one giving the Cowboys an unlikely 35-32 overtime win in Parcells' return to the Meadowlands.
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| The Cowboys hug Billy Cundiff(3) after his seventh field goal gave Dallas the win. |
The loss to the Cowboys put the Giants on a roller coaster for the first half of the season as they went 4-4 before going on an eight-game losing streak to finish the season with a 4-12 record which resulted in Fassell's dismissal as head coach after seven seasons.
He was replaced by former Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin who would lead the Giants to two Super Bowl titles.
As for the Cowboys, they would finish the season with a 10-6 record good enough to earn a Wild Card berth and a spot in the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1999 and making Parcelles the first head coach in NFL history to lead four different teams to the playoffs.
The Cowboys' season would end at the hands of the Carolina Panthers as Carolina eliminated Dallas with a 29-10 victory in the Wild Card round.
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