This was for all the marbles in the NFC East, with the winner taking the division and the loser going home to face a long off-season, watching the playoffs from the outside looking in. A play-in game, if you will, between bitter division rivals. As regular season match-ups go, it doesn’t get much bigger than this. So we battled our hangovers and made the trip to East Rutherford, where we took a lot of pictures along the way to share with you, our loyal readers.

Despite our sterling reputation as an emerging force in new sports media, we didn’t have any press passes or fancy cameras for this one, so these photos are all from the fan’s perpective … and all of them were taken on an iPhone 4s. We hope you enjoy!

(CLICK ANY PHOTO TO EMBIGGEN):

The new MetLife stadium is quite impressive from the outside (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

(Photo: ArtieFufkin)

The rain couldn't dampen the spirits of Giants fans, who were fired up for this one (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Romo and Co. are greeted warmly by the New York fans (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Oooh ... fireworks! (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

CONTINUE AFTER THE JUMP FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THE GIANTS/COWBOYS GAME

And the Giants take the field! (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Minutes later, Victor Cruz (left) would sprint toward us down this sideline into the endzone for a 74-yard 1st quarter score (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Cruz, Rolle and Bradshaw would all have big nights for NY (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

The Giants' front four came to play tonight (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Led by JPP and Tuck, who got the crowd involved early (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Romo would get taken down 6 times by the Giants D (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Eli leads the Giants on a scoring drive toward the end of the 1st quarter (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

The Giants offense came out firing on all cylinders (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Eli rolls to his right in the 2nd quarter (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Aaaaand halftime (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Romo finds himself backed up against his own endzone (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Eli surveys the Dallas coverage (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

In the 4th, Eli looks left to Hakeem Nicks ... (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

... who can't reel in the low pass (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

Unfortunately for Jerry Jones and Romo, Dallas' rally attempt fell short (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

And the Giants are NFC East Champions! (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

And here's the towel the fans received, and waved tirelessly throughout the game (Photo: ArtieFufkin)

(Image via ESPN.com)

Every once in a while, the Worldwide Leader will produce a package that takes a different approach to the usual sports analysis, and thus stands out from the pack. Usually, we can rely on our boy Kenny Mayne to bring the off-center humor to the party, but this time Trey Wingo steps up with his feature on the trials and tribulations of Tony Romo so far this season.  In it, he and NFL Live co-host Marcellus Wiley go for a ride on the “Romo Coaster”, which promises to simulate the thrills and spills of a game with the much maligned Cowboys’ QB at the helm.

Watch as Wingo somehow manages to provide a perfectly cogent breakdown of Romo’s successes and failures while riding the coaster, while Wiley mainly tries to keep his lunch down:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo: Getty Images via BleacherReport.com)

Wow. Just wow.

After dominating the first half of Sunday’s Cowboys-Lions game and leading 27-3 in the third quarter, Tony Romo and the Cowboys figured out a new and exciting way to blow a football game. Romo threw two – count ‘em, TWO – pick six interceptions (3 total 2nd half INTs) that let the Lions back in the game and eventually defeat Dallas, 34-30. It was a stunning performance on both sides of the ball, as the Lions completed their second straight 20+ point comeback and improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1980.

Watch as Romo throws a gift-wrapped interception to his former teammate (and groomsman in his wedding) LB Bobby Carpenter who takes it to the house, and then follows that up with another INT to CB Chris Houston, who cuts the Lions deficit even further with a 56-yard return:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

With momentum firmly on their side, the Lions stormed back with a pair of late touchdown passes from Matt Stafford to Calvin Johnson. Watch as Megatron – whose talents Cowboys DC Rob Ryan had downplayed prior to the game – simply takes over at the end of the game:

As one of two remaining undefeated team in the league (NFC North rival Packers being the other), and with 8 consecutive wins (dating back to last season), I think it’s safe to say that this year’s Lions club is for real. At the other end of the spectrum, the Cowboys fall to 2-2 on the heels of the largest blown lead in franchise history, and people everywhere are wondering if Romo will be able to recover from his ever-increasing reputation as a choke artist.

We have no idea who created this masterpiece (it was originally posted to Reddit by user “Tokyosexwhale“), but it’s pretty much perfect, especially coming on the heels of Monday night’s game against the Redskins, where Romo was working with a crew of inexperienced receivers and a center who seemingly couldn’t remember a snap count. Kudos to you, sir.

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FULL-SIZE

(Image via Imgur.com)

RIP Chris Farley

Since our resident Cowboys fan, C-O-U-R-T-N-E-Y, has remained silent about the outlook for his favorite team, this guy will have to suffice as our “expert” opinion on the subject for now.

In response to the Cowboys meltdown at the Jets in Week 1, YouTube user divalover159 delivers a tirade for the ages on his favorite franchise, owner Jerry Jones, and QB/whipping boy Tony Romo. It’s nearly ten minutes of pure, unadulterated passion, bouncing bellies and questionable grammar, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Matt Foley, motivational speaker.

Sure, it goes on a bit long, but something about this video is truly captivating …

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

… and the Dallas Cowboys never lost again.

Yikes. I got hoarse just watching that video.

(H/T Reddit/r/nfl)

(Photo: Louis DeLuca/Dallas Morning News)

The Tony Romo we’ve come to know and love finally showed up in the 4th quarter of tonight’s Jets-Cowboys tilt at the newly-christened MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

After an impressive three quarters of football, Romo and the Cowboys led New York 24-17 with 9:12 remaining in the game, and 3rd & goal from the 2-yard line. With a chance to seal the win with a touchdown (or at least a field goal), Romo took the snap from shotgun, looked right, then left, then straight downfield before tucking the ball and deciding to run for it.  See if you can guess what happens next:

The Jets later tied the game on a blocked punt & return for a score, and Romo – who finished 23-of-36 for 342 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT – had a chance at a game-winning drive with under a minute to play.  But Romo’s first pass attempt was an awful one, getting picked off by Darrelle Revis, which set up Jets kicker Nick Folk to be the hero, drilling a 50-yard field goal with :27 to go.

For his part, Romo owned up to the loss after the game:

“We win that football game if I don’t do what I did. We lost this game because of me,” Romo said.

That’s all well and good, but with this latest glaring example, Romo has only furthered his reputation for falling apart at the seams when it matters most. Granted it’s only one loss, but despite playing well for most of the game against the vaunted Jets secondary, the Cowboys faithful are rightfully freaking out right now, and Jason Garrett will need to figure out how his team can put it together for a full 60 minutes of football without shooting themselves in the foot.

The question creeps up again: Are the Cowboys the most inappropriately hyped team in professional sports?

Their on-field performance seems to be of no issue: if they win three games this season, playing some of the worst football in the NFC, there’s no doubt the league will still slate them for five or six nationally televised games in 2011. Quality on the field not even taken into account, we’ll be told their the “most talented team in the NFC” come summer.

Stripping away the media sheen, what do the Cowboys substantively bring to the table?

Why have we been force-fed this team during its 15-year, post-Aikman wanderings? They’re consistently outplayed by other teams — especially in big games. This has been happening for years.

And why the media’s love affair with frat-boyish Tony Romo?

While everyone’s busy anointing Romo the next Roger Staubach — is he more accurately the next Danny White, during an equally depressing era of Cowboys football?

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN takes a look at some of today’s stars and (imperfectly) attempts to match them to their natural predecessors of old.

(Source: AP)

Danny White and Tony Romo

Most Cowboys fans will not appreciate the comparison — and deny it.

White presided over a Cowboys franchise that still felt it was all that based on its glory years a decade or so before. The 6-foot-2, 193-pound White was 62-30 (.674) as a starter and 5-5 (.500) in the playoffs. He was never able to get Dallas to the Super Bowl, despite a string of double-digit-win regular seasons and a talented supporting cast. His inability to win the big game didn’t help fans forget about Staubach.

Romo presides over a Cowboys franchise that still feels it’s all that based on its glory years a decade or so ago. The 6-foot-2, 219-pound Romo is 39-23 (.629) as a starter and 1-3 (.250) in the playoffs. He has never been able to get Dallas to the Super Bowl, despite a string of double-digit-win regular seasons and a talented supporting cast. His inability to win the big game hasn’t helped fans forget about Aikman.

Notorious ‘Boys fan, C-O-U-R-T-N-E-Y, suggested Romo be compared to Fran Tarkenton. OK, let’s do it:

Tarkenton, a Hall of Famer and nine-time Pro Bowler, played for 18 seasons, 13 of them with the Minnesota Vikings. He was drafted by the Vikings and played six years in Minnesota before spending five seasons with the New York Giants. He then, in his 12th season, returned to the Vikings and led the team to three Super Bowls.

Tarkenton won 124 games as a starter and was 6-4 in the playoffs.

During a golden era in the Vikings’ history, Tarkenton was their leader, willing them to NFC crowns.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

(Source: AP, Plain Dealer)

Kevin Mack and Peyton Hillis

Kevin Mack, a 6-foot, 224-pound bruiser who surprised people with his agility, downhill running style and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, gave Cleveland a much-needed lift after the Browns masterfully plucked him from the USFL’s Los Angeles Express for a song. In 1985, his first campaign with a young, developing Browns team under the direction of poised rookie quarterback Bernie Kosar — who became the team’s starter in Week 6 — Mack barnstormed his way for 1,104 rushing yards, 297 receiving yards and 10 total touchdowns. He helped an 8-8 Browns team squeak into the playoffs. He rushed for 5,123 yards (4.0 yards per attempt) and 46 touchdowns in his career. He also caught 197 passes for 1,602 yards and eight scores.

Peyton Hillis, a 6-foot-1, 240-pound bruiser who has surprised people with his agility, downhill running style and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, has given Cleveland a much-needed lift after the Browns masterfully plucked him from the Denver Broncos  for a song. In 2010, his first campaign with a young, developing Browns team under the direction of poised rookie quarterback Colt McCoy — who became the team’s starter in Week 6 — Hillis has barnstormed his way for 726 rushing yards, 256 receiving yards and nine total touchdowns in nine games. He has helped a young Browns team to wins over a series of playoff-caliber teams. In three seasons, he has rushed for 1,123 yards (4.8 yards per attempt) and 14 touchdowns. He has also caught 52 passes for 454 yards and two scores.

(Source: AP)

George Blanda and Brett Favre

The Blanda-Favre comparison is imperfect. The shape of Favre’s career is not altogether comparable to Blanda’s beyond the sheer extent of it. Taking Favre’s endurance into account, he might compare better to someone like Peyton Manning, John Elway or (yes) Fran Tarkenton (sorry, Romo).

The matchup with Blanda is more  in essence than statistical.

Blanda, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound quarterback, played 26 seasons in the NFL, appearing in 340 career games. He was a factor well into his late 30s and 40s, and appeared in his last game, the 1975 AFC Championship, on January 4, 1976, at age 48. A talented kicker, Blanda kicked a field goal and extra point in the game. At the time of his retirement, Blanda had scored more points than anyone in league history.

Favre, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound quarterback, is in his 20th (and, he says, last) NFL season, appearing in 298 career games, with an astonishing 294 consecutive starts. He has Blanda beat in this category, hands down, and it makes him a different brand of player, in a sense.

Peyton Manning is the next active player on the list with 201 consecutive starts. His brother, Eli, follows him with 96. Ron Jaworski, Tom Brady and Buffalo’s Ron Ferguson recorded streaks of 116, 111 and 107 starts, but Brady’s was cut short when he was injured in 2008. Philip Rivers has 73 active consecutive starts.

The Blanda-Favre comparison becomes scary only when we admit that we’re concerned Favre will, against his word, still be around at age 48.

(Source: AP, N.Y. Daily News)

Mark Bavaro and Rob Gronkowski

Mark Bavaro, the 6-foot-4, 245-pounder, was a tough-as-nails, receiving tight end who made immediate impact, catching 15 passes for 511 yards and four scores his rookie season, and becoming a favorite target of quarterback Phil Simms. The physically gifted Bavaro was well-suited in Bill Parcells’ Giants offense, which relied less on star players and more on men who knew their roles and thrived in a system that helped the Giants to multiple Super Bowl championships.

Rob Gronkowski, the 6-foot-6, 265-pounder, is a tough-as-nails, receiving tight end who’s made immediate impact, catching 19 passes for 220 yards and six scores through the first nine games of his rookie season, and is becoming a favorite target of quarterback Tom Brady. The physically gifted Gronkowski is well-suited in Bill Belichick’s Patriots offense, which — after the Moss trade — relies less on star players and more on men who know their roles and thrive in a system that has helped the Patriots to multiple Super Bowl championships.

(Source: AP)

Jerry Glanville and Rex Ryan

I understand that the immediate thought here is, “Wait, why not Buddy Ryan vs. Rex Ryan?”

Fine… Buddy Ryan’s 55-55-1 head coaching experience with the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals is only part of what Buddy’s passed down to twin sons Rex and Rob. There’s little question whose son Rex is — in both demeanor and philosophy. We’ve processed the comparison before — and so has every pregame show, newspaper, and NFL blog in America.

I believe Rex has the chance, with the Jets, to do things his father never did as a head coach.

When I think about Rex though — and how he agitates fans of opposing AFC East teams — he reminds me of how Jerry Glanville used to get under my skin when he coached the Houston Oilers. As a Browns fan, the Oilers of the old AFC Central were supremely annoying — and it was Glanville who I wanted pressed into the dirt as much anyone. That division was a bloodbath largely because of Glanville’s ability as a coach — and his knack for adding fuel to fire.

Glanville infuriated Sam Wyche over the years, and Wyche, when the opportunity knocked in 1989, had no problem ripping Glanville a new one in a 61-7 drubbing of the Oilers. It was cathartic for everyone beyond Glanville’s mother.

Glanville talked endlessly — and left tickets for Elvis left and right — but he backed it up, to some degree, by building a smothering, imposing defense that made the Oilers one of the team’s to beat in the AFC in the late ’80s. He was a players coach, and he found a way to get his guys to buy in to the Oilers way of life — but he was also humiliated on more than one occasion, and eventually wore his welcome out in league circles.

For my money, if the Jets aren’t in your way, Rex is a fun-loving, entertaining guy who brings the soundbites. If you’re forced to deal with his team — and his loud mouth — twice a season, he’s a big part of the reason you want to see the Jets take a dirt nap.

In the end, Glanville — and Buddy Ryan — never took a team to the Super Bowl.

Rex can eclipse both of them by backing up the endless chatter.

This week, the league wired up Cowboys QB Tony Romo for sound so we can all listen in as he gets taken out – possibly for the season – by Giants LB Michael Boley. The night starts off well enough for Romo, but watch and listen as it all comes crashing down:

Romo gets a lot of points for toughness here. The first thing he asks after getting injured is, “Did he catch the pass?”, before even telling the doctors where he’s hurt. And you have to like the way Romo tries to sneak back into the game (no matter how ill-advised that would have been).

Every time I watch one of these I end up liking the player more … and I am NOT a fan of Tony Romo. The NFL would be wise to integrate more Sound FX-style programming into their game broadcasts. Getting this type of insight into how the game is played is tremendous for the fans.

Tony Romo is the latest victim of the Giants defense (Image via KissingSuzyKolber)

The New York Giants defense has been terrorizing opposing signal-callers all season long. In the first six games, their relentless pass rush took three starting QBs out of action: Matt Moore (CAR) – Concussion; Jay Cutler (CHI) – Concussion; and Shaun Hill (DET) – Broken arm (not to mention Cutler’s back-up, Todd Collins).

And during tonight’s 41-35 win over Dallas, the G-Men added Tony Romo to the body count, knocking him out of the game with a fractured left clavicle. Romo is expected to miss 8-10 weeks, leaving his – along with the rest of the Cowboys’ – season very much in doubt. The injury came in the second quarter when, LB Michael Boley came in untouched on a blitz and planted Romo into the turf (cleanly, mind you):

The Cowboys had jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first three minutes helped by two tipped ball interceptions, and Dez Bryant tacked on a punt return to put Dallas up 20-7 with less than 5 minutes to play in the half. But the Giants defense clamped down from there, and after Romo left the game, it felt like the life was sucked out of Jerrah World. New York reeled of 31 unanswered points as Eli Manning rebounded in a big way from his early troubles, throwing for over 300 yards and four scores, including two to Hakeem Nicks. Both Nicks and Steve Smith had over 100 yards receiving, and Ahmad Bradshaw added 126 on the ground as the Giants (5-2) take sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

And perhaps more satisfying, they leave their rival Cowboys in rough shape, off to their worst start since 1989, and with Wade Phillips charged with trying to right the ship. They say a picture speaks a thousand words …

(Photo: Star-Telegram/Sharon Ellman)

Remember when the Cowboys were favorites for the Super Bowl this year? (Photo: Star-Telegram/Paul Moseley)

The world-renowned Wade Phillips discipline was on full display Sunday in Minneapolis during the Cowboys 24-21 loss to the Vikings.  Dallas was flagged 11 times for 91 yards, including calls that negated a 68-yard Miles Austin TD, as well as a 34-yard punt return. Austin kicked things off himself with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the Cowboys first score, and Tony Romo added two interceptions that set up 10 points for Minnesota.  It was the third time Phillips’ club has reached double figures in penalties this season, as they continue to find new and exciting ways beat themselves.

The loss drops the Cowboys to 1-4 on the season, and has Dallas sports fans praying that the Rangers can salvage their Fall sports season.  But owner Jerry Jones is sticking by his head coach, saying after the game that he wouldn’t fire Phillips, at least until the end of the season.

“I would never consider doing that during the season,” Jones said.

(ed note: this is only because of the ridiculous amount of money it would cost to do so)

However, Jones did not give Phillips a vote of confidence. He acknowledged that the Cowboys are in serious trouble due in large part to a glaring lack of discipline.

“I’m not [optimistic],” Jones said. “I’m very disappointed. I realize the challenge that we’ve got, and we’re not playing well enough to get it done right now. We’re running out of the opportunity to make this season what we meant it to be.”

CONTINUE AFTER THE JUMP FOR VIDEO LOWLIGHTS OF THE COWBOYS SEASON

Unfortunately for Jerrah, the likelihood of Phillips turning things around this year is extremely unlikely. This is the man whose teams are notorious for making ridiculous, untimely mistakes, and who instills approximately zero fear in his players.  Once again, this year’s Cowboys are loaded with physical talent, but when the going gets tough, they will be without the leadership required from the head coach position.

Fortunately for us, at least one Dallas fan out there has a sense of humor, and went ahead and compiled a video of the Cowboys’ shooting themselves in the foot this season.  Oh, and they set it to the Benny Hill theme: