She’s apparently not going to be in the stands today, but I use a picture of Jessica Simpson for not only the obvious reason, but to mock her for sporting the pink jersey. Awful, awful concept. If you ever wind up dating someone who wears one of these, please take it upon yourself to burn it and buy her a normal jersey. Or, if you’re not that attached, find someone who actually likes football.

Better or worse: pink jerseys, or the pink/skyline/ugly patterned caps that have pervaded society? I know that caps don’t necessarily have to be “official”, but they also should have some element of the team’s colours, no? – Dan

Dan, there’s no real winner here, they all lead us right to the bottom — although I will note a special kind of contempt for people that wear fitteds and keep the sticker on it for whatever reason. That’s awful. You can leave the brim flat, bend it, do whatever the fuck you want — but take the sticker off, please.

Since I told you all earlier that I’d picked the Colts, I’ll admit here that I picked the Giants — however, that does not look so good, considering we’ve had our one upset of the weekend already and I can’t imagine Eli going further in the playoffs than Peyton. The Cowboys have played like shite in the last few games, though.

Domenik Hixon takes Nick Folk’s kickoff out to the 23, and out comes Eli and Co. Brandon Jacobs gets five on the first carry, follows it with nine more for a first down. Eli gets hurried and throws one incomplete. Jacobs carves out a few on the right side. Incomplete on 3rd down, but DeMarcus Ware’s going to get called for offsides. Manning burrows through on a QB sneak, and he’s got a first down by a hair.

Manning then hits Amani Toomer with a nice throw, and apparently Dallas forgot how to tackle, as Toomer burns down the sideline and gets to the end zone. Kick is up and good by Lawrence Tynes after the 52 yard score.

Giants 7, Cowboys 0. Giants did what they had to do — score first in what could be a shootout. We’d like to congratulate the Dallas defense early for forgetting how to tackle. Is Deion Sanders working with the secondary on the side? Myles Austin takes the kickoff to the Cowboys 24, and we’ll see the league leader in smiles after the break.

Marion Barber gets the first carry, and as the ball is rolling around after the tackle, we’ve got ourselves a face mask of the 15-yard variety on Kawika Mitchell. Looks like we’re going to have some defensive lapses today.

“Should move the ball from the 23 to the 38.” Uh, Joe: 23 + 15 = 37. Plus, they’ve got to add the 15 yards on at the end of the play. Romo incomplete to T.O. Barber gets no yardage on the next carry. Romo gets blitzed and throws incomplete again, and Mat McBriar punts it off to R.W. McQuarters, who fair catches at the Giants’ 10.

And, really, I’m never doing math on a blog again. Jesus. Manning to Toomer again for a quick first down. (Resisting urge to make cheap cancer puns.) Jacobs gets smacked up by Ware. He then gets the next carry up the middle for nine yards. Next play gets first down, then Ahmad Bradshaw busts up the middle for 12 and another first down. Eli misses Plaxico on the bomb, Bradshaw runs for 8 again up the middle. He’s gonna be short on the third down rush, and Jeff Feagles will punt. Cowboys pinned at their own 4 yard line.

There is not a coach in football who values a running game and acts like it than Coughlin. The Cowboys aren’t liking this one bit. More power to him. – Ed

This is part and parcel of why I picked the Giants to win — once they got Bradshaw and got Jacobs healthy, you knew they wanted to run and run often, ease up on Eli to throw all the time. Mike Shanahan used to have this attitude. I’m not sure why he got away from it.

Barber gets six yards on the first carry. Romo lands a nice throw to T.O. for 13 yards, hitting him where only he can really catch it. Aaron Ross wrangles Patrick Clayton for a three-yard loss on a screen — that was a very, very good read and tackle right there. Marion Barber breaks loose for 36, dodging about five tacklers before being brought down inside the Giants’ 45. Patrick Crayton gets to the 30 on the next pass. Barber rumbles for 11, inside the red zone. False start flag on the Boys.

More MB — rumbles all the way to the 3 for a first and goal. Barber gets stuffed on the next play, though, and the first quarter’s done. Romo aims for the corner and hits Owens. T.O. gives the ball to a kid in the stands, and Coughlin’s throwing out the “you suck, ref” flag — and it looks like a bad call to challenge. Play upheld, kick is good, 7-7 tie. There you go.

Wouldn’t it be funny if both Mannings bow out on the same day? Well now they can work on the DSRL. — ssreporters

I actually think that ad was bad juju — for Peyton. That’s the first clunker ad I’ve seen with him in it. Hixon’s out to the 30 on the kickoff. 3rd and 5 after the first couple of plays

Nice effort by Cory Webster there. That’s the kind of play that earned Roy Williams a spot in the Pro Bowl. Cory’s on the right track. – pm.

Ouch. Well done. Incomplete on 3rd and 5, but there’s a flag, and it’s offsides on Dallas — giving the Giants a first down. Manning gets chased out of the pocket and avoids the sack, getting two yards. Jacobs picks up one on 2nd down. Manning gets smashed by Chris Canty on 3rd down, Feagles time again.

OK, who placed the friggin Troy Aikman Ring of Honor name so he could be right on top of it for that shot? Vomit. – Ed

Pretty douchey, isn’t it? Barber takes it out to the right side. I’d personally like to ask Joe Buck to stop making comments about the writers’ strike (regarding a 24-like four-screen with players and coaches in it), they have more creativity and talent in one hand than you give us every damn Sunday. 3rd and super-short coming up. MB3 gets it, of course, and needs about five guys to tackle him. Romo runs up for 6 and slides, and there’s some chippiness after the play. Julius Jones is in, gets stopped up a yard short of the 1st. Barber gets that first down. A couple of plays later, we’ve got another 3rd and 7. Romo to Terry Glenn, and he evades the corner to get the first down.

The Giants can’t get stops — that’s another 3rd down pass converted, this time to Owens. Corey Webster drops a sure interception when Terry Glenn falls down — you have to hold on to those.

“Tom Coughlin was telling us Webster has great hands.” – JB
“Really?” – TA (with a bit of sarcasm)

ANOTHER third down pass to T.O., completed. Romo to Witten, 1st and goal at the 2 or so.

Dear Giants Defense,
#81 in white is the best offensive player they have. I would recommend covering him.
Sincerely,
Everyone – Hanrahan

Not quite sure how you don’t game-plan for that. T.O. injured is still better than damn near every receiver out there. After several attempts, Barber is successful in crossing the goal line on 3rd down. Booth review coming. Upheld, kick good, 14-7, Cowboys.

Ahmad Bradshaw brings the kickoff back to the 29. Incomplete pass from Eli to start, and a cursory lip-reading reveals a “fuck”, cussing at himself for the bad throw. Steve Smith brings in a bomb from Eli on 2nd down past midfield. Manning to Smith again for another first down, and there will be some extra yards on a 15-yard face mask on the tackle, putting the Giants inside the Cowboys 30. Manning overthrows Burress in the end zone, and has his next pass knocked down by Canty. Eli to tight end Kevin Boss at the 4 yard line, and out of bounds. Manning to Toomer — diagnosis: touchdown, Giants! Kick up and good, 14-14, all.

I gotta give Eli serious credit — as of late, he has looked really, really good running no-huddle.

By the way, y’all are brutal regarding football double entendres and Jessica Simpson. Keep it up. Myles Austin runs it out with one second left on the clock. I’ll see you in the second half thread, everyone.