Funny business? Home-town cooking from the clock operator? Blatant cheating by the Cowboys? The Giants weren’t accusing anyone of anything, but they sure were skeptical and more than a bit curious how the Cowboys could find the time to run three plays in the frantic last 10 seconds of Sunday’s wild 29-24 victory.
“The longest 10 seconds I’ve ever been around,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said yesterday. “Three plays in 10 seconds, two of which into the end zone. Seems a little much to me. We’ll have to see if we can get some kind of response from the league on that.’’
According to an NFL spokesman, the league is not aware of any wrongdoing by the Cowboys clock operator but a review of the waning seconds of the game will take place.
“I give them a lot of credit to be able to get three plays off in 10 seconds,’’ co-owner John Mara said dryly after the game.
Dez Bryant’s would-be game-winning touchdown catch with six seconds remaining was reversed by the replay assistant up in the booth and referee Scott Green instructed the clock operator to reset the game clock to 10 seconds. The Cowboys, on the Giants 37-yard line, were out of timeouts. Tony Romo found Jason Witten for 10 yards and Witten was able to get out of bounds. That left six seconds. Romo’s next pass was a high, deep lob intended for Miles Austin running a post pattern but it fell incomplete and the game appeared to be over. But one second remained on the clock, which greatly irritated Mara, sitting up in the press box and incredulous that play only took five seconds.
Asked if he were accusing the Cowboys of some clock hanky-panky, Coughlin said, “What do you mean what do I think the reason is for it? You were at the game, you saw it. I don’t have any answer for you other than the fact two plays into the end zone are going to take more than four seconds apiece. I don’t have anything for you other than that. You have to speculate on the rest of that.’’
Antrel Rolle did not complain of a headache on the flight back from Dallas, a positive sign that perhaps he did not suffer a concussion late in the game.
Coughlin said he does not know if Rolle suffered a concussion.
“I don’t know that, I’m not sure about that just yet,’’ Coughlin said. “He was a little dizzy when he came off the field, last night on the plane he said he was fine, he didn’t seem to have any issues, he had no headaches. I’m sure he’ll still have to go through the protocol. Hopefully he’ll be OK.’’
The Giants team charter landed in Newark without incident about 1:15 yesterday morning ahead of Hurricane Sandy.
“For the most part it was a good plane ride,’’ safety Stevie Brown said. “It wasn’t awful, it got bad at a few points but my definition of bad could be a little bit more than others. I don’t really like flying like that, so when the plane starts shaking I get a little uneasy.’’
Coughlin had to make some schedule adjustments because of the storm and said he pushed the schedule back for Wednesday, treating the week as if the Giants had a Monday night game. Players were given off yesterday; they are normally off Tuesday and will be this week as well.
“We felt it was in the best interest of safety and security of our players that they remain home, that they stay with their families and they make sure that their wives and children are fine during this time,’’ Coughlin said.
* Victor Cruz has maintained he wants to stay with the Giants and wants to retire with the Giants. He has mostly kept quiet about his contract status — he’s set to become a restricted free agent after the season — but lately has expressed optimism he’s edging closer to a new deal. Yesterday, Cruz told ESPN: “I was excited to hear this weekend that contract talks are moving in the right direction. I heard there was some progress on the structure.”
Cruz makes $540,000, the minimum for a player with three years of NFL experience. At mid-season, he has 52 catches for 650 yards and seven touchdowns, all team highs.
Brown leads the NFL in takeaways with seven (five interceptions, two fumble recoveries). Not bad for a fill-in starter playing only because Kenny Phillips missed the past four games with a knee injury. “It’s a great feeling … it definitely means I’m doing my job,’’ Brown said of leading the league in turnovers.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the game against the Cowboys was the first time the Giants blew a 23-point lead in a regular-season game in which the opposing team came back to at least tie the game at some point.