The New York Giants have no more time to celebrate Saturday’s satisfying and season-saving victory over the New York Jets. The Giants are where they wanted to be, hosting the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night (8:20 p.m. ET/NBC) at MetLife Stadium for the right to go to the playoffs. The winner takes the NFC East title and a playoff berth. The loser begins their off-season.

“It [beating the Jets] was a great feeling but we have to win one more to get to where we want to go,’ said Giants safety Kenny Phillips. This is just the beginning and if we don’t take care of business next week, this was all for nothing. It was a great win.”

Should the Giants lose to Dallas on Sunday night it would mark the third consecutive season in which they missed the playoffs. If they win Sunday, it would mark an excellent achievement for a team that suffered a rash of devastating preseason injuries and free-agent defections, and had lost five of six prior to beating the Jets on Saturday.

“We knew that if we won two that we would be the winner of the NFC East and be in the playoffs so we have two games and now one under our belt. To be honest with you, we need to put this one aside as fast as we can and go to work on Dallas with the same attitude we had last week,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “Basically, I just walked into the team meeting Tuesday and said, ‘if we win two, then we are in. I am not going to focus on last week’s game at all, everything that we are going to do is in front of us.’

Dallas quarterback Tony Romo injured his throwing hand Sunday against Philadelphia, but expects to play Sunday against the Giants. The Cowboys look as if they have lost starting left guard Montrae Holland to a torn bicep, however.

For the Giants, it appears they will be without defensive end Osi Umenyiora (ankle) for a fifth straight week.

The Dallas Cowboys are hoping the loss of DeMarco Murray won’t derail their
season.

It looks like a trip to London may have been the catalyst to ending the
hopes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Two teams looking for answers meet Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium
with the Cowboys trying to avoid a third straight loss and the Buccaneers on a
seven-game slide.

Dallas (7-6) dropped into a first-place tie in the NFC East with the Giants
after blowing a late 12-point lead in Sunday’s 37-34 home defeat to New York.
The Cowboys had a tying field goal blocked at the end, marking the second
straight game they have failed to convert one at the close of regulation.

Perhaps a bigger loss happened in the first quarter when Murray fractured
his right ankle. Murray, averaging 137.4 rushing yards over the Cowboys’ last
five victories and on pace to become the franchise’s first 1,000-yard back since
2006, has been placed on injured reserve.

Felix Jones, who gained 106 yards on 16 carries Sunday, becomes the starter
again. The Cowboys signed journeyman Sammy Morris on Monday.

“DeMarco has been a big part of this offense and big part of this football
team,” quarterback Tony Romo said. “We are lucky to have a guy like Felix,
obviously, who can step in.”

Dallas could have put a stranglehold on the division had it won Sunday. The
Cowboys still would win the division by capturing their final three games, and
can even win it by losing to Tampa Bay (4-9) and winning the last two.

“We still control our own destiny,” coach Jason Garrett said. “I think our
players understand.”

The Buccaneers have matched their longest losing streak within one season
since the 1987 club dropped its final eight games. Tampa Bay missed the playoffs
at 10-6 last season and began 2011 with a 4-2 mark before an Oct. 23 loss to
Chicago in London started this skid.

The losing has put third-year coach Raheem Morris’ job in jeopardy.

“It’s great for you guys to scare my family half to death and talk about
that stuff all throughout,” Morris said. “But for us, man, it’s a mentally tough
business. It is move on. It is next opponent. It’s next man up. It’s the Dallas
Cowboys. … For me, a chance to ruin Jason Garrett’s season, and let you talk
about him.”

Tampa Bay seemed to have a budding star on its hands in 2010 in Josh
Freeman, who had 25 touchdown passes and just six interceptions. That ratio has
dropped to 12 TDs and a league-high 18 interceptions this year.

Freeman returned last Sunday after missing a game with an injured throwing
shoulder, but the results were disastrous as the Buccaneers fell 41-14 at
Jacksonville.

Tampa Bay has allowed the most points in the NFC (370) and has lost four
times at by least 19.

“You might think guys might be kinda down,” Freeman said. “Like I said,
we’re upset about losing. Guys are coming to work and they’ve been wanting to do
something about it to correct it.”

Freeman is relishing the chance to go up against a Dallas defense that
allowed 510 yards last Sunday for the highest total by a Cowboys opponent in
five years.

“Dallas is kind of on the bubble right now, what are they, 7-6?” Freeman
said. “So I can’t think of anything happier than to go out and get a win this
week and that may put a damper on their hopes.”

Sunday’s lackluster defensive showing ruined a strong performance by Romo,
who threw four touchdown passes for the first time since 2007 and recorded his
fifth 300-yard effort of the year. Romo’s passer rating is a career-best 100.6
for the NFL’s fourth-highest mark, and he’s fifth in the league with 26 TD
passes.

The Cowboys are headed back on the road, where they have played three
overtime games and two others decided on scores within the final 30 seconds.

Garrett’s clock management has come into question after some of the close
games. He called a timeout before Dan Bailey missed a 49-yard field goal attempt
at the end of regulation in a 19-13 OT loss at Arizona on Dec. 4 and also let
some extra time elapse last weekend before calling a timeout with the Cowboys on
defense late in the game.

“The nature of our team is we’ve played a lot of close games,” Garrett said.
“We’ve won maybe half of them and we’ve lost some other ones. You have to look
at situations, see what happens, some way, somehow process it, learn from it and
hopefully go forward.”

Dallas has won the last three meetings with Tampa Bay. Romo needed only 16
completions to throw for 353 yards and three scores in the last matchup, a 34-21
win Sept. 13, 2009.

The Dallas Cowboys are no longer alone atop the NFC East.

Instead of building a two-game division lead, the Cowboys blew a
12-point lead over the final 5 1/2 minutes and lost 37-34 Sunday
night to drop into a tie with the New York Giants, who snapped a
four-game losing streak to get even with three games left.

“This one is going to hurt,” Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said.
“This one is going to sting.”

Just another bad memory for Romo and the Cowboys at home against
the Giants.

“Very disappointing. Major game for both teams, my hats off to
the Giants,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said outside the locker room
before walking off without taking questions. “We are very
disappointed and we certainly know that we’ve got our work cut out
for us.”

New York (7-6) has won all three of its games at Cowboys
Stadium, including the first regular-season game in another Sunday
night game two years ago. Then there was last year’s game, when
Romo broke his collarbone and didn’t play again.

This time, the Cowboys might be looking back at this loss as the
one that cost them another division title _ and maybe knocked them
out of the playoffs _ if they don’t recover.

“It’s like playoffs for us. It’s sudden death. We have to win
the next three to give ourselves a chance,” linebacker Bradie James
said. “This was a big one. We all talked about being in first
place. We knew what was on the line. But those guys made one more
play than we did.”

Dallas plays Saturday night at Tampa Bay, then is home against
Philadelphia on Christmas Eve before the regular-season finale New
Year’s Day at MetLife Stadium. The Giants have games left against
Washington and the Jets before the home game against the
Cowboys.

Cowboys sensational rookie DeMarco Murray won’t play any of
those games. He broke his right ankle and sustained a high sprain
when his foot got twisted under a defender while being tackled at
the end of an 8-yard run in the first quarter. Murray left the
locker room on crutches, staring down with a hoodie pulled down
over his head.

“It appears that he’s done for the season,” coach Jason Garrett
said.

Even after Brandon Jacobs’ 1-yard run and D.J. Ware’s 2-point
conversion with 46 seconds left, the Cowboys had another
chance.

With no timeouts left, Romo hit Miles Austin for 22 and 23 yards
before spiking the ball to stop the clock with 6 seconds left and
set up rookie Dan Bailey for a 47-yard field goal to force
overtime.

Bailey kicked the ball through the uprights, but New York had
used its last timeout just before the ball was snapped. When Bailey
tried again, Jason Pierre-Paul blocked the kick and the ball
fluttered through the air and nowhere close to the goalpost.

“I’m not really sure (what happened). … They’re a big middle
rush team. Your guess is as good as mine,” Bailey said. “I felt
like I made good contact with the ball.”

Pierre-Paul, filling in for injured defensive end Osi Umenyiora,
sacked Romo in the first quarter for a safety and also forced a
fumble just before halftime that led to a field goal.

The Cowboys lost their second straight game, both in dramatic,
frustrating fashion that involved missed kicks by Bailey, who’d
been so good for so long this season.

“We have to process this game and put it behind us quickly,”
Garrett said.

Eli Manning was 27 of 47 for 400 yards and two touchdowns. He
was intercepted once, on a tipped pass, and it led to a touchdown
that appeared to put the game away for Dallas when Dez Bryant was
wide open for a 50-yard catch.

But Manning came back with a pair of touchdown drives. The first
went 80 yards in eight plays, capped by an 8-yard touchdown pass to
Jake Ballard.

The Giants then held Dallas to a three-and-out. Romo, who had
thrown touchdown passes on the two previous possessions, missed a
wide-open Austin deep on third down. Romo said Austin, in his first
game back after missing four with a right hamstring injury, lost
the ball in the lights.

The Cowboys punted, and it was a short one. Then the Dallas
defense had two penalties that helped scoot along a drive capped by
Jacobs’ scoring plunge.

For Dallas, Bailey’s closing segment was all too similar to a
week earlier, with a twist.

Bailey had a 49-yard kick at the end of regulation against
Arizona, and had kicked the ball through the uprights for the
apparent game-winner when officials signaled that Garrett had
called timeout. Bailey then missed, and the Cowboys lost in
overtime.

Bailey had two field goals against the Giants, both 49-yarders.
The second put Dallas up 20-15 midway through the third
quarter.

Romo finished 21 of 31 for 321 yards with four touchdowns and no
interceptions. Laurent Robinson had four catches for 137 yards,
including a 9-yarder for his eighth TD in seven games.

Tight end John Phillips’ 12-yarder for his first career TD in
the first quarter pushed Romo over 20,000 yards passing in his
career _ and made it 7-5 after the Giants had gotten the safety and
a field goal.

Jones ran 16 times for 106 yards, and caught six passes for 31
yards.

The Cowboys have lost six straight Sunday night games. Romo also
continued his trend of winning in November (4-0), then losing in
December (0-2).

`’We need to get a win next week and get back going,” Romo said.
“You have to put your head down and keep playing.”

It’s a day of Hot Button debates as we gear up and m0ve closer to the big Sunday night showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. Earlier, we rolled the old Eli Manning vs. Tony Romo grenade into the room and ran out as quickly as we could. So here’s another one for you guys to kick around.

The Hot Button debate topic on ESPNDallas.com is also simple: Who will win the NFC East? Cowboys or Giants? Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com says it’ll be the Cowboys. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com says Giants.

Personally, I think it’d be at least as much fun — if not moreso — to hear the contrary points of view from the folks covering the teams. For instance, I want a Cowboys beat guy to tell me why the Cowboys won’t win and a Giants beat guy to tell me why the Giants won’t. I’ve always thought beat writers were, or at least should be, in the best position to see a team’s flaws up close. But someday when I’m the guy who gets to decide the Hot Button topics, perhaps this can come to pass. In the meantime, here’s Calvin on why the Cowboys, who have a one-game lead with four (including two against the Giants) to play:

Yes, the Giants have beaten the Cowboys in their first two trips to Cowboys Stadium, but this Cowboys team is playing with more confidence coming into Sunday night’s game than ever before.

The return of Miles Austin to the lineup for the final month adds a different dimension to the Cowboys’ offense. He takes pressure off Dez Bryant, who continues to improve his game, especially in the fourth quarter, and tight end Jason Witten.

Calvin also thinks the schedule favors Dallas, since they get the Buccaneers and Eagles while the Giants get the Redskins and the still-contending Jets in the other two games. And he’s right, of course, but the schedule favored the Cowboys last week, too, and they didn’t beat Arizona.

Anyway, the basis for Ohm’s side of the argument is Manning, who’s playing quarterback better than anyone else in the division and, Ohm says, “only needs a bit more of an assist from either his defense or the running game to lift the Giants to the playoffs.”

The Giants have defeated Dallas in five of their past seven meetings, and Manning has had some of his best games vs. the Cowboys. He has 26 career TDs against them, and three 300-yard passing games at Dallas, where the Giants play this Sunday night. The Cowboys’ secondary has had trouble covering Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham and now they’ll get their first taste of the red-hot Victor Cruz.

And now, thanks to their feisty performance against the Packers, the Giants have regained some of their swagger. Sure, they’ve had their share of late-season collapses and they let the division crown slip out of their fingers last year to Philadelphia. But this year, Manning won’t allow that to happen. All he needs is a little help from his friends.

The cool thing is, since this is pro football and not college, we don’t have to wonder. This stuff gets settled on the field. The Giants absolutely need to win the two games against Dallas, I think. They’re a game behind and could win both and still fail to win the division if they lose the two games in between. If Dallas wins Sunday night, they’ll be in complete control and could lock up the division before the Jan. 1 rematch. Who will end up winning? I’m picking the Cowboys right now because they’re the team with the lead, the better run game and — I believe — the better defense. But Ohm’s right about at least one thing: If it comes down to the fourth quarter and it falls on the quarterbacks, it’d be impossible to count out Eli.

Read More: Tony Romo (QB – DAL), DeMarco Murray (RB – DAL), Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins have not shown up to play in any of the past few weeks, but fans are hoping that a rivalry game against the Dallas Cowboys will do the trick. The old cliche is that records do not matter when division rivals square off. Redskins fans are hoping that will be the case on Sunday,

The Redskins, of course, are reeling, having lost five straight games without even holding a lead. Dallas, meanwhile, is beginning to find itself, thanks to the superb running of DeMarco Murray. His emergence has allowed Tony Romo to thrive in the passing game. At 5-4, the Cowboys can close to a tie for first place in the NFC East with a win and a New York Giants loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football.

Here is everything you need to know about the game.

Teams: Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins.

Location: FedEx Field in Landover, Md.

Time: 1 p.m.

TV Information: FOX.

Announcers: Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa.

Radio: ESPN 980 AM.

For more on the Redskins, please visit Hogs Haven, SB Nation’s Redskins blog. For more on the Cowboys, please visit SB Nation Dallas and Blogging the Boys, SB Nation’s cowboys blog. For coverage of Sunday’s Redskins/Cowboys matchup, please visit this StoryStream.