Jean-Jacques Taylor

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ARLINGTON – Please, no whining about fluky interceptions or lucky touchdown catches.

Not one single word.

Don't give these Cowboys any excuses. They're not deserving.

Not after the laughable performance they turned in Sunday night before a national television audience and 105,121 folks at Cowboys Stadium.

New York 33. Dallas 31.

Ridiculous.

Maybe, you prefer pathetic.

What about raggedy?

Take your pick, they're all applicable after the Cowboys made mistake after mistake after mistake and gave the Giants a game they had no business winning.

The players won't like that description. Neither will the coaches.

So what? Sometimes, the truth hurts.

Understand, this isn't about effort; they just played poorly.

Go ahead and tell me you were surprised the Giants drove 56 yards on 11 plays to set up Lawrence Tynes' game-winning, 37-yard field goal as time expired.

You shouldn't have been.

This team regularly finds new and creative ways to lose. For now, it's their legacy until someone gets sick and tired of these frustrating defeats and imposes his will on a game and changes the culture surrounding this team.

Think about it. The Giants didn't have starting cornerback Aaron Ross or former Cowboy Chris Canty, a key member of their defensive line rotation. In case you forgot, they lost wide receiver Domenik Hixon in the first quarter and defensive end Justin Tuck in the third.

It didn't matter, because the Cowboys kept the Giants in the game with missed tackles, busted coverages and four turnovers.

Tony Romo was absolutely awful, throwing three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown.

He never found a rhythm, completing 13 of 29 passes for 127 yards. It would be easier to accept if the Giants' defensive line had controlled the game and harassed him into mistakes, but that wasn't the case.

Then there was the defense, which failed to generate a sack or a turnover for the second consecutive game and turned Mario Manningham and Steve Smith, a couple of average receivers, into stars. They combined for 20 catches, 284 yards and two touchdowns.

Last week, the Bucs' collection of average runners gained 174 yards.

Mr. Fix It needs to get his defense straightened out right now.

This was a game the Cowboys needed to win in the worst way, especially after the embarrassing way they closed Texas Stadium. Who will ever forget Baltimore recording the two longest runs by an opponent in stadium history during the game's final four minutes to clinch the victory?

Actually, given the way the Cowboys closed Texas Stadium, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised they embarrassed their owner in the first game at Cowboys Stadium.

"It hurts bad," linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. "It was the first game at the new stadium, and we had a lot of Hall of Fame guys here. We let them down. We let ourselves down."

Agreed.

But this was a game the Cowboys needed because, on paper, the first half of their schedule should be considerably easier than the second.

Given their propensity for fading – some folks call it choking – after Dec. 1, when the games become more important and legacies are forged, they can't afford to give away games, especially division games at home.

"As disappointed as we are, we have to stay positive because it's still early in the season," Jason Witten said. "It's tough to move forward, but after all of the stuff that happened to us, we still had a chance to win the game. I'm not naïve, but we're a good football team."

That's debatable.

This team is 11-10 in its last 21 regular-season games. Perhaps, it's just an average football team.

Any questions about the Cowboys the last three years have nothing to do with talent and everything to do with their heart and ability to perform under pressure. The players won't like that, but we've all seen it time and time again.

Their performance against the Giants was simply the latest example.