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Manning throws three TDs as Giants batter Cowboys

Nov 3, 2008 - 2:13 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Regardless of who they played at quarterback, the Dallas Cowboys had no answers for the New York Giants.

Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes and the reigning Super Bowl champion Giants forced four turnovers Sunday en route to a 35-14 blowout of the reeling Cowboys.

It was the third consecutive victory for New York (7-1), which lost both regular-season meetings with the Cowboys last year before upsetting Dallas in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.

"We are very, very thankful for the win, excited about that," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "We are 7-1, and I think we can play better."

A preseason favorite to win the NFC East for the second straight year, Dallas (5-4) has lost three of its last four games and has been an offensive mess without starting quarterback Tony Romo, who missed his third consecutive contest Sunday due to a broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand.

Facing a Giants defense that entered with a league-leading 26 sacks, the Cowboys failed to generate any offense with 40-year-old Brad Johnson under center.

"We knew coming in it was going to be a tough one and we didn't play well enough overall," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "Turnovers obviously kill you."

Johnson, making his third consecutive start, was sacked twice and threw two costly interceptions in the first half before being replaced by Brooks Bollinger to open the third quarter.

"We never really put ourselves in a position to be in the game tonight," Johnson said. "We didn't play as good as we needed to. ? I didn't do my part."

"It doesn't matter who's the quarterback," added Giants cornerback Corey Webster, who had two interceptions. "Our goal is to go out there and get turnovers, great turnovers. It doesn't matter what the situation is, that's our job when we're out there - to stop the opposing team's offense."

Bollinger, who had not played in nearly a year, did not fare much better. The six-year veteran was intercepted by James Butler on his first pass attempt, leading to Brandon Jacobs' 12-yard TD run that gave New York a 28-7 lead less than two minutes into the third quarter.

"It's disappointing," Bollinger said. "I think I was just in a little bit of a hurry and was kind of a little quick. I tried to pull back and throw and ended up being a little late."

"(Bollinger is) another quarterback, and we wanted to see if he could move the ball better," Phillips said. "That was the big thing. He's a different type of quarterback."

While the Cowboys were plagued by abysmal quarterback play, Manning got off to a quick start for the Giants, completing seven of his first 11 passes and throwing two first-quarter TDs to give New York an early 14-0 lead.

Dallas halved the deficit on an uncharacteristic mistake by Manning, who apparently miscommunicated with wide receiver Plaxico Burress and was intercepted by rookie Mike Jenkins.

It was the first career pick for Jenkins, who jogged untouched for a 23-yard TD return to draw Dallas within 14-7 midway through the second quarter.

But the Giants reclaimed the two-touchdown cushion when Manning punctuated a six-play, 52-yard drive with an 11-yard scoring strike to Amani Toomer with 1:28 remaining in the first half.

The Cowboys finally scored an offensive touchdown less than a minute into the fourth quarter when Bollinger hooked up with Terrell Owens for an 8-yard TD to make it 28-14.

It was the 137th career TD for Owens, who moved into sole possession of fourth on the NFL's all-time list.

But that was about the only bright spot for the Cowboys, who fell into last place in the NFC East and trail the first-place Giants by 2 1/2 games.

After Manning found tight end Kevin Boss for a 13-yard TD on the game's opening drive, the Cowboys committed their first turnover when Johnson was intercepted by Webster with just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Five plays later, Manning hooked up with Steve Smith for a 5-yard scoring strike.

"Steve's done a great job," Manning said. "It was nice for him to finally get in the end zone. He's a tremendous player for us and we gotta keep him going."

Webster picked off Johnson again with 2:48 left in the first half, setting up Manning's TD to Toomer. Manning finished 16-of-27 for 147 yards while Jacobs ran for 117 yards on just 17 carries for the Giants, who visit NFC East rival Philadelphia (5-3) next week.

"It is one game at a time for us," Coughlin said. "That is all we focus on, one game at a time. We are where we are because we have done it that way and we will continue to do that.

"We do have a lot of things we need to work on, and we will have to do that because we play a very good Philadelphia team next weekend."

New York dominated the line scrimmage on both sides, running for 200 yards while limiting Dallas to just 81 yards on the ground. The Giants also recorded four sacks.