So how, exactly, did the Cowboys come back to beat the Giants last night? Well, this Tweet is accurate:

That’s how the clock stoppages went on the Giants’ final drive, which resulted in a field goal that put them up by only six points and gave the Cowboys room for a last-minute victory. Were the Cowboys being sneaky, giving themselves more stoppages than they deserved? Maybe? But everything was well within the rules, and I doubt a 15-yard personal foul that put the Giants in scoring position was intentional or, at the time, viewed as beneficial.

It comes down to clock management, penalties, and mental diarrhea.

Clock management

The Giants didn’t pay attention to the clock when they were beginning to knock on the door and were inching closer to sealing the game:

It’s a tough situation, because the Giants didn’t have the game in-hand at that point and still could’ve used an extra score. Running the clock all the way down could’ve actually hurt them, especially on that 3rd and 2 play if they didn’t get the first. They  probably would’ve wanted (needed) the ball back. But they essentially gave the Cowboys an extra 40 seconds at the end just because they were in a bit of a hurry. It wasn’t until a 27-yard run by Rashad Jennings took them into Cowboys territory that the Giants started running the clock. Too little, too late.

Penalties

Then, things got weird. The Cowboys got clock stoppages on seven – SEVEN!!!!!!! – consecutive plays:

1) Their first timeout.

2) A boneheaded (but kinda genius) penalty that cost them yardage but stopped the clock and gave them back their second timeout, which they had planned on using:

3) The Giants got an illegal formation penalty. The Cowboys declined it, but the clock stops anyway until the ball is snapped in the final five minutes of a game:

4) The next play takes them to the two-minute warning.

5) The next play is a completed pass to Odell Beckham, taking the Giants near the goal line. The Cowboys were offsides on the play, and even though the Giants declined the penalty… yep, the clock stopped.

6) Their second timeout.

7) Their fourth timeout.

Mental diarrhea

The Giants PASSED on 3rd and goal on the 1. Running it would’ve either resulted in a game-clinching touchdown or allowed them to run the clock down to about the 1:00 mark:

The pass was incomplete. The Giants kicked a field goal. Went up by only six. And then Tony Romo took the Cowboys 72 yards in 1:27 and sealed the win with seven seconds left:

https://youtu.be/zjA5EYX3cb0

…

By passing, the Giants statistically doubled the Cowboys’ chances of winning the game. According to statistical win probability, the Cowboys had a 10.9% WP when they began their final drive. If they had 30 fewer seconds on the clock – either because the Giants ran the clock earlier in their drive or, you know, DIDN’T PASS IT ON THE GOAL LINE – they would’ve had an only 5.2% WP. And maybe the Giants should have even gone for it on fourth down:

In fact, had the Giants run the ball on both 3rd and 4th down, forgoing the extra three points, it would have given the Dallas the most difficult of all the possible scenarios, even assuming a 4th down run fails.

Leaving the Cowboys with a 1st and 10 at their own 1 down by three with 37 seconds left gives them only a 0.1% chance at mounting the comeback.

The Giants did everything wrong.