The New York Giants Advance In The Playoffs

Not one, but two upsets in the same day. Vegas must be rollin in money. Manning advanced, but not Peyton. Rather, hours after Peyton's Colts were stunned by the Chargers in an AFC divisional game, Eli Manning and the Giants ousted the NFC's top-seeded team. It appears that little brother is all grown up.

Tony Romo can go wherever he wants with Jessica Simpson now. Eli Manning and the New York Giants knocked him and the Dallas Cowboys into the offseason Sunday.

Having to wait out long, slow drives by Dallas, Manning made his few chances count, throwing two touchdown passes to Amani Toomer and getting a 1-yard touchdown run from Brandon Jacobs for a 21-17 victory that put New York into the NFC championship game for the first time since the 2000 season.

Cornerback R.W. McQuarters intercepted a pass into the end zone with 9 seconds left, ending the Cowboys' final drive and marking Romo's second straight last-minute goof to cost Dallas a playoff game. His flubbed hold of a short field goal in Seattle ended the Cowboys' season last year.

Manning is heading to his first NFC Championship Game, at Green Bay next Sunday. Manning had a much better day than his brother, Peyton, whose Indianapolis Colts were stunned by the San Diego Chargers.

This loss by the Dallas Cowboys this post-season has arguably one of the worst impacts on a team's legacy. Dallas' failure is huge, much bigger than last season's flop in Seattle when Romo botched the hold on a go-ahead field goal in the final minutes.

The Cowboys just wasted a 13-3 season, which matched the best in team history. They're the first No. 1 seed in the NFC to lose in this round since the NFL went to the 12-team playoff format in 1990. They also became the seventh team to lose a playoff game against a team they'd beaten twice in the regular season -- joining Dallas' 1998 club.

Worst of all is the extension of all the skids: Romo now 0-2 in the playoffs, coach Wade Phillips 0-4 and the team 0-for-the-postseason since winning a wild-card game in 1996. The Cowboys have dropped five games since then.

Even worse, the Cowboys might be headed into a potentially stormy offseason in the near future. Team owner Jerry Jones said Thursday he would keep Phillips regardless of what happened in the playoffs. Now that will be tested, especially with highly valued assistant coaches Jason Garrett and Tony Sparano interviewing for jobs elsewhere.

And people better not dare point to Romo's trip to Mexico last weekend with his latest celebrity girlfriend as a disruption. The Cowboys' problems this game ran a lot deeper. There were all kinds of penalties that hurt Dallas drives and helped New York's, sloppy tackling on defense and special teams, dropped passes and wasted timeouts.