They beat the injury-plagued 'Boys, 35-14, and in front of a celebrating Giants Stadium crowd of 82,826 jammed in from girder to girder, all the wheels fell off the Dallas covered wagon at once.

Of course, such mainstays as quarterback Tony Romo, cornerbacks Pacman Jones and Terence Newman, guard Kyle Kosier and, to a great extent, tight end Jason Witten were all unavailable.

But the ones who were ready and able included the fierce front seven of the Cowboys' defense, running back Marion Barber, wide receiver Terrell Owens and most of the offensive line that included Pro Bowl participants such as Leonard David, Andre Gurode and Flozell Adams.

It didn't matter. The Cowboys had no chance and, frankly, played that way.

Part of the Cowboys' grief was that the Giants were five-for-five from the red zone, getting five touchdowns and not a single field goal. The defense sacked the two backup quarterbacks, Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger, four times and intercepted three passes.

Dallas was limited to 183 total net yards and 81 on the ground and despite the fact that Eli Manning was sacked four times and intercepted once for a touchdown return, the truth was that the Cowboys were never in the game.

Most of the players and head coach Tom Coughlin refused to admit to the full extent of the Dallas injury problem, but not so for running back Brandon Jacobs (17 carries, 117 yards and a 12-yard touchdown).

"It doesn't matter," he said. "When a guy is hurt, the guy behind him has to step up and play. They had injuries and they have guys behind those guys, and they get paid to play. So I'm not buying that injury thing."

The Giants are 7-1 and travel to Philadelphia Sunday for another NFC East battle, this one a prime time contest with the Eagles.