EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — A change in coaches is all the Dallas Cowboys needed to play like — well — the Cowboys of old.
Give interim coach Jason Garrett credit, for at least one game.
Jon Kitna passed for 327 yards and three touchdowns and the Cowboys looked revitalized with Garrett running the team in a 33-20 victory that served as a reality check for the New York Giants on Sunday.
“I thought the intensity was there in all three areas,” Garrett said after a wild game that featured two power outages in the new $1.6 billion stadium, one that left some 81,000 fans in total darkness for a couple of seconds. “Guys were fighting for each other. We were challenged in all areas and I think we stepped up.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones took notice and gave the game ball to Garrett, and the Cowboys (2-7) snapped a five-game losing streak and ended a five-game winning streak for the Giants (6-3).
“The timing is more important than what it means specifically to the future,” Jones said. “It’s a good time to have a good feeling, we needed it. The players needed it and our fans needed it most of all. But it’s just that, a ‘feel good.’ We have to get a lot of things worked out.”
Kitna, who was 13-of-22 with one interception, had everything working. He had TD passes of 13 yards to rookie Dez Bryant, 71 to halfback Felix Jones and 24 to Miles Austin in the Cowboys’ first action since Wade Phillips was fired on Monday.
“You trust in him, you believe in him,” Bryant said of Kitna.
Rookie cornerback Bryan McCann scored on a team-record 101-yard interception return in a game highlighted by big plays. The two third-quarter power failures delayed the game for 11 minutes.
Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes and Lawrence Tynes kicked two field goals for the banged-up Giants, who played without receiver Steve Smith and offensive tackle David Diehl.
Dallas gained 427 yards against the NFL’s top-ranked defense and forced three turnovers in avoiding its first six-game losing streak since a run at the end of 2000 and the start of 2001.
“They did a lot different,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “Give them credit. They did a good job of isolating, getting the one-on-ones they look for.”
