"The next few days won't be easy for Tony Romo. For one, his swollen right hand will inhibit his golf swing.

He will have trouble getting a grip on this season, too, as well as his career. The years keep passing, and he's seen others rise to capture their Super Bowl. Eli Manning, with a critical fourth-quarter throw Sunday night, re-created his 2008 magic.

Now, Romo has to wonder. Last year, a broken collarbone stopped Romo from finishing in uniform, and before that, he had the feeling that time was on his side.

Starting this offseason, however, that changes.

Make no mistake, Romo and his teammates earned everything they got, such as an 8-8 record and a winter of tee times. They played the finale as they did so much of the season, with a careless mix of confusion and passivity. The only consolation, this time, is that they didn't blow a lead.

Terence Newman made sure there wouldn't be a lead. When he wasn't playing like the horizontal bar for a high jumper — the Giants twice leapt over him — he turned a simple out pattern to Victor Cruz into a game-breaking touchdown.

When the Giants' lead reached 21-0, no one would have been surprised if Jerry Jones had gone to the sidelines to instruct Jason Garrett. Why not rest his players for September?

As for Rob Ryan: Manning threw for 400 yards last month against the Cowboys, and Ryan figured out how to slow him down. Eli had only 199 at halftime.

But then Romo got a hot, albeit swollen, hand. His right hand was sore enough that he shook hands with his left at the coin flip, and the basics, such as taking snaps from center, were painful. But Romo found a way to play."