"Tony Romo, near the end of a frustrating night, stood with his hands on his hips for a moment before he stalked off the field, angrily unbuckling his chinstrap after yet another Cowboys drive fizzled. Hurried again, he had missed his receiver.

The New York Giants had targeted Romo early in Sunday's big game, sacking him three times on the Cowboys' first four possessions. When Romo wriggled free of two Giants to complete a pass to Dez Bryant for an apparent 22-yard gain, he was past the line of scrimmage.

"I can't remember the last time that happened," Romo said, shaking his head, after the Cowboys' 31-14 loss.

Romo did not have such a bad game Sunday for a quarterback who had left the game a week earlier after slamming his throwing hand on the helmet of a Philadelphia Eagles defender. He completed 29 of 37 passes for 289 yards Sunday and said his injury was no factor.

But the Cowboys plummeted into a three-touchdown hole in the first half, and Romo threw an interception in the third quarter as the Cowboys were trying to sustain a comeback. After Romo got hot later, the Giants continued pouring through holes in the Cowboys' line.

"It didn't seem like he had a whole lot of time," Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said of Romo.

Romo said, "They were on me, obviously.""