The Cowboys played on Fox's "America's Game of the Week," meaning they were center stage.
And in the post Aikman/Emmitt/Irvin-era, you know what that means: Romo had a bunch of turnovers, the Giants jumped out to a big lead, and Cowboys Stadium was stunned.
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What happened next was new, though, and could be a springboard for the rest of the season.
America's team, instead of folding and being a victim to another beatdown on national TV, fought hard -- hard enough to be two fingertips away from winning the game.
Despite six Cowboy turnovers, and spotting the Giants 23 points, the 'Boys almost pulled the win out. If Dez had landed with his hand an inch closer to his body, Jerry Jones would be booking his tickets to the Super Bowl.
The reason the Cowboys even had a shot to win this game was because the defense played fantastic.
Usually Eli torches the Dallas secondary, but unfortunately for Eli, Terrence Newman is gone, and is replaced by Brandon Carr. Rookie Mo Claiborne played well, and even Orlando Scandrick showed why he is known as a tough slot corner.
The days of teams picking apart the D seem over, which is really encouraging for the rest of the season. The only second-half points the G-Men could muster up was a field goal set up by a Felix Jones fumble.
This brings us to the downside of this game: the Cowboys still lost.
The Cowboys lost because of six turnovers, turnovers that can't happen if the 'Boys want to make a run this season.
Even though Cowboy fans might walk away from this game optimistic, truth is the 'Boys are 3-4, and the same undisciplined mistakes the boys have made for years are still happening.
The Cowboys have zero room for error, now that they must basically go 7-2 to end the season. The time for moral victories is over, since they don't count in the actual win column.
Jerry Jones will pat his team and himself on the back, saying they went toe-to-toe with the defending champs.
But if they want to be taken seriously, they need to clean up their mistakes, and stop looking at the Brightside of losses.
John Dyer is a sports blogger for KSAT.com. He also owns a sports website, Texas Sports Junkie.