In honor of the popular social media trend "Throwback Thursday," and in preparation for Sunday night's game with the Giants, let's look back a few years for this week's installment of "TBT."
In 2010, the Cowboys in the middle of a horrendous season that began with much hope after they won their first playoff game in 13 seasons. But with Tony Romo out with a broken collarbone, the Cowboys struggled to a 1-7 record that ultimately cost head coach Wade Phillips his job in midseason.
Coming off a disastrous 45-7 loss in Green Bay, the Cowboys were reeling but offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was called upon to try and pick up the pieces.
And that's exactly what he did from the first minute he took over as the interim head coach.
On Nov. 14, 2010, Garrett led the Cowboys onto the field in the Meadowlands, becoming the first former Cowboys player to become head coach of the team. Not only that, but he was a former quarterback for the Giants from 2000-03.
The previous Monday, when Garrett first took over and met with the media, he tried to reiterate over and over the importance of focus and readiness for the next game.
"The Giants are preparing for Sunday, so we've got to be ready. We're going to be ready to play at 4:15 on Sunday afternoon to play the New York Football Giants."
Garrett must have said the time "4:15" about 10 times all week. Well, his team was more than ready when 4:15 rolled around.
Rookie receiver Dez Bryant made a few spectacular catches from veteran backup Jon Kitna, but it was another rookie who stole the show on defense. Cornerback Bryan McCann, forced into duty because of injuries, picked off Eli Manning at the goal line and returned it 101 yards for a touchdown.
In the second half, both teams, as well as the fans, had a brief scare when all of the lights went out twice at MetLife Stadium, creating an eerie moment of darkness. The lights eventually returned but on Felix Jones' 71-yard touchdown catch, not all of the overhead lights had returned to full strength.
Still, despite the injuries, the new coach, the new players and momentary power outages, the Cowboys came to play that Sunday in New York, delivering a 33-20 win to the Giants. Dallas would eventually go 5-3 down the stretch to finish 6-10. Garrett, of course, was named the full-time head coach in the following offseason.
