In 2007, the Cowboys hired Wade Phillips to bring a defensive mindset to the team that already had several offensive weapons.
While that eventually happened, it was so evident in his first game as the new head coach.
In the season opener against the Giants on national television, the Cowboys found themselves in an old-fashioned Texas shootout, led by their new gunslinger quarterback in Tony Romo, who was making his first Week 1 start.
Romo and running back Marion Barber provided several highlights in this back-and-forth affair at the old Texas Stadium. Romo's 47-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Owens gave the Cowboys what seemed to be a comfortable 38-22 lead early in the fourth.
But a pair of touchdowns by the Giants trimmed the lead to three points. That's when Romo struck again, this time finding Sam Hurd for a 51-yard game-clinching touchdown with just three minutes left in the game.
Romo finished the night 15 of 24 for 354 yards and four touchdown passes, along with a 9-yard TD run. The Cowboys would reel off six straight wins to open the 2007 season, which finished with a 13-3 record and the NFC East title for the first time in nine years.
After the game, Phillips quipped with the media, beginning his press conference with, "How bout that defense, huh?" after watching his team nearly score 50 points in the win.
