To read these stories about the Cowboys' loss to the Giants in yesterday's playoff game, you'd think this was an upset; that people (read: EVERYONE) hadn't been predicting this all week. Yet instead of giving credit to Eli Manning and the Giants, who went on the road and played nearly mistake-free football, everyone is taking the easy, obvious route and piling on Tony Romo and the Cowboys, who were apparently the '89 Niners until yesterday's game.

The Cowboys have been playing terrible football for the last month, while the Giants have been The Little Engine that Could, nearly knocking off the Patriots in the Meadowlands (though some people suggested Tom Coughlin rest his players for the post-season), winning on the road in round one versus the Buccaneers and owning all the momentum coming into Sunday's game against the Cowboys. If you spoke to any football fan this past week, did a single one of them say, "Man, Romo is gonna shut everyone up and lead the Cowboys right to the Super Bowl!"?

And no, Jerry Jones doesn't count.

The Cowboys might have been the #1 seed in the NFC, but come playoff time, they weren't playing the best football in the Short Bus conference. In that way, they were similar to the 2005 Indianapolis Colts, who had to answer questions about trying to go undefeated for half the season, then lost to the Chargers at home late in the season, then rested starters, and then played flat against the Steelers in the divisional round. Like the Giants this year, that Steelers team had been playing playoff-like football for several weeks before the post-season even started.

Not since 1993 (the Bills and the Cowboys) have the #1 seeds in each conference made it to the Super Bowl, and that trend continues. But for all the faux shock exhibited by fans, talking heads and Jessica Simpson-haters, the Cowboys' loss to the Giants wasn't the least bit surprising. In fact, it was practically pre-ordained - by everyone. Simpson didn't need to stay away from the stadium to avoid jinxing her boyfriend and the Cowboys. Dallas was jinxed already, because they knew (and we knew it too) that the Giants were playing good enough to go into Dallas and beat them.

Simple-minded people can point to Yoko Romo or the trip to Cabo, but the fact of the matter is, the Giants are a better team than some people were willing to admit, while the Cowboys were a tad bit overrated.