The Giants-Cowboys divisional playoff game on Sunday was a fantastic game, and all of America, including Dallas fans, should be happy about the result: the Giants pulled off a shocking win.

No, I'm not a Giants fan, but they probably are the greatest overachievers this NFL season. Who deserves the credit? Well, it's complicated, but here are a few names:

1.  Tom Coughlin - if he had rested his starters for the supposedly "meaningless" season finale against the Patriots, I guarantee you that the Giants would not have gotten this far. I don't think it's a coincidence that the 4 teams remaining are all teams which had momentum heading into the postseason.

2.  Eli Manning - I've dislike him since he and his father dictated terms on draft day, but the thing is that after spending much of the season looking like a bona fide 3rd level QB, he's really improved his game since playing the Patriots.

3. The rest of the Giants - they were outgunned but they won, and they won by doing certain little things better like catching passes thrown to them, grinding it out on the ground.

4. The Patriots -if you honestly look at the way that the Giants played most of the season, you'll have to admit that they played on a completely higher plane against the Patriots. There's a saying that if you want to get better, then you have to play with better talent. I'm not saying that the Patriots get all the credit for the Giants success this post-season, rather I'm saying that had the Giants played a team like the Jets, they most likely wouldn't still be in the playoffs now. The Patriots deserve credit for bringing up the Giants game, but there's no doubt that Coughlin and his players get the lion's share of the credit for playing their starters in what should always be regarded as a meaningful game.

Here are some other thoughts about the Cowboys:

1.  Tony Romo - not a horrendous game yesterday, but he still doesn't get it. If he were a kicker or a special teams player, then no one would criticize him for dating Jessica Simpson during the season. But when he's the starting QB of one of the most visible teams in the NFL, he has to assume leadership (whether he likes it or not). Part of me thinks that if he can't handle a beautiful woman and football at the same time, then how are all the other pro players who sleep with their groupies during the season able to still perform at a high level?

Was going to Mexico a bad idea? Hell yes. It wasn't bad that he took time off to rest, because he was going to rest anyway. It's the idea that he went to another country to party with his attention-seeking girlfriend which not only rubbed the public the wrong way, but probably also several of this teammates. Tom Brady may have taken a couple of days off with Giselle in NYC, but you can be sure that his teammates knew that his mind was never far from the game.

With Romo, it seems that he wants to do things his own way while playing a team sport. Maybe he can personally separate his private life from his public one, but there are a lot of other athletes (most notably the ones on his team) who feel that there is no such separation during the playoffs. Romo has to grow up and understand this.

One other thing about Romo that really irritated me yesterday. How is it that he can grab an official and not get a flag for it? There has to be a very very clear rule in all sports that players are not allowed to grab, fondle, or bump officials.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. The problem is not that Romo is immature, rather it's that he's horny. At the start of this season he publicly said that he didn't want to continue his relationship with Carrie Underwood during the season because he just wanted to focus on football. Do you know how many Dallas fans rejoiced at that proclamation? All of them. And then he chases after Simpson? Btw, he actively pursued her and not the other way around. How is that consistent with his stated goal of focusing on football during the season?

Part of me understands it, because he's been fantasizing about having Simpson, and judging by Simpson's record, the chances of her being single at any given time are extremely small. So, maybe Romo thought he had to strike while the proverbial iron was hot.

Why couldn't Romo have waited a few weeks to go to Mexico with Simpson? Unless he has insider info that a meteor is going to strike and destroy the earth in the next week or so, Mexico will still be there. And maybe part of Jessica Simpson is happy about all this. She's been trying to jumpstart her career, and what intrigues people more than a woman who can emasculate a guy? Look at history: Helen of Troy, Liz Taylor, Yoko Ono, and Marilyn Monroe. Maybe this type of controversy is just what she wants and needs.

As for Dallas fans, all of you should be happy that your team lost. Maybe this will cause Romo to wake up and realize his role on the team. Usually people don't realize this until it's too late. But Romo still has time, although the feeling is that he's kind of like Britney Spears: there's time for redemption, but not as much as one would like.

The Giants may not be 'America's Team', but they sure sent a wake-up call to them. And maybe that will be what the Cowboys need to get past the disappointment of the past 2 seasons in the playoffs.

2.  Terrell Owens - there are things that a player can and can't say in public. T.O might be angry that Romo seemed to not show as much commitment as players like Tom Brady or Brett Favre, but there's no way he can say anything publicly, because he probably has to play with the guy next year. But you can be sure that he's going to have a few choice words for Romo.

Don't be surprised if Owens finds some way to contact the Patriots. Owens is no idiot and he's seen the way that Randy Moss has been reborn this season. Owens probably also can feel that even though Romo is still young in NFL experience, he's behind guys like Brady and Manning in terms of making sure that the game is #1. He wants to win, but he also knows that with the current makeup of the Cowboys, they don't have a great shot at winning the Super Bowl next year or even the year after.

3.  Jerry Jones - sorry Jerry, but owners should not be allowed to stand anywhere near head coaches during games. In fact, owners should not be allowed anywhere near the sidelines during the game. I might not like Mark Cuban, but at least I respect his passion for the game AND the fact that he doesn't watch games from the Mav's bench.

Some quick thoughts about the Colts-Chargers game.

1) The Chargers deserved to win. They played hard, were big underdogs going into a very noisy and hostile stadium, and they persevered. Give them their due credit.

2)  It's shocking that the Colts lost to them at home. But there are rare moments when the tide turns on a stupid play, and the Colts defensive player who slapped Chargers' kicker Keading on the shoulder pads and taunted him after he had missed a field goal should be roasted in the media.

That kind of behavior is so ridiculous that they should change the rules and assess the penalty as if it happened before the play. I was neutral about the game until that moment, and then I spent the rest of the game rooting for the Chargers.

3) As for Philip Rivers, he's another QB who has to grow up. His behavior towards the crowd while returning to the locker room and then on the sidelines at the end of the game was childish. He's getting paid a lot of money to play a game that all of the fans have paid a lot of money to witness it. The fans get to say what they want, he doesn't (at least not during the game, and especially when he's on the sidelines while his backup is winning the game).

4) Marvin Harrison's career as a top-flight receiver is finished. He's had a fantastic run, and every indication is that his knee injury was not necessarily devastating, but for an elite receiver it marks a major turning point. I think that he's such a fantastic athlete and person that he would never want anyone to know how much his knee was hurting, but the fact that he sat out so many weeks, he had to sit out much of yesterday's game, and certain dependable reports have said that his knee injury is chronic and will not heal with time is ominous for Harrison. I hope I'm wrong, because he's the type of player that every league needs as a representative of what's good in sports.