East Rutherford, NJ (My Sportsbook) - It was for this situation that the Dallas Cowboys brought in Mike Vanderjagt in the offseason. Only problem was, Vanderjagt was no longer a Cowboy.

Instead, it was Martin Gramatica who booted a game-winning 46-yard field goal with just one second remaining to lift the Cowboys past the New York Giants, 23-20 and give Dallas some breathing room in the NFC East.

The win, Dallas' fourth in a row, moved the Cowboys (8-4) two games clear of the Giants (6-6) for the top spot in the division.

"I got to thank the guys on this team that welcomed me with open arms since day one," said Gramatica. "So I felt right at home and I think that helps a lot when you're coming in late in the year to a team that you hadn't been with ever, so I gotta thank those guys, and the coaches."

Vanderjagt was thought to be a prize free-agent acquisition this past offseason for Dallas, but injuries and overall ineffectiveness (13-of-18 on field goal attempts for a career-low 72.2 percent conversion rate) prompted the Cowboys to release the former Colt earlier in the week.

Marion Barber rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns, giving him an NFC-best 13 total TDs on the season, while Tony Romo threw for 257 yards and was intercepted twice.

Despite not throwing a TD pass, Romo continued his storybook season as he has now won five of his first six career starts since replacing Drew Bledsoe under center.

Jason Witten made three catches for 73 yards, including a huge 42-yard catch to help setup Gramatica's kick, while Terrell Owens added eight catches for 84 yards.

Eli Manning completed 24-of-36 passing attempts for 270 yards with a pair of TD throws for the Giants, who at one point led the NFC East, but have now dropped four straight after a five-game winning streak.

Tiki Barber rushed for 90 yards and Jeremy Shockey hauled in six balls for 65 yards with a TD reception for New York.

Gramatica's day didn't get off on the right foot, so to speak, as the eight- year veteran sent a 44-yard field goal try on Dallas' game-opening drive wide right. He would rebound though to hit three field goals in the game.

The divisional matchup went back-and-forth in the second half, with Manning's TD pass to Plaxico Burress with 1:06 left in the fourth evening things up at 20-20.

Dallas then began its game-winning drive at the 32 and Romo lofted a 42-yard completion to Witten to move the Cowboys to the New York 26. Marion Barber gained just a yard on the ground before a false start penalty pushed Dallas back to the 30 with 16 ticks to go. Romo then overthrew Anthony Fasano on 2nd-and-14 before Barber's two-yard run on third down.

That set up Gramatica's go-ahead attempt and the kicker split the uprights to give Dallas the lead with one tick left.

"Anytime you come to a place like this against a good football team you know you're probably going to be in for a tough game," Romo said. "We knew that coming in. The great thing about this game is we've got two good football teams."

Dallas led 10-7 at halftime and the two squads traded punts to open the third before New York put together a game-tying 75 yard drive that consumed 8:33 off the clock.

New York would drive to the four-yard line, but had to settle for Jay Feely's 23-yard field goal with 4:32 remaining that came on the march's 18th play.

The Cowboys answered as Gramatica snuck a 35-yard field goal just inside the left post with five seconds left in the third to put Dallas ahead 13-10.

This time it was up to the Giants to respond, which they did. The big play on the drive came from Jacobs, who took a screen pass 43 yards to the Dallas 19, eventually leading to Feely's 22-yard field goal with 9:44 remaining in the fourth.

Romo was then able to guide Dallas 66 yards in 12 plays to put the Cowboys ahead 20-13. He started the drive with an 11-yard pass to Owens and later converted a 3rd-and-3 with another 11-yard strike to Owens.

Later and deep in New York territory, Romo hit Terry Glenn for a 10-yard reception and a personal foul call on the Giants defense tacked on another three yards to put Dallas at the two.

Two plays later, Dallas went back five yards after a false start, but Marion Barber made the penalty moot with a seven-yard TD run up the middle with 3:33 remaining.

Backs against the wall, Derrick Ward took the resulting kickoff 28 yards to the 37-yard line for the Giants. New York then converted some small plays before Tiki Barber caught a short pass from Manning that he took 28 yards to the Dallas 12.

Out of a timeout, Manning found Barber again, this time for a seven-yard gain before connecting with Burress on a five-yard touchdown pass.

"It's frustrating to be in the situation that we're in and have the game end like it did," Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said. "I thought we played hard, we fought hard, there were too many penalties obviously, dumb penalties, but we did some things that gave us an opportunity to win the game and then we didn't finish it."

The Giants jumped ahead 7-0 on their resulting drive after Gramatica's miss on Manning's 17-yard touchdown pass to Shockey with 4:39 to go in the first.

Dallas quickly responded on Marion Barber's first touchdown of the game, a one-yard burst with 1:28 remaining in the first quarter.

New York had an opportunity to take the lead late in the second, but went for it on 4th-and-1 at the Dallas 24 only to see Jacobs dragged down by DeMarcus Ware for a three-yard loss.

That led to Gramatica's 41-yard field goal with just one second left until halftime.

Game Notes

Dallas downed the Giants for just the second time in six games...Marion Barber had a TD in nine of his last 11 games...Manning lost for just the second time in five starts against the Cowboys...Glenn ended with four catches for 52 yards...Julius Jones rushed for just 24 yards on 11 carries for Dallas...Tiki Barber also caught five passes for 53 yards...The Giants travel to Carolina next Sunday while the Cowboys will host New Orleans.