Cowboys put the knock on Giants

IRVING, TEXAS —  The Dallas Cowboys’ season, which went from “Hard Knocks” to hard feelings, on Sunday came full circle.

It was hard knocks again as the Cowboys battered the New York Giants this way and that, dominating the visitors with defense in a 20-8 victory at Texas Stadium.

Confronting reports of turbulence in their locker room, the Cowboys focused their energy on throttling the defending Super Bowl champions and keeping alive their own postseason ambitions.

Along the way, three of the Cowboys’ offensive stars -- quarterback Tony Romo, receiver Terrell Owens and tight end Jason Witten -- went to great lengths to send the message that they’re on good terms. NBC showed a shot of them yukking it up together on the sideline, then interviewed them as a trio afterward.

Over the last several days, various reports have surfaced that Owens thinks Romo and Witten have frozen him out of the offense, and that the situation led to a shouting match between Owens and Witten in the locker room late last week.

After the game, Owens denied those stories.

“I don’t know who their sources are, but it’s a tale,” he said.

Asked whether he feels targeted by the media, Owens said: “It is what it is, man. . . . Anything that happens, I’m going to be the fall guy. It’s good that I have great family support, a good friend base, to eliminate all the naysayers.

“I go out and I play hard, I practice hard, and I let everything take care of itself. Whatever the case may be, if they want to make me the fall guy for everything, that’s cool. I’ve been through this before.”

Owens, who was booed by many in the Texas Stadium crowd when he was introduced and again on the Cowboys’ opening series when a pass glanced off his hands, shrugged off the fan reaction. When he stepped away from the lectern, he spotted a reporter who had written one of the stories in question and quietly muttered “chump” as he walked past.

Romo didn’t deny there was some friction within the team but said anyone who thinks that carries onto the field is just plain wrong.

“Sometimes people think that that stuff that gets talked about decides football games,” he said. “ . . . [People think] that we didn’t have a chance this week, or that we just had too much turmoil. What decides football games is the execution of the individuals on the field, and the preparation and time you put in. And this team did that this week.”

What the Cowboys also did was regain control of their destiny. They are guaranteed an NFC wild-card berth if they win their final two games, against Baltimore on Saturday and at Philadelphia in the finale.

That’s no simple task, of course, especially considering Romo is playing with significant back pain and was hobbling around the locker room after the game. He has only five days to prepare for the Ravens, and it remains to be seen how much practice time he’ll actually feel good enough to put in this week.

“He’s had serious discomfort in that back,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “That back is everything and how it works for him. He fought through that and showed his ability to play and compete, even though he’s not in the best shape to do that with the injury.”

What’s more, No. 1 running back Marion Barber has been bothered by an injured toe and calf, and he doesn’t appear close to full health. Rookie Tashard Choice picked up the slack against the Giants, rushing for 91 yards in nine carries, including a 38-yard draw for a touchdown.

But it was the Dallas defense that truly carried the load, sacking the Giants’ Eli Manning eight times. Three of those were by linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who leads the NFL with 19. The league record belongs to former Giants star Michael Strahan, who had 22 1/2 in 2001.

Asked whether he thinks Ware has a good chance to break Strahan’s record, fellow Cowboys linebacker Greg Ellis said: “He’s got a shot at it, yes. He and I talked, and we did some things to switch up sides. . . . If he can get two more in this next game, it should take care of it.”

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sam.farmer@latimes.com