On the final weekend of the 2004 season, the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants found themselves in the same, rotten place — playing each other in an utterly meaningless game — but yet the Giants’ future seemed so much brighter.

Even Bill Parcells felt that way, and the then-Cowboys’ coach shared that feeling with an old friend before the game.

“He was just talking about his team,” Giants co-owner John Mara told the New York Daily News last week, “and he said, ‘At least you guys have a quarterback.’”

The Giants had a hot-shot rookie, Eli Manning, the top pick in the 2004 draft. The Cowboys had an antique quarterback, Vinny Testaverde, with some unknown kid named Tony Romo on the bench.

Now, three years later, in the aftermath another, oh-so-telling chapter in the Giants-Cowboys rivalry, let’s re-visit Parcells’ claim with a pointed question: Which team has the quarterback?

The Cowboys most definitely have the quarterback — Romo — that can take them to their first Super Bowl since 1995. The Giants? They don’t have that kind of quarterback; they have an enigma.

An enigma that makes their blockbuster, draft-day trade with the Chargers seem more dubious by the week. That notion was reinforced Sunday in two games. At the Meadowlands, Romo — a former rookie free agent, for crying out loud — completely outplayed Manning in the second half of the Cowboys’ 31-20 victory, giving them a stronghold on the NFC East.

In Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger, whom the Giants could’ve (and should’ve) picked in 2004, continued his MVP-caliber season by rallying the Steelers’ from a 15-point deficit against the Cleveland Browns. Roethlisberger threw three second-half touchdown passes, giving the Steelers a 31-28 win.

In two cities, over the course of six hours, the fortunes (and misfortunes) of Manning, Roethlisberger and Romo played out in a clear and defining fashion.

In tense and tenacious rivalry games, Roethlisberger and Romo got better as their games progressed.

Manning did not.

Under heavy pressure by blitzing defenses, Roethlisberger and Romo shifted into schoolyard mode, eluding rushers and scrambling and creating plays when everything around them broke down.

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Manning? In the crucible of a must-have game, he got called for three delay-of-game penalties in the second half, looking as dazed as someone forced to watch two hours of his famous brother’s TV commercials.

In New York, second-guessing the Manning trade is a more popular activity than hawking fake Rolexes on the street corners. It has been 3 ½ years since the trade, so the “growing-pains” alibis doesn’t cut it anymore. Manning is what he is — a gifted, if not consistent thrower that lacks the necessary intangibles and athleticism to become a champion quarterback like his brother, Peyton.

Manning didn’t play horribly, passing for 236 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, but he failed to rise up when his team needed him. The running game wasn’t clicking, and the defensive couldn’t figure out how to cover Terrell Owens. This was Manning’s chance to take over, but he showed all the sizzle of a damp firecracker.

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