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Giants - Cowboys
Game 12 preview

Sun Dec 9, 1:00 pm (FOX) - Giants at Dallas

So what's changed over the bye week.
While the Giants slept over their bye week, the Philadelphia Eagles won their game against Kansas City. This put them up 2 games over the Giants. Donovan McNabb passed for 269 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 41 yards, leading (7-4) Philadelphia past (3-8) Kansas City, 23-10. They're looking forward to the (5-7) San Diego Chargers this week.
The Washington Redskins lost to Dallas last week, after putting together five straight wins. The Cowboys are feeling pretty good right now, but realistically, they shouldn't expect to beat the well rested Giants who feel they need to win all the remaining games to get into the playoffs.

The Giants on defense
Seven of the eight touchdowns allowed by the Giants in the last two games were on passes, with six of those covering at least 19 yards. For the first time in the franchise's 77-year history, the team allowed an opposing receiver to gain more than 100 yards in four consecutive games. Without Keith Hamilton playing and with Jessie Armstead playing hurt, the pass rush has suffered, and opposing quarterbacks have had far too much time against the rookies playing in the secondary.

Armstead and Hamilton
The bye week rest was good for LB Jessie Armstead's left hamstring, and that should certainly give the Giants a boost on defense. He's been playing with the injury he sustained against Washington on Oct. 28. Now Jessie says he's ready to go. The Giants also will have Keith Hamilton back for this game. They are certainly a different team without him on the field. If Hamilton is really ready, and Armstead is healed, Dallas can expect to see the Giants pass rush where it should be, and Dallas can also can forget about the run.

The Cowboys are Emmitt Smith
Emmitt Smith is the last remaining giant (pardon the expression) on the Dallas team. His reputation precedes him, but he's hardly a past tense item. The second-leading rusher in NFL history just keeps on ticking. The Giants will respect Emmitt Smith, and even if they slow his progress, it will be at the cost of allowing the Cowboys passing game a bit more success. The Giants are helped out here because the Cowboys are still working on an Aikman replacement. There's not a lot of quarterback experience on that team right now, and the Giants will face rookie QB Quincy Carter, who was injured and did not play in their first meeting.

The Giants are Tiki Barber.
The Giants lost in their last game against Oakland, but in the process, they rediscovered Tiki Barber. Tiki Barber scored the Giants only touchdown of the game. He was the Giants leading rusher with 19 carries for 124 yards, and had the most catches, 5 for 41 yards. Expect them to feed the Cowboys a steady diet of Tiki Barber to get the offense going.

Wide receivers.
You would think that the Giants would be able to field a healthy, well rested team coming off the bye week, but it's not working out that way. Last week three wide receivers, Ron Dixon, Thabiti Davis and Joe Jurevicius left practice because of injuries. Ike Hilliard still limps with his injured right toe, leaving only Amani Toomer completely healthy in this group.
Joe Jurevicius hasn't practiced since Wednesday, and if he can't play in the game tomorrow, it looks like tough spirited Thabiti Davis will get the start instead of Ron Dixon. It's late in the season, and aside from needing to win the remaining games, it's time to make some decisions for next year.

Best Fassel quotes from last week.
Ron Dixon bruised his arm on Wednesday, and when he arrived at practice wearing sweatpants the next day, coach Jim Fassel told him he had "five minutes to change and get back out here." Fassel later explained, "There might have been a miscommunication between him and the trainers. I had to use my medical background to get Ron out here." Fassel's medical opinion? "He doesn't have anything broken or torn. He could practice."

Notes:
Giants won the first season meeting 27-24 in overtime.

Giants at 5-6, are 2 games behind the first-place 7-4 Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East.

Next Game
Dec 15, Arizona at Giants 1:30PM.

For those very organized fans.
If you use a Palm Pilot and want to keep the Giants schedule, and actually the whole NFL schedule on it, there is a free download available here at PFL.

Last Week's review, game 11 - Raiders 28 - Giants 10


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