Some guys have all the luck.
Dallas quarterback Anthony Wright gets the start against the Giants this Sunday. If you read that last sentence and said, "What? Who?", that was the correct response. Wright was promoted from the Cowboys practice squad on Nov. 21, and now gets a start after filling in for an injured Troy Aikman last week against the Redskins. Giants quarterback Mike Cherry must be wondering how Wright worked such a deal. If you read this last sentence and said, "What Who?", that also was the correct response.

Mike Cherry.
Mike Cherry was the Giants sixth round pick in the 1997 NFL draft. Cherry finished his college career with 357 completions in 616 attempts for 5,071 yards and 37 touchdowns. He even went to the trouble of transferring from Arkansas to Murray State just so he could pass more often. The NFL lists him as "A Classic pocket passer with tremendous arm strength and great field vision."
Cherry's playing time in the pros with the Giants so far has consisted of two appearances in two regular season games. In 1997, he came in on the Giants last two possessions at Arizona to run out the clock and had no pass attempts. In 1998, he came in late in the 4th quarter with the Giants leading Kansas City 28-7. He was sacked on his first play from scrimmage and threw an incomplete pass on his next play. His first and only pass attempt as a pro. In 1999 Cherry was activated as backup quarterback for two games twice, but did not play. Coincidentally both times it was against Arizona, the sort of elephant graveyard for ex-Giants quarterbacks.
This year, Jason Garrett was moved over here from the Cowboys to take over the second string spot behind Kerry Collins, and of course ahead of Mike Cherry. Now Mike Cherry has seen the likes of Dave Brown, Danny Kanell, and Kent Graham play and leave, while being locked into his third string QB role. This week Cherry gets to see a quarterback on the opposing team leap from the practice squad to the playing field as a starter. Some guys have all the luck. Mike Cherry is a free agent at the end of this year. You figure out what happens next.

Anthony Wright.
Unlike Mike Cherry, Anthony Wright was not drafted, coming out of South Carolina, a school which was 1-10 in his senior year. He was signed as a free agent by the Steelers, and is listed as being "A very accurate quarterback with good arm strength and mobility." Wright spent last season in Pittsburgh, but never played in a regular-season game. He did play this year in a preseason game against Dallas, and after the Steelers released him, Dallas signed him up.
When the Cowboys needed a third quarterback twice during the season, they passed on using Wright and used Clint Stoerner, an undrafted rookie from Arkansas, who was with them through the summer. A few weeks ago, Miami and Kansas City showed some interest in Wright, and Dallas moved him onto the 53-man roster. He played in the Tampa Bay game that the Cowboys lost by a score of 27-7. Wright had 1 completion in 3 attempts for 10 yards in that game.
He was 3-of-5 for 73 yards last week in the win over the Redskins, including one big 46 yard pass to James McKnight against tight coverage from former Cowboy Deion Sanders. The rest of the time they had Wright handing the ball off, and he did it 37 times while Emmitt racked up big yards against the Redskins. Do they trust Wright to pass the ball? The Giants are ranked 2nd against the run in the NFL, so we're sure to see more than 3 passes from Anthony Wright this week.
In any event, the Cowboys will know what Wright can and cannot do by the end of this game. Maybe next week Clint Stoerner gets his first NFL start in the Cowboys season finale, as they preview potential quarterbacks to fill out their roster if Troy Aikman is gone next year.

Troy Aikman.
Troy Aikman was knocked out of last week's game in the first quarter with the 10th concussion of his career and his fourth in 14 months. This season he's missed three games with concussions and parts of two others with a degenerative back problem. He's 34 and completing his 12th year in Dallas, and could be closing out the season and his career on the bench. Aikman has three Super Bowl rings, and is the first player that owner Jerry Jones ever drafted, but if they don't release Aikman before March 8th, Jones has to pay him a $7 million bonus. It's big decision time for the Cowboys.
The last time that Dallas came to play the Giants we said, "Meadowlands fans take note, this possibly could be the last time you get to see Troy Aikman in person at the stadium." (Game 7 preview). It was an exciting game that the Giants won, and it came down to the last play. Troy Aikman's pass was tipped away by Armstead in the end zone to save a Giants 19-14 victory, and that might have been Troy's last pass against the Giants. We didn't expect that Aikman wouldn't be playing in the followup game at Dallas.

Emmit Smith.
Just last month, on Thanksgiving day, Emmit Smith was knocked unconscious on his second carry of the 3rd quarter. He was motionless on his back for several minutes before walking off the field with help. Later, the Cowboys said that Emmitt had suffered a concussion, but somehow none of this seems to matter. Emmitt has missed only three games because of injuries in his 11-year career, and continues to rack up yards. Now in his last two games this season, he faces the second and fourth ranked run defenses in his quest to pass Barry Sanders for 2nd place on the NFL's all-time rushing list. It's a tough task for a tough man, but because Emmitt was unstoppable with 150 yards last week, he now needs just 170 yards to do it.
This won't be the last time the Giants fans get to see Emmitt Smith play against their team. He's already passed Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, O.J. Simpson, Eric Dickerson, Gail Sayers, Marcus Allen, John Riggins, George Rogers, Thurman Thomas, and numerous others. Emmitt is 1,626 yards behind Walter Payton, the NFL's all-time leading rusher with 16,726 yards, and he plans to get there.

Dallas last week.
Dallas beat Washington for the 7th straight time. That was the most by either team in their 83-game rivalry. The Cowboys recorded a season-high 5 sacks against the Redskins, and held the Redskins to a season-low 79 rushing yards. The Redskins gave up a season-high 242 yards rushing, and gained a season-low 270 yards.

Giants last week.
The Giants beat Pittsburgh and their next victory clinches the NFC East title. Wide receiver Joe Jurevicius left the game in the third quarter with a sprained left knee, and won't play this week. Guard Glenn Parker had problems with his knee, and had arthroscopic knee surgery and won't play this week. The Giants have a chance to end the regular season 7-1 on the road, which would tie the Saints for the best road mark in the NFL, and tie a 70-year-old team record for road wins. The 1930 Giants went 7-2 on the road in a 17-game schedule.
The Cowboys rank dead last in the NFL in rushing defense, allowing 169.9 yards per game on the ground. Tiki Barber needs 152 yards, or an average of 76 yards per game in his final two games to reach 1,000. Ron Dayne's task is a bit harder, as he needs 252 yards to make it.

Injuries: GIANTS: OUT: WR Joe Jurevicius (knee); G Glenn Parker (knee) QUESTIONABLE: RB Joe Montgomery (thigh) PROBABLE: RB Damon Washington (hamstring).
Cowboys: OUT: QB Troy Aikman (concussion); DT Leon Lett (knee); C Mark Stepnoski (knee-injured reserve); DE Peppi Zellner (knee-injured reserve) DOUBTFUL: S Darren Woodson (arm) QUESTIONABLE: WR Chris Brazzell (shoulder); QB Randall Cunningham (groin); TE David LaFleur (knee); T Erik Williams (neck) PROBABLE: G Jorge Diaz (hamstring).

Notes

Cowboys are 18th in total offense, 11th in rushing, 26th in passing.
Cowboys are 20th in total defense, 31st against the rush, tied for 3rd against the pass.

Giants are 10th in total offense, 9th in rushing, 14th in passing.
Giants are 6th in total defense, 2nd against the rush, 18th against the pass.

Cowboys will miss the playoffs for only the second time in the past 10 years.

Cowboys have won 8 of the past 9 games at home against the Giants.

Cowboys last week set a team record-low with 8 pass attempts.

Cowboys last week rushed for a season-high 242 yards.

Cowboys Emmitt Smith joined Walter Payton and Barry Sanders as the only NFL players with at least 15,000 rushing yards.
Smith and Sanders are the only backs to have 10 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.

Cowboys Emmitt Smith (15,100) needs 169 yards to tie Barry Sanders (15,269) for second place on the NFL's all-time rushing list.

Giants have a combined halftime score in their 10 victories of 118-19.

Giants are 24-1 under Fassel when leading at halftime.

Giants, including playoffs are 21-9-1 vs. NFC East opponents under Jim Fassel.

Giants are 30-1 In 4 years under Jim Fassel the when starting the 4th quarter with a lead.
Giants have won 29 straight games under those circumstances, the longest such streak in the NFL.

Giants have allowed just 24 sacks all season.

Giants have allowed only 5 rushing touchdowns all season.

Giants Tiki Barber needs only three yards to break David Meggett's single-season team record of 1,807 all-purpose yards, set in 1989.

If you're looking for a book about the Giants for the holidays, or maybe a team video, we have a pretty comprehensive listing:

Next Game
Dec 23, Jacksonville at Giants, 12PM CBS

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, Giants 30, Pittsburgh 10

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