The land of the Giants? Maybe not.
It seems that there is a big turnout of Cowboy fans whenever their team comes to play the Giants here at the Meadowlands. The Cowboys made a lot of fans all across the country in their early days with their talent and imaginative playing style, and although there has been a backlash in later years, the Cowboys are still a big favorite with many.
"It really makes you upset when you go out there and see about 30,000 Dallas Cowboys fans out there," Sam Garnes said. "That's not too fun. You don't want to hear them get loud and it seems like you're away. It's like that every time, it seems. I don't know how they get tickets. It feel like I'm in college, one side of the field is home, one side of the field is away. There are a lot of people in New York City who like the Cowboys, because of the old days."
One thing for sure, the Cowboys seem to evoke real strong feelings with fans one way or another, who either seem to love them or hate them. Maybe Garnes was onto something. One side of Giants stadium for the Cowboy fans and the other reserved for the Giants.

Will Emmitt be able to run the ball on the Giants?
The Giants are doing extremely well against the run. Jamal Anderson gained only 12 yards in 12 carries last week, as the Giants held the Falcons to just 13 yards rushing. It was their lowest total in team history. The Giants have allowed only one rushing touchdown this season, and that was by the Titans' Eddie George who managed to rack up 125 yards against them. All this puts the Giants ranking 3rd against the rush in the NFL. It's too bad they rank 27th against the pass, as that puts them at an overall 16th in total defense.
Emmitt Smith missed the preseason with calf and toe injuries and hadn't been really effective for the Cowboys until their last game against the Panthers where he picked up 132 yards on 24 carries. Still, the Giants have limited him to 40 yards or less in 4 of their last 7 meetings, including his last outing at Giants stadium where Emmitt gained only 26 yards on 22 carries. What the Giants have to do is really work on their pass defense.

Good old Troy Aikman
Even if you're a die hard Giants fan, you have to appreciate the career that this Pro Bowl quarterback has had. Not many players own three Super Bowl rings. Elway, Marino, Young and Montana are all gone now, and the way things have been going so far for Aikman this year, it might not be a bad idea for him to call it a wrap.
Troy is 33 years old, and had suffered two concussions last year. He was hit with another one this season in a game against the Eagles, and sat out two games. The Cowboys don't look to be a dominant force or a team on the way up, so maybe it's time for Aikman to leave the game healthy like some of the other quarterbacks we mentioned. He has to be considering it, so Meadowlands fans take note, this possibly could be the last time you get to see Troy Aikman in person at the stadium. He will be playing, because owner Jerry Jones wants Troy Aikman on the field whenever possible, over Randall Cunningham, who many actually consider to be more effective at this point. Aikman's QB rating is 49.0. He has thrown one TD pass and four interceptions. The Cowboys waived their third string quarterback last week, leaving Smith, the third-leading rusher in NFL history, as the emergency QB behind Troy Aikman and Randall Cunningham.

Blessed with good health, Fassel has to make some decisions.
This week, the Giants had 100 percent participation at practice, which means that all the players worked out. Last year the Giants couldn't beat the bushes hard enough to find a healthy running back. This year, two players, Tiki Barber and Ron Dayne, share that spotlight, while Joe Montgomery, last season's running back, sits it out. This certainly seemed the right way to go, especially after the first two games, but things have since stalled. Other teams seem to have caught up with the Giants running game antics and have found a way to put a stop to it.
This week shouldn't provide a clue as to which way to go, since the Cowboys rank last defensively against the run. The Giants should be effective no matter who's wearing the running shoes.
Pete Mitchell played on a severely sprained ankle in 3 of the last four games of last season, and still came away with a career-high 58 receptions and 3 touchdowns. He sprained his knee during the first preseason game this season and missed the opener, then missed Game 2 against the Eagles with a stomach virus. Mitchell currently has 4 catches for 36 yards in four games, and wants more playing time. Joe Jurevicius has been used in four-wide- receiver sets, which is something that Mitchell used to do last season.

A healthy defense
Head coach Jim Fassel has seemed to be extra cautious this year about bringing players back too soon. Is this a lesson learned the hard way with Jason Sehorn last season, or just a convenient way to manage a suddenly overcrowded healthy team? Pete Monty did a real nice job subbing for Mike Barrow who was nursing a pinched neck. Mike felt he was ready to play, and really didn't enjoy Fassel having him sit out the Atlanta game. It was the first one he's missed in five years. Barrow said, "I was disappointed because I thought I could play, but I respect the coach's decision." Mike will start against Dallas, and that crowds Pete Monty back on over to his special teams and backup role.
The Giants keep trying to make room for their second round draft pick, Cornelius Griffin along the defensive line. Last week he had two tackles, a sack, and two batted balls as they worked him on the field at times in various positions, subbing for left end Michael Strahan, tackle Christian Peter and then filling in after Keith Hamilton sprained his right knee in the 3rd quarter against Atlanta. Hamilton was just fine in practice this week and is expected to start. Griffin will rotate with some people, Fassel has said, to keep them fresh and increase the pass rush on Dallas.
It looks like Fassel has decided to string healing cornerback Andre Weathers along one more week, (and so actually two with the bye week) before activating him for a game. Andre was hurt last season in week 9, when he tore his ACL against the Colts. You're not really 100% right Andre? Just sit it out some more to play it safe. (Now we don't have to make decisions about benching Cornerback Emmanuel McDaniel for another two weeks.)

Special teams healthy too
The Giants rank 27th in kickoff-return average at 21.5 yards. Rookie Ron Dixon has been filling this role, but tends to run laterally. Fassel says he has to improve, but needs better blocking too.
Kickoff returner Bashir Levingston has a better feel for that role than rookie Ron Dixon. Levingston is a strict north-south runner, which is what is needed in this role for the most part. The Giants have three weeks to have Levingston come off the non-football injury list and begin practicing, then three more weeks to choose whether to activate him.
Fassel has to make a real choice between Brad Daluiso and Jaret Holmes, who were both kicking well in practice. Holmes has done well so far. He put three kickoffs in the endzone against the Titans. He wasn't able to do that against the Falcons, but he made all three of his field-goal attempts against them, though one was taken off the board when the Giants accepted a penalty. There was a problem with the game balls and that could have been it. Holmes could be a successor to Brad Daluiso if Brad decides not to re-sign as a free agent after this season. Fassel will go with Brad this week, having mentioned something about experience being a factor in his decision.

So everyone is ready to play
Supposing a healthy game this week, immediately followed by the bye week, Fassel will find himself playing with more than a full deck. He'll have the equivalent of a six deck casino shoe. It will be interesting to see how he handles team moral as anxious players vie for playing time. Put yourself in the shoes of running back Joe Montgomery, who has dressed for only one game, and has yet to be in on one play from scrimmage the entire season so far, no matter how good or bad the running game has been going. He's not a fan like you or me, he wants to play. The trading deadline came and passed this week and rumor was that maybe the Giants would trade Joe. Well, that didn't happen. Joe, say hello to Mike Cherry.

Hit with injuries, Dallas head coach Campo was blessed with a bye week.
Emmitt Smith had a sore knee, wide receivers Rocket Ismail and Wane McGarity have ankle problems, linebacker Dat Nguyen is back after missing three games with a sprained knee, and cornerback Charlie Williams will play for the first time after missing all of training camp and the preseason with a staph infection following his knee surgery. Tackle Erik Williams, wasn't injured, but he held out for most of training camp. Erik usually plays very well against DE Michael Strahan but hasn't been that sharp so far this year.

The Giants on offense
Kerry Collins' passer rating has sunk to 72.9, which is next to last in the NFC. His rating was over 98 only three games ago. Someone tell Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard to hang onto the ball. Better yet, throw a bunch to Pete Mitchell for a change and keep those drives going. Amani Toomer had a poor game last week. He was called for two offensive interference penalties as well as allowing a ball to go off his hands for an interception. The week before, Amani Toomer dropped a deep sideline pass through his hands in the first quarter. Ike Hilliard and Ron Dixon were responsible for two other interceptions. Still, we look forward to the drama of seeing the Giants receivers going up against former team member Phillippi Sparks. Expect to hear a lot about this from the announcers during the game.
The Tiki and Dayne show should be in full swing, since the Cowboys are dead last in the league in stopping the run, allowing 178.2 yards a game on the ground. If the Giants are effective with on the ground early on, this would be a good time to cut the trick plays and focus on feeding the ball consistently to Ron Dayne to establish him in his power back role. When they bunch up on Ron, switch to Kerry Collins burning them deep.

Notes
The Cowboys lead the all-time series by a big margin, 47-26-2.

The Cowboys have won three of the last four meetings against the Giants.

The Cowboys are coming off their bye week.

Emmitt Smith ranks 3rd in NFL history with 14,297 rushing yards and 2nd with 150 TDs.

Former Giant Phillippi Sparks had his first start of the season last game. He had 6 tackles and a pass defended against the Panthers.

The Giants have converted 9 takeaways this season into only 10 points.

Next Game
Oct 29, Eagles at Giants 4PM FOX

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Last Week's review, Giants 13 - Falcons 6

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