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Giants (0-0) vs Cowboys
(0-0)
The Cowboys played in five preseason
games as they participated in the Hall of Fame Game which they
won. Their preseason record was 2-3 and the Cowboys start the
regular season by hosting the Giants in Arlington, Texas. It will
be one of the last three games played in this NFL opening weekend
where fans will have already seen nearly half the teams get off
to either a nice 1-0 or disappointing 0-1 start.
The Giants, with a 1-3 preseason record, will travel to play against
their division rivals. They have never lost in Cowboys Stadium
and now they never will, as it has been renamed AT&T Stadium.
Speaking of stadiums, the Giants hope to be the first team ever
to play in a Super Bowl as the home team. It's obviously a great
goal and it's still a long season, but it all starts now.
Dallas
Cowboys.
The Cowboys finished up 8-8 in 2012, the same as they did the
year before. Jason Garrett is still the head coach, but defensive
coordinator Rob Ryan is gone. His replacement is 73 year old Monte
Kiffin who is introducing a new defensive scheme to the team.
Kiffin hasn't coached in the NFL since ending a 13-year run in
Tampa Bay from 1996-2008 where the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl
with his 4-3 defense after the 2002 season. More recently, Kiffin
coached in college at Tennessee and Southern California.
The Cowboys have also replaced their defensive and assistant line
coaches, running backs and receivers coaches and their special
teams coordinator. That's a lot of change including that now they
will have head coach Garrett be more focused on the overall game.
Offensive coordinator/ line coach Bill Callahan will handle the
play-calling as they look to accentuate the running game.
Cowboys
offense.
Last season they were a bit lopsided on offense. Passing yardage
ranked high enough to have them at 3rd in the league, but rushing
was next to last at 31st. Is Tony Romo asked to do way too much?
Romo is a mystery mixture of talent and over ambitiousness(?).
It leads him to make big time mistakes that turn games around
and drive Cowboy fans crazy. He certainly gives it his all, but
has been working behind an ineffective offensive line. Romo was
smart enough to insist it be improved before signing his new contract
extension. Romo was sacked 36 times in each of these last two
seasons and it would have been worse without his ability to scamper
when necessary.
Unfortunately his running backs didn't scamper, much less run
at all, with that line blocking for them. The Cowboys produced
the second-worst rushing offense in the NFL and had their worst
rushing season ever. That said, DeMarco Murray ran for 131 yards
against the Giants, his only 100-yard game of the season, in the
season opener last year.
Overall the receivers are the stars of this Cowboy show and no
other team in the NFL has two ranked in the top ten as they do.
Dez Bryant had 92 catches averaging 15 yards per and he really
came on strong in the second half of last season, catching 10
of his 12 touchdowns during that span. He's had a very strong
preseason as well. Jason Witten broke loose for 110 receptions
which was more than any tight end and actually made him 5th best
overall receiver in the league. Miles Austin, concerned with hamstring
injuries in the past, has seen his yards-after-catch average dropping
the past few years. He still contributed 66 receptions and 6 touchdowns
last year.
The Cowboys added strength
to the offense by drafting Wisconsin center Travis Frederick in
the first round to anchor the middle. San Diego State tight end
Gavin Escobar was selected in the second round, Baylor receiver
Terrance Wiliams in the third, and their fifth-round pick was
Oklahoma State running back Joseph Randle.
Cowboys defense.
It's changed schemes as we
mentioned earlier and you immediately start thinking about how
that affects Pro Bowler DeMarcus Ware who finished up last season
with injuries and still had 11.5 sacks. He'll be anxious to go
up against a Giants reshuffled line that's starting a rookie.
The plan is have Ware and Anthony Spencer (11 sacks and coming
off his first Pro Bowl season) line up as defensive ends but Spencer
looks to be out for this game. Tackle Jay Ratliff is also out
(PUP for six weeks) so the Giants are catching some breaks.
Middle linebacker Sean Lee is very sharp and he guides the defensive
players. Bruce Carter was coming on strong before being injured
last season and is very athletic at his linebacker position. Both
these players are great fits for switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3
defense.
Cornerbacks Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr now find zone-coverage
on their menu. They are hard hitters and likely some man-to-man
coverage will come their way. The big weakness here is at the
safety position. The Cowboys brought in free agent Will Allen,
a career backup, likely for his knowledge of this new defensive
scheme after having spent six seasons in Tampa Bay. He can help
Barry Church and rookie J.J. Wilcox digest the system.
Giants offense.
They had their share of problems
last year. David Diehl, playing through a knee injury that required
offseason surgery, drew criticism when he was put back into the
lineup late in the season in place of Sean Locklear. Still, the
O-Line's prime objective is to keep Eli Manning on his feet and
they did that extremely well. Helped by blocking from Martellus
Bennett and Ahmad Bradshaw, who are no longer here, the 20 sacks
they allowed on the year, were the fewest in the league.
The rushing game was actually better than the year before, improving
off a Bradshaw- Jacobs running combo that finished dead last in
the league in 2011. David
Wilson, coming off his rookie year, showed improvement in pass
blocking in preseason and is a real danger once he breaks free.
Wilson claims he can catch
and if he makes good on that threat it would open up more space
for Victor Cruz working the middle of the field.
It also helps to have a tight end who can catch. The Giants picked
up Brandon Myers who caught 79 passes for the Raiders last year.
The passing game suffered with Hakeem Nicks dealing with his knee
and that limited Manning's effectiveness as no one stepped up
and Cruz was blanketed with coverage. This offensive system has
pass catchers adjusting their routes on the fly according to the
defensive alignment and Manning's calls. Rueben Randle, heading
into his second season, looks to have walked the yellow brick
learning road and come away with a brain from what we've seen
so far. If so they will have their three-receiver combo.
The Giants addressed the offensive
line with first-round draft pick Justin Pugh. He's
looked real good in preseason, but now gets his first real start
in prime time against some tough opponents. Overall the offense
was not the real big problem last year. It was a defense that
ranked 31st and surrendered 6,134 yards, the most ever in Giants'
franchise history.
Giants defense.
Perry Fewell has a secondary
that's loaded with talent - some acquired on the cheap for varying
reasons - and it just needs to stay healthy to easily improve
on last season's poor 28th ranked pass defense. Losing Stevie
Brown to an ACL injury in preseason surely put a dent in this
group. His replacement is free agent Ryan Mundy and you can always
count on Antrel Rolle. Cornerback Prince Amukamara looks solid
and keeps improving on his skills. Terrell Thomas once led the
team in tackles and interceptions in consecutive seasons. If Thomas,
Corey Webster, and Aaron Ross play up to their potential, opposing
quarterbacks will have to hesitate before tossing the ball downfield
against this group.
That's where the pass rush comes in. Up front, Jason Pierre-Paul
is the wildcard for this game. He is recovering from spinal surgery
and might not play in this game. If he does he may not be as effective
as he could be. A rejuvenated Justin Tuck will be aided by Mathias
Kiwanuka and third-round draft pick DaMontre Moore who could be
a surprise factor. Kiwanuka is back at his natural position. Free
agent Cullen Jenkins is a good run stopper who can play end and
be used as an extra pass-rusher as well. Linebackers like Spencer
Paysinger and Jacquian Williams have been rotated in and out,
and one of their tough chores will be hanging with tight end Jason
Witten. The run defense should be much stronger with Linval
Joseph, Shaun Rogers, Johnathan Hankins and Mike Patterson assisting.
Former Giants from 2012.
Osi Umenyiora - Atlanta Falcons
Chase Blackburn - Carolina Panthers
Chris Canty - Baltimore Ravens
Kenny Phillips - Philadelphia Eagles
Martellus Bennett - Chicago Bears
Ahmad Bradshaw - Indianapolis Colts
Domenik Hixon - Carolina Panthers
Lawrence Tynes - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Michael Boley -
Rocky Bernard -
Justin Tryon -
Sean Locklear -
Overall
The Cowboys have worked on addressing their weaknesses in the
offseason and have made a number of coaching changes. Still it's
expecting a lot for it all to gel in the first game of the season.
Established teams hope to escape without making too many mistakes
the first time out. It will be interesting to see how long they
stick to the run in this particular game before going to their
known strength with the pass. Their defensive scheme is overall
easier than it was under Ryan, but it's still new to their veterans
who have yet to play in it all out in a regular season game.
The Giants have their best receivers all healthy - at least for
this game. David Wilson now has a year of experience under his
belt but Andre Brown is not there to back him up or provide pass-blocking.
Bradshaw was great at that and also averaged 31 catches over the
past four seasons. While the defense has addressed stopping the
run, adding Cullen Jenkins in the offseason, the pass rush is
anybody's guess at this point. The Giants are up against a 'standard
non wildcat' offense in this game and they have a mixture of players
in their secondary that will be severely tested by known talent.
NFC East
The schedule has the NFC East teams
playing in night games. The Giants play the Cowboys at 8:30pm on
Sunday. The Eagles are playing the Redskins at Washington at 7pm
in the first of the two Monday night games. The Cowboys and Redskins
are favored to win their games.
Check out.
The Team
Giants Store, and see some of the really unique items we put together.
There are some items you certainly haven't seen elsewhere, and each sale helps
out our site.
Giants DVDs
and Posters.
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Notes.
Giants have won all four games
at the Cowboys new stadium.
Cowboys moved from Texas Stadium
in Irving, Texas in 2009 to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
It is now called AT&T Stadium.
Cowboys DeMarcus Ware has sacked
Eli Manning more times (13˝) than any other quarterback in his
nine-year career.
Cowboys have the best all-time record
in season openers (35-17-1).
Cowboys punter Chris Jones kicked
a ball in preseason that hit the video boards.
They hang 90 feet above the center of the field. The re-kick was
returned 75 yards for a touchdown.
Cowboys video board was hit only
one other time in the very first preseason game in August 2009.
There have been 284 regular-season punts at AT&T Stadium without
a punt hitting the digital board.
Next Games
Sept 15 - Broncos at Giants.
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
Sept 22 - Giants at
Panthers.
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
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