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Giants (0-0) vs Cowboys (0-0)
The last time the Giants played the Cowboys, both
teams had 8-7 records. It was the final game of the season with the winner taking
the division title and the loser settling for a .500 season. It was a 31-14 home
game win for the Giants on Jan 1 2012, and they went on to win four playoff games
to become the Super Bowl Champions. Dallas
Cowboys.
Head coach Jason Garrett took
over in midseason of 2010. That was the year the Cowboys had their second biggest
one season drop in wins in their entire history. The 1982 limited nine game strike
season being the other. The Cowboys went from 11-5 in 2009 to 6-10 in 2010, but
were even glad for that sorry record, considering they were just 1-7 when Garrett
took over. He pulled five wins in the last eight games with three being victories
over the Giants, Redskins, and Eagles, and the three losses coming by a total
of just 7 points.
So Garrett was a keeper for the 2011 season, but after
a 7-4 start they finished 8-8 with the Cowboys losing both their games against
division teams, the Giants and the Eagles. Just before that final game with the
Giants, club owner Jerry Jones said that the Cowboys wouldn't be playing for Garrett's
job. "His job has no bearing and is not a part of this ballgame. Yes, he's
going to be our coach next year, period. No matter what the score is." They
lost and for now, Jason Garrett is still the head coach. Jones has declared that
fans should come watch his team "beat the New York Giants' asses" this season. NY
Giants.
They started last season 6-2, then
lost 4 games in a row to sit at 6-6. It did not look good as over the years Tom
Coughlin's teams tended to fade in the final games. This time they decided there
would be no 'final game' until they were the ones putting the stamp on it. Beating
the right teams at the right time, they lost only one more regular season game
to finish at 9-7 and this spirited bunch never looked back as they fought tooth
and nail throughout the playoffs. The 'final stamp' on the 2011 NFL season was
a Giants Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots. Cowboys
Offense.
Tony Romo, even with the team
finishing 8-8, had a career-high 102.5 passer rating, throwing 31 touchdown passes
and only 10 interceptions. Romo's favorite target, tight end Jason Witten with
81 receptions, 923 yards, 6 touchdowns in 18 career games vs the Giants, suffered
a spleen injury in a preseason game and may not play or be effective. Witten's
main backup for the past few years, Martellus Bennett, is now playing with the
Giants. Romo has John Phillips, rookie James Hanna and Colin Cocharto (acquired
just Saturday from Cincinnati). Romo might have to look more to his wide receivers
Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and 2nd year player Dwayne Harris (In preseason 3 touchdowns,
other receivers 0).
That might be outside Romo's comfort zone this early
in the season facing the Giants aggressive pass rush and realizing that last year
Romo was sacked a career-high 36 times. The running game could help him out here
and they have high hopes for last year's third-round pick, DeMarco Murray, who
averaged 5.5 yards a carry and caught 26 passes until he was injured in December.
They picked up veteran free agent Lawrence Vickers as a lead-blocker and the Browns
and Texans both improved their rushing attack with Vickers at fullback. Cowboys
Defense.
The Cowboys would like to believe
that they were hampered by the lockout last season and that there wasn't enough
time to grasp Rob Ryan's defense. In five games they blew fourth quarter leads,
and their pass defense was 23rd in the league, up from 26th in 2010, but on the
low end for this team. The Cowboys released cornerback Terence Newman and Mike
Jenkins is recovering from right shoulder surgery, so it looks to be Brandon Carr
($50.1 million free agent), Morris Claiborne (1st round draft pick, best cornerback
available) and Orlando Scandrick for this game. Safeties Barry Church and Gerald
Sensabaugh have looked good in preseason so overall expect better coverage.
DeMarcus Ware is coming off another great year with 19.5 sacks. Linebacker Anthony
Spencer is second with 6 sacks and Rob Ryan is looking for more from him and from
others. In the last two Giants games Eli Manning
threw the ball 47 times with only two hits and no sacks in the first game and
in the second game, without tight end Jake
Ballard playing, Manning was sacked twice. Ware got to him once and shared another
sack with Jason Hatcher. Against the run, this defense was ranked 7th. Giants
Offense.
Eli Manning must have looked
into a crystal ball last year when asked if he was an elite quarterback. He said
he was and he played that way the entire season. The offense was all Manning as
the running game was a non factor, averaging 89.2 yards per game, finishing at
32nd - dead last in the league. Still, even knowing how inefficient the Giants
were in that area, defenses were able to sack Manning less than twice a game (28
times, 7th in the NFL). His passing game couldn't be stopped and was ranked 5th.
Jake Ballard was a necessary ingredient, but he now belongs to the NE Patriots
(PUP List). Last year 31 of Ballard's 38 catches were first downs and he averaged
15.9 yards per catch for 604 yards.
Martellus Bennett is now the starting
tight end and he has more experience. His numbers don't match Ballards, but he
wasn't a starter with Dallas and maybe he can help the running game. The O-Line
has to do much better this year in that area. Ahmad Bradshaw will partner with
first-round draft pick David Wilson who could be just as dangerous as Bradshaw
given some running room. Meanwhile Manning will be throwing to Hakeem Nicks and
Victor Cruz with Domenik Hixon taking up Mario Manningham's role.
Rookie Rueben Randle, Jerrel Jernigan and Ramses Barden will benefit from Manning's
tutoring as well. Giants
Defense.
In the first Cowboys game Tony
Romo beat up on the Giants with 4 touchdowns, no interceptions and earned a 141.3
passer rating. Last time the Giants defense
sacked Romo six times, including twice by Osi Umenyiora who returned to the lineup
for that game. Dallas' final possession ended with Romo being sacked by Justin
Tuck and fumbling the ball over. Giants fans will have a hard time remembering
the whole season and not just the last games of the season when the defense was
awesome.
This unit had the second-most sacks in the NFL with 48. Jason Pierre-Paul
alone had 86 tackles and 16.5 sacks. On the year though, the rushing defense was
ranked 19th and the passing defense was ranked 29th. The secondary was supposed
to be improved this year with cornerback Terrell Thomas back and with a more experienced
Prince Amukamara, but now Thomas is on IR and Amukamara is so much a guess that
they have already named Michael Coe to start opposite reliable Corey Webster.
Coe was drafted in the fifth-round in 2007 and will make his first career start
up against the likes of Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and Kevin Ogletree. Special
Teams.
Punter Steve Weatherford, kicker
Lawrence Tynes and long snapper Zak DeOssie are a plus. Safety Tyler Sash is out
with a four-game suspension and both kickoff and punt returns need improvement.
There were a few drops in preseason. When Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn
was questioned on the return game he said, "There’s a collection of guys
that we’re looking at. We have four guys who we feel good with, and can decide
who’s up, and who’s the best for that game." Overall
The Cowboys did what they should have done to improve in the offseason.
Defenses tend to lead offenses at this time of year and Rob Ryan
will feel a bit confident that his front unit will have learned
his complicated blitzing schemes, and can execute with competent
corners in the backfield. The tight end position for the Cowboys
going into this game is a big question mark. For the Giants Eli
has all the tools he needs to do well with his passing. The running
game has to be improved over last year by the nature of how poor
it was, but that may not show itself here in game one. The pass
rush will be there but the secondary is a nice target for Romo
who plays well against the Giants even when he loses. Last year
Romo completed 50 of his 68 passes for 610 yards and had 6 touchdowns
in the two games against them.
NFC East
Winning the division guarantees you're in the playoffs. Here's what the rest of
the division faces in week one. On Sunday at 1pm the Eagles play in Cleveland
against the recently sold, but "not going anywhere" (in more ways than
one) Browns. At the same time the Redskins will be in New Orleans to play the
'knock-em rock-em' Saints. The Giants, Eagles and Saints are favored to win their
games. 
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Notes.
Giants have won two Super Bowls in the last
five years and wins have been just 10, 12, 8, 10 and 9. Giants
in the playoffs limited Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith and Tom Brady to
a combined 83.11 passer rating, 6 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 11 sacks and 54
points. Giants Eli Manning was named
to the Pro Bowl, throwing for a team-record 4,587 yards with 26 TDs and 16 interceptions. Giants
Victor Cruz had a franchise-record 1,536 yards receiving in 2011. Cowboys
DeMarcus Ware leads the NFL. with 80 sacks over the past five years.
Cowboys
have recorded 295 sacks since 2005, DeMarcus Ware's rookie season.
Ware has
99.5 of them or 34 percent. Cowboys were
tied for 7th with 42 sacks last season and 19.5 of them came from DeMarcus Ware. Cowboys
had only five rushing touchdowns in 2011. Cowboys
Jason Witten, despite injuries, has missed just one game because of a broken jaw
in 2003.
Next Games
Sept 16 - Tampa Bay at Giants.
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
Sept 20 - Giants at
Carolina.
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
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