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Giants (3-7) vs Cowboys (7-3)
Last
week the Cowboys were on a bye coming off a 31-17 win against the Jaguars in London.
Tony Romo, sidelined for one week because of a back injury, played in that game
and threw three touchdowns.
With the Eagles losing, the Giants could have moved
up a notch last week in front of all their home fans. They even scored a rare
opening drive touchdown, and could have beaten the 49ers with just a few more
good plays, but instead lost 16-10.
Giants
- San Francisco Wrap-Up
Dallas
Cowboys
Can Tony Romo's career last long
enough for him to win a Super Bowl or at least another playoff game? Romo has
taken his lumps and they just keep coming his way. Aside from having back surgery
in the offseason, Romo recently fractured two small bones in his back in a Monday
night overtime loss to Washington. That kept him out of the next game against
the Arizona Cardinals, which they also lost. The sensible thing might seem to
rest your star starting quarterback instead of having him travel to London to
play the Jaguars, a 1-8 team at that point. With the bye coming right after that,
it would have given Romo a total of four weeks of rest before taking another hit
on the playing field.
Taking no chances (except to Romo), after backup Brandon
Weeden failed to deliver against the Cardinals, Romo started and played well in
a 31-17 win over the Jaguars. Despite some
great quarterback play and a never say die attitude, the Cowboys know they need
to keep Romo as healthy as possible in this game against the Giants. There's not
much of a break coming up for the Cowboys as they will host Philadelphia in a
big game next Thursday that could determine who rules the division. Dallas
Cowboys Offense
The
Cowboys always tend to put a lot on quarterback Tony Romo. Now after last season,
seeing DeMarco Murray run for 1121 yards, the first time one of their running
backs edged over 1000 since 2006, they've put more of the offensive load on him
as well. Murray already has 1233 yards on the season, but in the last three games
he has been given exactly 19 carries each game, while averaging 30 in the three
games prior. Murray did suffer an injury playing against the Giants right before
his drop in carries. Was that a factor in those last 19 carry games, two losses
and one win, or are they just being more cautious with him?
Dez Bryant is
the leading receiver on the team with 56 receptions for 793 yards and 8 touchdowns.
He had a good outing last time against the Giants with 9 catches for 151 yards,
but Prince Amukamara kept him out of the end zone. Tight end
Jason Witten has 39 receptions for 431 yards and while that's low for him, the
Cowboys are using him to block while running the ball more and throwing to Bryant
whenever possible. Dallas
Cowboys Defense
They
have done surprisingly well considering expectations going into this season. Rod
Marinelli was promoted from line coach to take over as the new defensive coordinator
for this last place defense and has them ranked 15th in the league. Defensive
end DeMarcus Ware was their all-time sacks leader and he's playing in Denver now.
Defensive tackle Jason Hatcher led the team last year with 11 sacks, and he's
in Washington.
Middle linebacker Sean Lee was on injured reserve from the
start and Rolando McClain has filled his role although he has missed two games
including the last one. This defense is much better when he plays and he looks
good to go for this game. Last time they held running back Andre Williams to only
51 yards on 18 carries, but now they'll be facing Rashad Jennings and a more experienced
Odell Beckham Jr. Giants
offense
Eli Manning threw five interceptions
and took most of the blame after last week's loss to San Francisco, but it's hard
to try and make things work playing behind a poor offensive line. It grew much
'poorer' after right tackle Justin Pugh left in the second quarter and was replaced
by offensive lineman Charles Brown. Brown is no longer with the team, and unfortunately
Pugh won't be back for this game. It looks like offseason acquisition Geoff Schwartz
(dislocated right big toe) will be playing for the first time this season so there
could be some shuffling on the line, but what else is new? Unlike the sudden switch
last week, at least they'll come into this game knowing where they stand from
the first snap.
Running back Rashad Jennings was just back after missing four
games and played a less than average game compared to his others, but that was
to be expected. This week the rust will be gone and Jennings should do better.
Odell Beckham Jr. makes himself a great target for Manning and Rueben
Randle made some nice catches for 112 yards last week, but both were able to connect
with less than half the hurried passes thrown their way. Tight
end Larry Donnell managed to pull in three, averaging 18 yards a catch, and he
had the only Giants touchdown in the game. Last time against the Cowboys, Donnell
caught all seven passes from Manning, but he mucked that up by fumbling two away.
Donnell has grown in his position since then and could be the game changer they
need. Giants defense
They weren't the problem in last week's loss
to San Francisco and they know what they have to do against the Cowboys this week.
DeMarco Murray ran on them 28 times for 128
yards last time they played and he was out for a time with an injury. The
Cowboys will be coming at them with the league's second-ranked rushing attack
(153.2 yards per game), while the Giants sit dead last at stopping the run (145
per game). Jason Pierre-Paul and Johnathan Hankins are good run stoppers, but
they only control one side of the field and the others need to step up. Unfortunately
Mathias Kiwanuka has been limited because of a knee sprain.
Since his last
back injury Tony Romo has played one game and rested, but if the Giants could
get some touches, if not sacks, it could make him edgy enough to make mistakes.
Romo's not likely to run with the ball if a play breaks down in his current condition
even if an opportunity looks good, so the Giants get a small break there.
Prince Amukamara was in that last Cowboys game, but is on injured reserve so Dominique
Rodgers-Cromartie ( back, hamstring problems) will have to cover Dez Bryant and
hopefully be available for more plays, otherwise there's Zack Bowman, Jayron Hosley
and Chykie Brown. Overall
The
Cowboys are gearing up for a possible playoff spot while having four of their
final six games on the road and it all starts Sunday at MetLife stadium with the
Giants. They are the only team left in the NFL with an undefeated 4-0 road record
and that even included a long trip to London. They have enjoyed a bye week and
are probably looking forward to facing a 3-7 team to start things off.
For
the Giants, the playoffs are an after thought or maybe no thought at all. Right
now they are playing just to keep their heads above water. The last time their
record was this poor Jim Fassel was coaching and he managed to get them to 8-8.
Tom Coughlin will have to have his group go 5-1 to accomplish that same task.
The way it worked out this will be the first time the Giants play against a division
team at home and despite any records or how anything finishes it will mean something
to them to win in front of their loyal fans. The last two remaining home games
are also against division teams Washington and Philadelphia. NFC
East
On Sunday, before the Giants play
against the Cowboys, the Eagles (7-3) host the Titans (2-7 ) at 1:00pm. The Redskins
(3-7) play in San Francisco against the 49ers (6-4) at 4:25pm. The Cowboys and
Eagles are favored to win in these games. 
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Notes.Giants
have lost three straight games to the Cowboys. Giants
are 3-1 when they rush for at least 100 yards in a game this season, 0-6 when
they don't. Giants will be mathematically
eliminated from the NFC East division race if they lose this game. Cowboys
Tony Romo is 25-5 in November, the best of any of his months. Cowboys
Tony Romo has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 37 consecutive starts. Cowboys
Tony Romo has thrown at least 1 touchdown pass in 37 consecutive road games. (NFL
Record). Cowboys have won all four road
games this season, currently the only unbeaten road team in the NFL. Cowboys
have not won more than eight games since 2009. Cowboys
are 17-1 when DeMarco Murray gets at least 20 carries. Cowboys
DeMarco Murray leads the NFL with 1,233 rushing yards. Cowboys
DeMarco Murray has fumbled the ball away 5 times this season, only once last year.
Next Games
Nov 30 - Giants at Jacksonville
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