Sun Oct 16, 1:00 pm (FOX) - Giants at Dallas
Dallas - Been there done that.
The Giants - Cowboys games represented a full one third of the Giants wins last season, sadly just 2 out of 6. Anyway, they beat the Cowboys with veteran Kurt Warner, and then again with inexperienced
quarterback, Eli Manning. How easy does it get?
Well, maybe not as easy as it sounds. Let's not forget that the first and only victory of Eli Manning's career last season came about when Tiki Barber scored on an audible called by Manning,
a 3-yard run with only 11 seconds left to play and with no timeouts left. A field goal, if they could have gotten one off, would have just tied the game.
Just before that, Vinny Testaverde had led the Cowboys on an 80-yard drive, overcame a fourth-and-goal at the 1, and hit for a 2-point conversion to go up the 3 points. They did this without
Keyshawn Johnson, who left with a broken left ankle in the second quarter. No, it's never easy against Bill Parcells and the Cowboys.
Dallas last week.
The Cowboys are coming off a big 33-10 victory over the Eagles. Even Bill Parcells was happy, calling it their best performance since he took over as head coach in 2003. Dallas held the Eagles
to only 19 rushing yards, the fewest they had allowed since giving up only 16 to Washington on October 8, 1967. The Cowboys gave up only 129 total yards, the fewest they've allowed since Sept.
8, 1996. This was against a team averaging a league-best 432 yards per game. Dallas held Philadelphia to just six first downs. Donovan McNabb had to eat his words, "Although I don't have a
star on the side of my helmet, it feels good to be in that place," he had said prior to the game.
Giants last week.
The Giants were on a bye last week and hopefully they haven't lost any momentum. They are extremely suspect in this area, heading into bye weeks with an outstanding NFL 14-3 record, but sustaining
a poor 3-13 in games coming after. Tom Coughlin didn't waste the bye week. He had the assistant coaches pretend they were an opposing team's staff and search for any exploitable tendencies
in the Giants' game play.
During the season, coaches are breaking down other teams' offenses and defenses and don't have much time to view their own. The coaches then instructed the players on areas that needed work
during practice. The Giants need to work on giving up 425-plus yards a game this season.
Giants - Dallas, this week.
New York is averaging a league-best 34 points a game, and with so much receiving talent, they barely have had time to use Tiki Barber the way they have in the past. In the Dallas loss to Oakland,
Kerry Collins tossed a 79-yard pass completion to Randy Moss on Oakland's second play. That's all the Cowboys could think about after that, and the Raiders LaMont Jordan ran for a career-high
126 yards. Dallas had gone 13 games without allowing a 100-yard rusher before that.
I'd like to see Eli Manning shake them up, going deep to Plaxico Burress and then mix it up with the big emphasis being put on Tiki Barber this week. The Cowboys couldn't stop Tiki last year
and won't be able to stop him this time. The running game would chew up the clock and that would help the defense. The Cowboys had the ball for 40:43 against the Eagles last week. Drew Bledsoe
led the team to scores on six of their first seven possessions and the Giants haven't been too big on quarterback pressure this year.
Michael Strahan and the pass rush.
Sure, Strahan leads the Giants with 3½ sacks, but where is the pass rush? How often do you see the opposing quarterback looking deeply troubled as he drops back to pass against the Giants?
It would seem that the Giants have given up on the pass rush, and focused on the run, because they don't have one that will work. It doesn't make sense to send six guys who will be stopped
anyway. Just send four to keep it honest and use the others to scramble around wildly along with the rest of the Giants backfield, hoping for an errant throw and interception to stop the drive.
That's how the Giants have been playing, and you have to hope they never have to come up against a healthy scrambling Michael Vick or Donanan McNab. We haven't heard much about Strahan's back
problems lately. Does Strahan now have to pick and choose his spots, or can he put himself out there on every play? Strahan goes up against a rookie again, the third time in four games. He,
has had a nice two week rest thanks to the bye week, and if the Giants can't pressure Drew Bledsoe in this game, you may know more about Strahan's longevity with the Giants than you might
think.
Quarterbacks - News and notes and such.
Drew Bledsoe is the highest-rated passer in the NFC (102.0 passer rating), and the only quarterback ahead of Eli Manning (97.8 passer rating) at this point. Dallas is 3-2 and former Giants
quarterback Kerry Collins led his Raiders team to one of those victories over Dallas. Kerry Collins is interception-free this season while last year he was tied for the most in the league
with 20, and he had missed two games.
The Giants 2 wins against Dallas last season, using two different quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Eli Manning, came against Vinny Testaverde, Who is now suddenly quarterbacking at the Meadowlands
for the NY Jets. Vinny came out of retirement to help defeat unbeaten Tampa Bay last week. Bill Parcells wasn't amazed,
"I'm going to tell you and I really mean this. I'm saying this is not an overstatement. He is as remarkable, physical specimen as I have ever seen in sports. I mean he is remarkable how
powerful is. It is to his credit because I know the regimen. You go ask him to show you his workout book from 1992 on May 7 and he has what he did. You think I'm kidding' I'm not kidding.
He will tell you what he did. So, it's not an accident. I kind of called him myself Sunday night after they had won the game and told him I was happy for him. Hey they'll love him now. He's
the underdog now. They'll love him. So, it'll be fun for him and I hope he enjoys it. He's a good kid, he really is."
Notes.
Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was a wide receivers coach under Parcells from 1988-90 with the Giants.
Their last year together was the last time New York won the Super Bowl.
Giants Eli Manning has thrown 135 consecutive passes without an interception.
Giants Eli Manning has thrown at least 1 touchdown pass in 5 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Giants are an NFL-best 14-3 prior to a bye week off.
Giants are 3-13 in games following a regular-season bye week.
Giants 3 post-bye victories have been against division opponents.
Giants won their first post week bye game played under head the coach Bill Parcells in 1990.
Next Game.
Oct 23, Denver at Giants 4:15 PM - CBS.
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