Are the Giants a Repeat of the Green Bay Game Waiting to Happen..?

by gee-roj on Dec 3, 2009 1:26 PM CST

In week 2 the Cowboys blew an extraordinary opportunity to beat a divisional foe despite multiple turnovers. Had they won that game the Cowboys would be sitting on a 9-2 record (3-0 in the division) and not facing as desperate a situation as they are this Sunday. A loss to the Giants this time around drops them to 8-4 overall (most likely a tie with Philly for first) and (2-2) in the division; worst of all they will have been swept by the Giants. I HATE BEING SWEPT BY ANYONE. (Insert deep breath here) It also makes the rest of their games that much more critical; if a loss to the Giants is followed up by loses to either the Chargers or Saints or both, the Cowboys may no longer be in charge of their own destiny.

The Giants come into this game much like Green Bay did a few weeks back; they exhibit a similarly discouraging list of injuries, have more or less been dismissed from most playoff discussions and find their season on the line…. this weekend…. against the Cowboys! And like the Packers a few weeks back, the Giants’ talent level is better than their record and it doesn’t hurt that they get to be home for this one

One big difference might be, however, that the Giants will face a less satisfied Cowboy team than the Packers faced on 11/15. That Cowboy team had just rattled off 4 straight wins, including an emotionally draining victory over the Eagles the week before. The Cowboys’ team coming to the meadowlands this weekend, is far from content and hasn’t played well enough recently to be overconfident. In short, I suspect the Cowboys have put in a good 10 days of focused preparation for this game (but unfortunately so have the Giants).

The last time these two faced one another the Giants could do nothing to stop the Cowboy running attack while the Cowboys could do nothing to stop the Giants passing game. Since then the Cowboys pass-defense has improved significantly while the Giant run D remains suspect. Will Garrett further exploit this weakness with the 3-headed monster, or is a more pass heavy game plan in the works? The Cowboy passing attack was woeful against the Giants and Romo had his worst game of the season, what adjustments has Garrett designed to counter the Giants, deep umbrella coverage approach they took last time? Will the Giants even employ that same strategy this time around (after all Miles Austin hadn’t really been discovered yet when they last played)?

Eli torched the Cowboys last time and had a near career night and a lot of that came on 3rd down conversions. Since then Wade has changed things up by playing tighter coverage, designating Jenkins the official starter, and often lining up in a 3-3-5 look on obvious passing downs. It also doesn’t hurt that the Cowboys rush has picked up since then as well. Will these improvements be enough to stifle the Giant passing attack?

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Comments

I think they are too familiar with the gints and remember the GB game to let themselves come out flat.

Dallas will need to weather the storm and execute when they have the opportunity to make the big play on offense. Def they need to get at TO to flip the momentum and field position.

Bottom line if dallas does not turn the ball over then they will win.

Ignore the Mainstream Media, EMBRACE THE HATE!!!!

by cowboy78 on Dec 3, 2009 1:34 PM CST reply actions

Dallas will bring it

Because they hate the Giants quite possibly more than any other team in the league in recent times and because, despite what they say, they won’t have forgotten the Giants stealing the stadium opener from them.

This time around we have Miles Austin, a good pass rush, and good secondary play, none of which we had in that second season. They lost AP, the quarterback of their defense, and Kenny Phillips, who picked off Romo last time. I’m somewhat worried about Jacobs somehow finding it in him to play hard against us, but our run defense is too solid to allow anything huge. Our secondary has to play their best for us to win.

by Joon on Dec 3, 2009 2:15 PM CST reply actions

Since Austin will have all his home boys in the crowd

hopefully he’ll have a huge game against their depleted secondary.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Dec 3, 2009 2:56 PM CST reply actions

I don't think the Cowboys "hate" the Giants

But alot of the Giants Players “Hate” the Cowboys. They hate the super bowl heritage, the high profile of the team, the way the media treats them, etc. tec.

And I believe you are right Gee-Roj. What matters most is the mindset of the Cowboys going into this game. I think they are gonna be ok, even if Garrett calls too many passes. But the Cowboys will definitely win if they:

1.Stop the Giants run

2.establish a solid running game

This has always been the story between these 2 franchises

"Amongst the enemy's Lair, there will always be a DallasPalace!"

by DallasPalace on Dec 3, 2009 5:49 PM CST reply actions

dude

didn’t you hear bradie james comments on the giants he hates them so much
our D will do its job what I’m worried about is our O

by Dr. Cowboy on Dec 3, 2009 6:21 PM CST up reply actions

I can't help but laugh

at the stopping the Giants running game….

Its stopped itself basically all year.

"It ain't over till its over"---

by FreeBradshaw on Dec 3, 2009 8:19 PM CST up reply actions

I hope it's not a repeat of what happened with the Packers. The Cowboys have

to know that no NFC rival is ever down and out, no matter their record, so they had better be ready. I’m already nervous, and it’s still only Thursday.

by Fernie67 on Dec 3, 2009 10:40 PM CST reply actions

I think you touched on the difference between this team earlier and where they are now

I truly believe they’ll be much more focused this time around, and I think the offense still has a chip on it’s shoulder thanks to two weekends of abysmal offensive production. It looked like they got back on the right track against Oakland, and I look for them to continue that trend against NY.

Miles Austin is the new #1, almost completely changing the way the offense attacks opposing defenses. Felix is showing up again. The running game in general has been outstanding(I understand this was the case in the previous game against the Giants, but I think they’re far more confident then they were in week 2). And the defense has started playing at a level we haven’t seen in years. Compound that with the fact that the Giants are struggling in just about every phase, and I think the Cowboys will be going in for the kill. Cannot wait for Sunday.

Epic Fail since 1985

by the red scare on Dec 4, 2009 12:54 AM CST reply actions

I hope they wlll be focused, but. . .

Our D has done a great job of getting focused this season.

Our O? Less so. Our O seems scatter-shot — even when we SHOULD be focused, we lose it. We’ve all seem the examples, so no need to re-state them here.

It feels like whenever our O plays with a “chip on its shoulder,” we lose focus. In other words, we try too hard.

Garrett calls a bad mix — either gets too cute (rare) or gets too boring (often)
Romo gets freaked and off-target
Secondary breaks down (though this is happening less lately)

I just don’t us gutting this one out. I hope we do, but I think somehow the Giants nail us here.

by dfan77 on Dec 5, 2009 5:47 AM CST up reply actions

and before you all freak

By “nail us” — I just mean win. As in, less than 5 points.

by dfan77 on Dec 5, 2009 5:49 AM CST up reply actions

The symptoms your describing dfan are..

the symptoms of a offensive system that doesn’t have the right type of players to run the offense the way the offensive coordinator wants to, so he keeps forcing it. If he had the right players (specifically, better O-line and different type of WR’s) then I can see the point of what Garrett is trying to do. the reason why Garrett seems boring to you (and to many others maybe) is because with no solid implementation of the run, the pass does not in itself instill confidence on offense when it is being forced out on the field, with not enough production. The running game, in this kind of offense, is secondary and an afterthought to the pass.

"Amongst the enemy's Lair, there will always be a DallasPalace!"

by DallasPalace on Dec 5, 2009 12:27 PM CST up reply actions