This Sunday, Eli Manning and the NY Giants travel to Big D to take on Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys for the second time this season. However, this time the Cowboys will be playing without their best defensive player, linebacker Sean Lee. Wednesday morning, the Cowboys placed Lee on IR with a toe injury. Lee leads the Cowboys with 58 tackles this season. Dallas will turn to Dan Connor to fill in for Lee.
Nevertheless, the Cowboys will need to move on and play a great game against the Giants, whom they defeated 24-17 in week 1. The key to the Cowboys week 1 victory was their ability to stop the Giants on third down. The Giants only converted four of the twelve third downs they faced. In addition,Dallas was able to put pressure on Manning and keep him in check. Dallas had 3 sacks, a forced fumble and five pressures against Manning. The Cowboys D held Eli to 213 yards and 1 touchdown. The 213 passing yards were Manning’s fewest against the Cowboys since 2008. When asked about the defenses performance this year, Demarcus Ware told ESPN Dallas:
“We’ve got to dominate every week on defense …It’s not just once a week. You have to be committed in what you do and hold teams to low points (and) that’s what great defenses do, just go out and get the job done.”
On the offensive side of the ball, the Cowboys MUST play better. They have scored less than 20 points four times this season. With the offensive weapons the Cowboys possess, being held under 20 points is simply unacceptable. However, a matchup with the Giants may just be what the doctor ordered as Tony Romo has played his best football against the Gaints in recent years. In his last three starts against the Giants, Romo has thrown for 917 yards and 9 touchdowns. The Cowboys will need Romo to continue playing his best football against the Giants, especially with running back DeMarco Murray not expected to play Sunday due to a foot sprain sustained against the Ravens.
This Sunday is an acid test to tell the football world how good the 2012 Cowboys are. The Giants have been playing some of their best football lately, and looking like the Super Bowl Champs that they are. They dominated the 49ers, one of the top 3 teams in the NFC, two weeks ago and dispatched RGIII and the Redskins last week.
The Cowboys face the defending champs (and division rival) at home without their best defensive player and starting running back. A win would go a long way in silencing critics and announcing that the Cowboys are a serious threat for the post season.
