After a long offseason of self-reflection on disappointing 2012 seasons for the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, both teams hope to get off on the right foot Sunday night at AT&T Stadium. The NFC East arch rivals both missed the playoffs last season and re-tooled this offseason to make a run at the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in February.
The Cowboys, 8-8 in 2012, ranked 19th in total defense last season and head coach Jason Garrett brought in Monty Kiffin to improve on what former defensive coordinator Rob Ryan started. They’ll have their hands full against Kevin Gilbride’s sophisticated offensive system led by two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning. Kiffin does have some big weapons to utilize — DeMarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff, Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne to name few — against a Giants’ offense that could be vulnerable due to injuries on their offensive line.
On offense the Cowboys have a Texas-sized upside with Tony Romo coming off his fourth 4,000-yard season with wide receivers Dez Bryant, Miles Austin and tight end Jason Witten. DeMarco Murray has shown flashes of brilliance as their running back in two seasons, but still has to prove he can stay on the field for an entire season to be effective.
Tom Coughlin’s bunch had a lot of holes to fill after 2012 with the departures of Osi Umenyiora, Chase Blackburn, Ahamd Bradshaw and Martellus Bennett. They welcomed in defensive end Cullen Jenkins, inside linebacker Dan Conor, and tight end Brandon Myers via free agency while promoting second-year running back David Wilson to the starting position.
They’ve been asked to fill more holes early on as the Big Blue has been bit by the injury bug throughout training camp. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is coming off back surgery, right guard Chris Snee and his hip surgery, running back Andre Brown’s crack left leg, safety Stevie Brown’s torn ACL, and offensive linemen David Diehl (thumb surgery) and David Baas (sprained MCL).
Regardless of who’s on the field Sunday night, the game is sure to be yet another nail-biter, as has been tradition in the NFC East’s fiercest rivalry. Of the last 11 games, six have been decided by a touchdown-orless, with three of those by four points-or-less. In their 102 meetings 35 games have been decided by less than touchdown and five games decided in overtime.
WHEN: Sunday, September 8, 2013 / 7:30 PM (Can be seen on NBC nationwide | KXAS NBC-5 in Dallas/Fort Worth)
WHERE: Fort Worth, Texas / AT&T Stadium
SERIES HISTORY: 103rd meeting / Dallas leads 57-43-2
LAST MEETING: New York 29, @ Dallas 24, Oct. 28, 2012
HEAD COACHES:
- GIANTS — Tom Coughlin | 17th season, 10th with New York | 162-128 record (12-7 playoffs)
- COWBOYS — Jason Garrett | 3rd season | 21-19 record
INJURY REPORT:
- GIANTS — OUT: A. Brown (leg) DOUBTFUL: D. Baas (knee), D. Diehl (thumb), A. Robinson (foot) PROBABLE: V. Cruz (heel), H. Hynoski (knee), D Moore (shoulder), J. Pierre-Paul (back), J. Hosley (ankle).
- COWBOYS — OUT: Lance Dunbar (foot), D. McCray (ankle), B. Baas (shoulder). DOUBTFUL: A. Spencer (knee).
KEY MATCH-UPS:
- VICTOR CRUZ & HAKEEM NICKS vs. BRANDON CARR & MORRIS CLAIBORNE – The battered wide receivers of the Giants still remain one of the more dynamic wide receiving duos in the league despite Cruz and Nicks being hampered by nagging injuries. They combined for 139 receptions, 1,784 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2012 despite Nicks having a down year and missing three games. Carr and Claiborne are the centerpieces in the Cowboys secondary, where Kiffin hopes to improve on their low takeaway totals in 2012 (16 — second worst in the NFC). Both tandems need to start off on the right foot — for Cruz & Nicks to justify big-money contracts and Carr & Claiborne to bounce back from a down year).
- DeMARCUS WARE vs. JUSTIN PUGH – Ware and his 111 career sacks will be chomping at the bits to get after Eli Manning. The guy who will be standing in his way? First round pick, Justin Pugh. Quite the match-up for the rookie right tackle, who’ll be starting in place of David Diehl. Pugh protected teammate’s Ryan Nassib’s blindside at Syracuse, but will be asked to stop one of the preeminent sack masters in the NFL. The one snag for Ware is he’s converting from outside linebacker to defensive end for the first time in his career.
X-FACTORS:
- DAVID WILSON, RB, GIANTS – With no Andre Brown to be the thunder to Wilson’s lightning, Gilbride and the Giants’ offense will lean on Wilson to not only be a dynamic playmaker, but do the dirty work between the tackles as well. He earned an early reputation as a fumbler, but rebounded to end the season on a high note, leaving a high level of expectations for th 2013. The Cowboys ranked 22nd in the NFL in rushing yards allowed, giving up 125.2 yards per game and 17 rushing touchdowns.
- JASON WITTEN, TE, COWBOYS – He caught 110 passes of the 149 targets from Romo in 2012. It’s safe to say he is Romo’s security blanket on offense. The Giants have a banged up secondary and a makeshift linebacking corps that’s struggled in coverage during the preseason. That should make for a similar performance to his record-setting 18-catch, 167-yard game against the Giants last October.
THE PREDICTION: The teams split their two meetings last year, but the Giants have won three of the last four games. History has a knack of repeating itself, but not on Sunday as I see the Giants’ injury woes being too much to overcome in Dallas; a place where the Cowboys have the best home opening record in the NFL all-time at 35-17-1. Romo and company score early and often, starting off their 2013 campaign the right way. Cowboys 35 – Giants 24.
