Giants Look To Bounce Back Against The Cowboys
No two ways about it; the Giants got their pants pulled down against the Eagles last Sunday night. Just when the Blue had won 3 straight games all by double digits, looked to be gaining some momentum, and sneaking into a lot of expert’s playoff projections, the Eagles and Chip Kelly’s high-octane offense established dominance in the Linc. The Cowboys, on the other hand, are resembling something like a locomotive for the past 5 weeks; 5-0 since dropping the opener to San Fran including 3 wins where in years past we would expect Tony Romo to Romo away the game in the most Romo fashion possible. Instead of hilariously fulfilling his own “Tony is a loser” narrative, as of course is tradition, Tony has been making a strong case for a Pro Bowl bid, DeMarcus Murray has been playing like a bona-fide superstar, and Dez Bryant has been doing typically amazing Dez Bryant things.
But the news isn’t all bad for Giants fans. First, we all know that the GMen during the Tom Coughlin era play best when their back is against the wall; for a team that can’t afford to dip below .500, Coughlin should have no issues motivating his troops to get off the couch against a hated divisional opponent. Also, Eli has a winning career record in Dallas, including two 400-yard games. Eli Manning’s career winning percentage in Dallas (60%) is actually almost as good as Tony Romo’s (61%). Furthermore, FootballOutsiders actually ranks the Giants defense as being better than the Cowboys, and the Giants have been forcing interceptions at a league-leading clip. I say the secondary finds a way to get Romo to toss a few of them today.
Ultimately, this game is going to come down to better controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. On defense, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth priority is stopping the Dallas league-leading run attack. If DeMarco Murray is able to gash the run defense the way the Eagles did the first quarter of last game, everyone might as well be watching Bar Rescue by halftime.
On offense is where the real story of the game lies, and the real story Giant’s season for that matter: the offensive line. It’s been pretty simple for the Giants this year. When the offensive line plays well, the Giants tend to win. When they don’t, the Giants lose. First two games of the season, they looked like a turnstile and the offense was similarly anemic. When they gave Eli actual time to make quality throws, run support, and let the McAdoo offense get into rhythm, it looked like the high-efficency machine that we were promised before preseason. Last game, Eli was hurried, knocked down, or sacked on about HALF of his total dropbacks. This is completely unacceptable.
The Cowboys are good this year, that we cannot deny. They are one of two teams in the past 2.5 years to have beaten the Seahawks in Seattle and have a balanced offensive attack. But this game is NOT unwinnable for the Giants. The Boys are favored by 6.5 points from Vegas, and much like the Spartans at the end of 300, that is good odds for any Giants fan. We are a team and a fanbase that loves playing when everyone else is counting us out. We are all sick and tired of hearing how great the Eagles and Cowboys battle for the division is going to be this season. Take the points and take the outright win, and put ourselves right back in the conversation. LET’S GO GIANTS!!!!
BLOG UPDATE:
I thought KFC was back tomorrow! Had no idea that he was back today. The KFC Mush has arrived. A million percent chance that the Giants win today. Bet your mortgage on the Giants to win straight-up! I’m mortal-locking this bitch!