The first NFC East rematch of the year finds the New York Giants traveling to Dallas to take on the Cowboys. After being swept by their division rivals in the last month of the 2011 season, the Cowboys were able to upset the reigning Super Bowl Champions on opening night seven weeks ago.
The Cowboys own a 3-3 record and have not played another divisional opponent yet. They, like many teams around the league, have suffered some devastating injuries (including stud linebacker Sean Lee). There’s also been problems that have plagued Dallas before this season, including clock management issues that helped them walk out of Baltimore with a lose despite rushing for over 225 yards.
The Giants are much better off, with a 5-2 record, but those two losses came against the Cowboys and another divisional rival, the Philadelphia Eagles. They were able to finally win an NFC East game last week at home versus the RG3-led Washington Redskins, but they needed a 77-yard TD pass — where two DBs inexplicably let Victor Cruz run by them untouched — to secure that victory.
Both defenses usually suffer when Eli Manning and Tony Romo faceoff. Thus, expect an entertaining and high-scoring affair this Sunday.
Blocking JPP
Third-year defensive lineman Jason Pierre-Paul is the biggest threat on the Giant’s defense. He lines up all over the line, but mostly at the defensive end spots on both sides, and will see a lot of Dallas tackles Tyron Smith and Doug Free. The two Cowboys haven’t played great, surrendering 19 and 21 pressures, but have allowed Romo to hit the ground on their watch only five times — though part of that can be attributed to Romo’s scrambling ability. The Cowboys will also occasionally risk tight end Jason Witten one-on-one with JPP.
In the opening game, JPP never put Romo on the turf, but was a disruptive force anyway with seven hurries. Three of those QB disruptions came against Free, including inside pressure with 6:39 left in the game that forced the former fourth-round pick to hold him, resulting in that hurry being negated on the stat sheet, but turning a 1st-and-20 into a 1st-and-30. Two of his pressures were on last year’s first-round pick Smith, although Romo was able to escape once to deliver a 10-yard TD pass to Kevin Ogletree. Not surprisingly, placing Witten on him led to the worst results — he quickly beat the veteran tight end to the outside and, although Romo was again able to slither away, he delayed the signal-caller enough to allow Linval Joseph time to get a 9-yard sack that would help force a field goal. Neutralizing New York’s best defensive player will help Dallas get a season sweep of their bitter rivals, but can they pull that off?
Eli vs. Tony
Manning currently leads the league in passing yards (2,109) despite being victimized by 15 drops. He had his second-highest passing grade of the season in that first game (+4.9), but wasn’t perfect — down by two touchdowns with 3:56 remaining he overthrew Dominic Hixon, who had beaten Brandon Carr for what would have been a score. There was pressure in the two-time Super Bowl MVP’s face on that play, but the fact remains that it would take them over a minute more to put seven on the board in that losing effort.
Romo, despite throwing more interceptions (nine) than touchdowns (eight), is not the reason the Cowboys have lost three games so far. He was solid on opening night with over 300 yards and three TD passes but, like his New York counterpart, had a blemish when under pressure — an interception that was nearly returned for a TD. Romo has also had to suffer 15 drops, including one by Dez Bryant last week that would’ve been a score. Similar to most NFL contests, the QB who performs better has a good chance of winning this game.
Cowboys Receivers vs. Giants Secondary
In the first matchup veteran CB Corey Webster allowed five of six passes to be completed in his coverage for 127 yards and a score. It was his worst performance of this young season, with most of the damage coming from Bryant, who caught all three passes for 67 yards. Webster has not given up more than 74 yards in a game since, but has still been culpable for two scores and a 115.7 passer rating to signal-callers who target him. Bryant has continued to show promise while remaining inconsistent and probably had the most maligned eight catch, 100-yard+ receiving performances in NFL history Week 4 against the Bears.
The Giants will also have to deal with Miles Austin and Ogletree, the latter who had a coming out party in the first game with two TD catches. A positive for big blue is that Romo shouldn’t have Michael Coe and Justin Tryon to pick on — the two backups surrendered a combined eight passes on nine targets for 106 yards and a TD the first time around. Instead it will be sophomore Prince Amukamara, who was out with an injury in Week 1, opposite Webster. Amukamara has allowed only a 50% completion percentage in his coverage with an interception, four passes defended, and no TD passes. It will be interesting to see if these wide outs can succeed again against a tougher challenge in the Prince.
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