A Few More Facts About This Weekend’s Giants – Cowboys Game

Here are a few facts about this weekend’s game and why it is so hard to pick:

Stats that could favor Dallas:

- Since 1990, in the divisional round of the playoffs, the rested home teams that lost their final game of the season (like Dallas this year) are 24-5 (83%).

-In that time same, rested home teams favored by 7 points or more (like Dallas is) are 15-1 (94%).

-The key to Dallas winning is stopping, or slowing, Giants WR Plaxico Burress. Of the 23 TD passes thrown by Manning this year, 12 were to Burress. No other Giants player had more than 3. Stop, or limit, Burress’ production and you stop or limit the Giants offense.


Stats that could favor New Yawk:

-Since the NFL merger, there have been 17 times where a team met it’s opponent in the playoffs for the 3rd time that season (like Dallas and NY this year). The team that has won the previous 2 meetings is 11-6 (65%). Even though this stat slightly favors Dallas, it also shows that upsets happen more than just a couple of times in this situation.

-1993 is the last time both #1 seeds for the NFC and AFC (Dallas for the NFC; Buffalo for the AFC) have gone to the Super Bowl. This year, the #1 seeds are Dallas and New England and we all know what kind of season New England has had. So, if I were a betting man and had to pick one of those two teams to lose before the Super Bowl, I don’t think I could objectively pick New England.

-If T.O. Owens is out of the game, or severely limited, Dallas is in trouble…period Since he got hurt before half time of the Carolina game, Dallas (without Owens in the line up) has scored 4 field goals in 6 quarters. Not good…