Tough Game Ahead for the Cowboys

The Cowboys face probably their toughest game to date this year on Sunday when they visit New Yawk to face the Giants. To be honest, I don’t see much hope for Dallas winning this, much less keeping it a close game.

Traditionally the Giants have been sort a blue collar team, which I know the city takes pride in. They generally have a good, hard hitting, pressuring defense and an adequate offense usually fueled by a solid running game and a passing game that can move the chains when needed. I've never really been scared about anything the Giants had on offense (except for maybe Tiki Barber when he was playing). However, this year, I truly see a flashier offense for the Giants with WRs Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon, David Tyree and TE Kevin Boss (and I'm not even mentioning WRs Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss either). Add to that the gaggle of RBs in Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward plus a great o-line. So, what I see is not so much a blue collar offense anymore but an offense that can score points in bunches and put teams away quickly. That's not to say they won't have a stinko game every now and then as all team do (like they had against Cleveland 2 weeks ago) but I, unfortunately, I think the Giants are the best team, top to bottom, in the league.

Nobody expects the Cowboys to beat New York. Parts of Cowboys team resemble a MASH unit right now, while the Giants are playing as well as any team in the league. It would have been a challenge to win even if the Cowboys were at full strength. But with Romo, CB Terence Newman, RB Felix Jones, o-lineman Kyle Kosier out because of injuries and, the Cowboys are huge underdogs in the game. Tight end Jason Witten and CB Anthony Henry were both injured against the Bucs and may not play but if they do, it will be with significantly less playing time.

To compound Dallas’ woes, Brad Johnson has been frustrating to watch because of his inability, or unwillingness, to effectively throw the ball down the field. Against Tampa Bay last week, Johnson averaged 2.8 yards per pass play, and his longest completion was 14 yards. And even though he didn’t turn the ball over, Johnson missed some open receivers either because of inaccuracy or choosing to check down to a safer route. Playing Brooks Bollinger may not be the answer as he wasn’t even thought of to be the 3rd string option in Minnesota this year and no other team picked him up when he was subsequently released by the Vikings. Dallas just has to get through this game and hopefully after the bye week Romo will be able to come back and play.

In order for the Cowboys to pull off the upset, or even keep the game interesting, they are going to have to play the same way they did last week vs. Tampa Bay. The defense is going to have to play lights out and get lucky a few times and the offense is going to have to keep things close to the vest and try to play as mistake free as possible. However, objectively speaking, I just don’t think they can repeat their performance of last week especially against a better team on the road. Dallas may keep it close (7-10 pts) for a half, maybe 2 1/2 quarters, but I expect the Giants to start pulling away in the 3rd quarter and end up winning big (20+ pts). I just don't think Dallas' offense will be able to hang (especially with Johnson at QB) and the defense will tire out from having to play so much. The bye week couldn’t come at a better time for the Cowboys.

Prediction: New Yawk 37, Dallas 14.