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This Jason Pierre-Paul is writing some kind of story for himself. A high school basketball player who didn't take up football until he was a senior and only played one year of Division I college football, Pierre-Paul was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round in 2010 as a hyper-talented project defensive end. In less than two seasons, he's become one of the very best defensive players in the NFL.

For the second time in three weeks, the Giants announced Wednesday morning, Pierre-Paul has been named the NFC's Defensive Player of the Week. Pierre-Paul had five tackles, two sacks and three quarterback hits in Saturday's victory over the Jets. His first sack of Mark Sanchez cost the Jets seven yards just before halftime and pushed a potential game-tying field goal attempt back to 44 yards. Nick Folk missed the kick.

Two weeks earlier, Pierre-Paul won this same award for his dominating performance in a victory over the Cowboys in Dallas. In that game, he had two sacks (one for a safety), a forced fumble and blocked a potential game-tying field goal attempt in the game's final seconds to sew up a three-point Giants victory.

In the game in between his two award-winners, Pierre-Paul had 16 tackles in a loss to the Redskins.

Oh, and by the way, he was named to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday night. Not a bad few weeks for a football newbie who turns 23 on Sunday.

The last Giants player to win this award twice in one season was defensive end Osi Umenyiora in 2007. This year, linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka won the award in Week 9, and quarterback Eli Manning won the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award in Week 3.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Well, I'd be lying to you if I said the New York Giants have looked good. In most significant ways, they have been dominated by the Jets in the first half of their crucial Week 16 game here at MetLife Stadium. But no matter what happens, the Giants can always count on their passing game to save them. And so, with 2:27 left in the first half, facing a third-and-10 from his own 1-yard line, Eli Manning found Victor Cruz just past the first-down marker. Cruz juked two Jets defenders and was gone, 99 yards for what may turn out to be the most significant Giants touchdown of the year.

Of the 182 yards the Giants gained on offense in the first half, 99 came on one play. Other than that play, they have struggled to do anything against the Jets' defense. They have six rushing yards, and their efforts to pick on Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis with Hakeem Nicks have resulted in frustration. Revis broke up a would-be touchdown pass on third down earlier in the game and the Giants had to settle for a field goal.

But when Cruz caught that ball at the 12-yard line, he found himself between Kyle Wilson and Antonio Cromartie, and neither could bring him down. So the Giants took a 10-7 lead shortly before halftime.

They were able to hold it because their defense has been getting stops today, and got a big one toward the end of the half. Each of the Giants' past five opponents has converted at least 50 percent of its third downs. But the Jets are just 2-for-8 on third down Saturday, and Jason Pierre-Paul's 7-yard sack of Mark Sanchez just before halftime may have pushed Nick Folk out of field-goal range. Folk missed the kick that would have tied the game with time ticking off the clock.

All in all, the Giants have to be ecstatic with the way things have gone. They haven't been able to do anything on offense other than one play. They have allowed the Jets 185 yards but only seven points. And they are leading at halftime. If they can continue to play this bend-but-don't-break defense and get one or two more big plays on offense, then a couple of hours from now they may well leave here knowing for sure that they'll still have a chance to win the division next week.

Against all odds, it appears that Albert Haynesworth and Mike Shanahan have made nice -- at least for one evening. Haynesworth entered the game early in the first half and played some snaps with the starters. He even cracked a couple jokes in the postgame locker room.

"I'm going over to dinner at his house, probably tonight," Haynesworth said. "Gonna sit and have a cigar and talk."

The Skins beat the Jets, 16-11, an odd final score that was aided by a missed Nick Folk extra point. I didn't get to see the game, but we can still link to some folks who did:

• Rick Maese of the Post has the latest on the Haynesworth-Shanahan relationship.

• Malcolm Kelly didn't make the road trip, but Donovan McNabb did.

• Fullback Darrel Young had to leave due to illness.

• Ryan O'Halloran of CSNWashington.com has five observations from Friday's game. He wonders what's going on with Devin Thomas.

• Matt Terl from the Redskins Blog goes over his final checklist for Friday's game.

All the ridiculous trash talk for a preseason game was forgotten as blood poured from Eli Manning's head in the second quarter. Brandon Jacobs thought he was accepting a handoff and Manning appeared to be thinking pass. The result was a bloody mess as the ball popped out and Manning was destroyed by Calvin Pace before bumping into safety Jim Leonhard with his helmetless head.

The Giants said Manning received stitches for a 3-inch gash that appeared to be just below his hairline. If you don't like the sight of blood, don't look too closely at the photos. Manning should be fine after getting 12 stitches, but it was certainly the story of the game. Now, it's time for the Beast to make seven quick observations on tonight's epic battle at New Meadowlands Stadium, which looked nice on TV:

1. Good thing rookie wide receiver Victor Cruz took the field late in the third quarter. For the most part, the Giants' offense had been awful, but Cruz pushed off with his right arm and then made a remarkable one-handed grab with his left. Maybe it was offensive pass interference, but it was still a thing of beauty. The Giants have no hope of getting this guy to the practice squad now, and they probably don't want to anyway. I'd just written that last sentence when Cruz made another gorgeous adjustment on the ball in the fourth quarter. OK, there's another touchdown. Cruz finished with six catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns. This is getting ridiculous. Steve Smith's looking for a helmet.

2. Decent debut for Perry Fewell as the new defensive coordinator, but there were some shaky moments. The Jets' touchdown in the first half came on a play when the Giants didn't have a clue who was supposed to be on the field. Mark Sanchez just lobbed a pass to an uncovered Brad Smith for an easy touchdown. Tom Coughlin has to be seething about that play. Otherwise, the Giants did a nice job getting off the field in the red zone. The Jets were forced to settle for three short field goals and a missed attempt by former Cowboys kicker Nick Folk. But there's no reason the goal-line defense should have that tough of a time getting on the field. Fewell had to be furious with that result.

3. The Giants need to start looking for a veteran punter. I know Matt Dodge has a big leg, but he was scary bad against the Jets. He didn't get any hangtime and he also had a punt blocked. Now I'd blame that more on the blocking than Dodge, but it still looked like he could've been a bit quicker on his approach. At this rate, Coughlin will have to talk Jeff Feagles out of retirement. I'm halfway serious, by the way.

4. A healthy Chris Canty will make a big difference on defense. Canty is once again playing with confidence from his defensive tackle spot. He was never right physically last season, but he's now disrupting plays at the line of scrimmage. One touchdown run was called back because Canty drew a holding penalty. He'd already drawn another one in the first quarter. He's an enormous presence in the middle of that defense.

5. I know Terrell Thomas has had a nice camp, but he took a poor angle on a short pass to LaDainian Tomlinson on third-and-13. You have to know what the down-and-distance is and Thomas really looked bad on the play. Perhaps he'd been reading all the stories about how Tomlinson's lost a step. But when you're in that situation, you have to do a better job.

6. Ahmad Bradshaw is the feature running back for the Giants. He was on the field first Monday, but that doesn't mean a whole lot. The important thing is that he's obviously the team's best back at this point. You saw what he did on that short pass from Manning in the second quarter. He raced for 51 yards and he showed some great balance to avoid tackles and stay in bounds. He's a home-run back who finally seems to be completely healthy. Could be a special season for the former seventh-round pick. I smell 1,100 yards and 8 touchdowns.

7. First-round pick Jason Pierre-Paul will have highs and lows. In the second quarter, Pierre-Paul was just engulfed by the Jets' offensive line on a few plays. He spent more time on his knees than anything else. But then he raced past veteran Damien Woody for a sack on a speed rush. It was impressive to see him lower his right shoulder and turn the corner in a hurry. I was also impressed to see second-round pick Linval Joseph come knifing through to make a play in the backfield. There will be growing pains, but both players will be in the rotation from Day 1. One more note: Santonio Holmes made former Jackson State standout DJ Johnson look really bad at cornerback. Johnson just didn't have a chance against the former Steelers Super Bowl hero. But Johnson kept playing hard and ended up with an interception in the fourth quarter. If anyone's interested, the Giants won the game, 31-16.

» NFC Big Question: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Why have the Dallas Cowboys placed so much trust in kicker David Buehler?

Former USC kicker David Buehler led the league in touchbacks his rookie season with 29. He also participated on the punt team and the kick return unit. He's a fearless player who lives for open-field tackles, but I'm not sure how that translates to calmly nailing a field goal to win a game.

For whatever reason, the Cowboys are convinced that Buehler's ready to take over after watching Nick Folk and Shaun Suisham make a mess of things last season. Dallas missed a league-leading 11 field goals (tied with Houston) in 2009. And when it gave Buehler a chance to wrest the job from Folk in practice, he was understandably all over the map. Everyone wants to talk about the safety and left tackle spots, but I think the Cowboys could be leaving themselves exposed at place-kicker.

Buehler's a tremendous weapon as a kickoff specialist, but asking him to attempt clutch field goals is a different thing. In March, former Cowboys kicker Chris Boniol joined the coaching staff to work with Buehler on a "part-time" basis. The two have spent countless hours together at Valley Ranch focusing on technique. He's convinced Buehler that he can dial it down a bit with his big leg in hopes of finding accuracy.

"He can do it," Boniol told me after Monday's organized team activities session. "But he has to prove it day in and day out. There are a lot of guys who can do it. David can't aim one direction and kick the hell out of the ball like he does on kickoffs. We've worked on how to control his power and his ball flight."

I feel like Boniol is a little more realistic about Buehler's future than owner Jerry Jones and coach Wade Phillips. For some reason, Jones and Phillips have basically handed Buehler the job on a wing and a prayer. I think he has a ton of potential, but the Cowboys would've been wise to sign a veteran just in case Buehler couldn't make the adjustment. The good news, though, is that he apparently has nailed all of his attempts in the four OTA sessions.

Phillips thinks it's important for him to make field goals with his teammates standing around. But we won't have a definitive answer on Buehler until he makes a few in front of 70,000 folks or so.

» NFC East Weaknesses: Cowboys (5/17) | Giants (5/18) | Eagles (5/19) | Redskins (5/20)

It could be argued that free safety should be the pick as Dallas’ top weak spot, especially now that they have added Alex Barron to the mix at offensive tackle to fortify that area, but the uncertainty at kicker can’t be overlooked.

Last year, the combination of Nick Folk and Shaun Suisham was only 20 of 31 kicking field goals. Both kickers are no longer with the club. The two present kicking options are David Buehler and Connor Hughes, although a veteran journeyman could always be added to the mix.

As kickers go, Buehler is an amazing physical specimen with a monster leg. In his rookie season, he proved to be one of the best kickoff guys in the NFL, which is what he was drafted to do. Buehler has not attempted a field goal in the NFL and clearly is a major unknown in this capacity. He is a long-levered kicker and his get-off time might be a concern, let alone his consistency. But at a minimum, he will be called on to kick the long field goal attempts.

Hughes is much smaller and physically less impressive, but like Buehler, he has yet to even attempt a kick at this level. The Cowboys did hire former kicker Chris Boniol as a consultant, specifically with the intentions of helping Buehler, who is an intriguing project.

One thing that does play in Dallas’ favor this season is the weather conditions. With the exception of a Week 17 game in Philadelphia -- which obviously could be crucial -- the Cowboys don’t appear to have any harsh weather games on the 2010 docket. But in what looks to be shaping up as a very tight division, as usual, every point will be crucial. Like every team in this division, the Cowboys cannot afford to leave many points on the field in the kicking game. And as seen in the playoffs last year, quality kickers are at a bit of a shortage right now in the NFL.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Washington Redskins signed 34-year-old punter Josh Bidwell on Tuesday. Bidwell, a former Pro Bowler, missed the '09 season with a hip injury.

Obviously, the Redskins have struggled in the kicking game. Bidwell has a big leg but the hip injury would concern me a great deal.

The Cowboys' place-kicker, Nick Folk, entered the 2010 season with a hip injury and the results were disastrous. Punters put even more stress on their hips than place-kickers, so this is something that bears watching.

In other news, the NFL will not announce the schedules for the opening-weekend and Thanksgiving games today. Hopefully that will happen Wednesday.

Sorry for the delay this morning. We've been experiencing some technical difficulties, but all systems are go for the rest of the afternoon. At 2 p.m. ET, you can read our weekly draft report on the busts/gems from recent drafts. Now let's take a quick look at the latest news from around the division:

Cowboys

• Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News wonders what the Cowboys will do with Flozell Adams and Ken Hamlin.
• The Cowboys have hired a familiar face as a kicking consultant.
• Dave Hutchinson of the Newark Star-Ledger refers to the Jets' signing of ex-Cowboys kicker Nick Folk as "stunning."

Eagles

• Excellent column from the Inquirer's Bob Ford on Brian Westbrook's release. It's a veteran move to get an O. Henry reference in there pretty quickly.
• Paul Domowitch of the Daily News does a great job of putting Westbrook's career in perspective.
• Reuben Frank has had a front-row seat to Brian Westbrook's career.
• Nick Fierro of The Morning Call has the final word on Westbrook.

Giants

• Kenny Phillips tells the Post that he might be ready for OTAs in May.
• Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger wonders if the Giants might have some interest in Brian Westbrook. Hmmm.

Redskins

• The Redskins will take a long look at the quarterback position in Indianapolis.
• Jason Reid of the Washington Post says this thing's going to take some time.

Former Cowboys Pro Bowl kicker Nick Folk will reportedly work out for the New York Giants this week. And you had to know that teams were going to start evaluating Folk at some point. He was one of the top kickers in the league in '07 and '08 for the Dallas Cowboys.

Folk was very accurate (46-of-53) during those seasons and he was incredibly clutch. But in '09, he suddenly lost his mojo, missing seven of 11 attempts before being released in late December. Some people in the media think the Cowboys erred by not stashing Folk on injured reserve. The fact that he was coming off hip surgery in '09 would've legitimized the move.

Coach Wade Phillips gave Folk every opportunity to turn things around. The Cowboys even took the unusual step of replacing holder Mat McBriar with Tony Romo to see if it made Folk more comfortable. But by that point, Folk already had the yips. When you start shanking 24-yard field goals, it's time to call it a season for a kicker.

At this point, the Eagles are the only team in the division with a clear-cut choice at kicker. Lawrence Tynes is the next best kicker, but it's not like he's coming off a career season. Folk will land somewhere in 2010. Quite honestly, the Skins should also bring him in for a tryout. It's not like Graham Gano and Justin Medlock are a dynamic duo.

Our friends at Moving The Chains blog are in the midst of their annual season-in-review series. Sheil Kapadia begins his analysis by discussing David Akers' season. There's a reason the man was voted onto the All-Pro team.

And as you saw other kickers falter in the playoffs, it's hard to argue that any team is in a better situation than the Eagles. I'm sure new special teams coach Bobby April would like to see deeper kickoffs from Akers, but he'll settle for a guy who connected on 32-of-37 field goals in '09.

The Cowboys and Redskins are wandering in the place-kicking wilderness this offseason and Lawrence Tynes of the Giants is a middle-of-the-pack guy. Meanwhile, former Pro Bowl kicker Nick Folk remains on the street. That's one of the most remarkable kicking stories of the NFL season. How did one of the league's best suddenly get the yips?

Some team should at least take Folk to training camp. In fact, I think the Redskins would be wise to go that route.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the Cowboys' worst decision of 2009 was releasing kicker Nick Folk instead of stashing him on injured reserve. The thought is that Folk, a former Pro Bowl kicker, will regain his form and haunt the Cowboys for years to come.

"Releasing Folk made no sense and is a move that could come back to haunt this team," writes Cowboys beat man Gerry Fraley. "He has been a good kicker before, making 46-of-53 attempts in 2007-08, and will be a good kicker again.

"The Cowboys did not want to put Folk on injured reserve out of concern the NFL would object. Why? Folk was coming off hip surgery and was obviously having problems. And when was the last time the NFL penalized a team for stashing a player on injured reserve?"

I certainly don't recall anyone voicing this opinion at the time of Folk's release, but I guess Shaun Suisham's shaky performance down the stretch has caused some revisionist history. If I were still at the DMN, I would've voted for not benching Roy Williams as being the worst move of the '09 season.

I'm sure Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo breathed a sigh of relief when the Cowboys released kicker Nick Folk and replaced him with Shaun Suisham because he thought his holding days might be over. And owner Jerry Jones seemed to back that up with comments on his weekly radio show on the club's flagship station, 105.3 FM.

But coach Wade Phillips announced Tuesday that Romo would remain the holder.

"Romo's the best holder right now and we have a new kicker," Phillips said late Tuesday afternoon. "Since we have a new kicker, I want everything to be as good as it can be."

Suisham will begin his comeback tour with the Cowboys against his old team, the Redskins, on Sunday night at FedEx.

» NFC Stock Watch: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Falling

1. Jim Zorn, Redskins coach: What a disgraceful performance on "Monday Night Football." They'd shown up week after week, but they weren't up to the task in a 45-12 loss. And though special teams coordinator Danny Smith is the trick-play guru, I'm blaming Zorn for sticking with the call. At least it provided comic relief for the poor souls who were still tuned in.

2. Albert Haynesworth, Redskins defensive tackle: I know some of you guys think I'm too hard on him, but I think he should be held to the standard that his contract suggests. The Giants scored with ease almost every time they touched the ball in the first half, and I did not notice Haynesworth doing much about it. I know he had the sack to force a field goal, but he's not the force that some of us expected.

3. LaRon Landry, Redskins safety: I had saved it for Nick Folk, but he's already been replaced by former Redskins kicker Shaun Suisham. Landry earned this dubious distinction by continuing to run past ball carriers. He seems to play with a stunning lack of control and focus.

Rising

1. DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys linebacker: One of the best stories of the week. He went from scaring everyone with his neck injury against the Chargers to starring in an upset win over the Saints. His presence alone inspired this team. His two sacks didn't hurt the cause either.

2. Trent Cole, Eagles defensive end: I'm aware that DeSean Jackson and Miles Austin had big games, but Cole's performance against the 49ers stands out in my mind. He was relentless in harassing 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. Cole should be in the mix for a Pro Bowl spot.

3. Tony Romo, Cowboys quarterback: He's had an excellent December despite two losses. But on Saturday in New Orleans, he was at his best. Former tutor Sean Payton had no answers for Romo. Whether it was running for first downs or connecting with Austin, Romo was superb. Romo, Donovan McNabb and Eli Manning all had excellent games.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that former Redskins kicker Shaun Suisham will audition for the Cowboys on Monday. That's not a huge surprise since the Cowboys are familiar with Suisham, who made 4-of-6 field goals while spending parts of the 2005 and 2006 seasons with Dallas.

Current kicker Nick Folk made a 44-yarder against the Saints but he missed from 24 yards with 2:14 left in the game, allowing the Saints to have a crack at a potential game-tying drive. It's hard to imagine Folk remaining on the team. He has missed more field goals this season than any kicker in the league and he appears to have lost his confidence.

Of course, it was Suisham who missed a 23-yard chip shot against the Saints that would have sealed a win for the Skins. Suisham was 18-of-21 for the Redskins this season, but he missed two attempts against the Cowboys in the Redskins' 7-6 loss last month. I know Suisham pretty well. He is a guy who is dying to atone for what happened against the Saints and Dallas is a comfortable spot for him. He and punter Mat McBriar have remained close since Suisham left Dallas.

Of the options on the street right now, Suisham is at the head of the list. I still think Folk will be a good kicker in this league again but it's probably not going to be with the Cowboys. Jason Reid of The Washington Post suggested that Folk could possibly share some inside information with the Cowboys regarding the Skins' trick plays. But I don't think the Cowboys are that interested in Danny Smith's tricks. They need a kicker who's not in the middle of a meltdown -- and Suisham may be the best option.

Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com is reporting that the Cowboys will try out four or five kickers Monday. ESPN's Ed Werder was the first to report Sunday that the Cowboys were leaning toward bringing in other kickers.

One of the nice things about Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is that he often provides helpful statistics to the media. Naturally, he seems to lean on the numbers that are favorable to him -- especially his regular-season win total in Dallas, which has now been mentioned on at least five occasions.

Phillips was at it again Wednesday, telling the leering Saints press corps to stay away from that tired storyline about how the Cowboys fade every December. With disgust in his voice, he refers to the "baseball stats" that have invaded his safe haven of success in non-playoff contests.

"You can pull all kinds of stats," Phillips told the New Orleans media. "Actually the 12th game of the year, we had won so many times, so we lost this one in December, gee. We don’t worry about that. We worry about this ballgame. That’s all we’re thinking about. We’re in position to make a playoff run, and that’s what we’re trying to do.

And while the Cowboys may be one of the great "12th game of the year" teams of the modern era, Phillips' job hinges on whether he can win the first playoff game of his career. (Sadly, his petition to have the league count the playoff bye in '07 as a win fell on deaf ears.)

But the biggest reason the Cowboys have signaled another December collapse alert doesn't have much to do with Phillips. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, the highest-paid assistant in the league the last time I checked, leads one of the most prolific units in the league -- in terms of yards. The Cowboys are ranked third behind only the Saints and Patriots in yards per game at 391.1.

They're ranked sixth overall in passing and seventh in rushing. Throw in the fact that the Cowboys have the No. 6 scoring defense (17.9 points allowed) in the league and it's hard to figure how you have a team that is scrounging for wild-card scraps again this December.

The glaring problem is that for all its yardage success, the Cowboys aren't putting points on the board. It certainly hurts that former Pro Bowl kicker Nick Folk has lost his way, but that doesn't account for Dallas having the 13th-ranked scoring offense in the league. To put that in perspective, the Cowboys average 30 yards more per game than the Eagles, yet they've been outscored by 76 points.

In losing three of their past five games, the Cowboys have averaged 15.8 points per game. And don't forget that they tacked on meaningless touchdowns at the end of all three losses. The Eagles rank 11th overall in total offense, but they've scored nearly a touchdown per game more than the Cowboys.

So why have the Cowboys had such a difficult time cashing in on points? Well, you can point to several areas. They've had poor average field position for much of the year, in part, because the defense rarely gives them short fields. The Saints have a turnover margin of plus-16, which is one of the many reasons they lead the league in scoring. The Cowboys are minus-1 in turnover margin.

The Cowboys also have one of the most penalized offenses in the league. Of the offenses ranked in the top 10 in the league, only the Packers (102) have more penalties than the Cowboys' 94. And the penalties seem to happen at the worst possible moments, wiping out big plays. Cowboys left tackle Flozell Adams has been among the league leaders in false starts for years.

And a Cowboys offensive line that has been widely praised in the past has given up 28 sacks and quarterback Tony Romo has been hit 60 times. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has been sacked only 10 times and Saints quarterback Drew Brees 15.

Knowing all this, you can see why the Cowboys won't have any chance in a shootout with the Saints on Saturday. Teams such as the Redskins have had success moving the ball on the Saints in recent weeks, but it's going to take more than the 22 points the Cowboys are averaging to get the job done. On Wednesday, reporters at Valley Ranch asked Garrett if he was perplexed about the lack of scoring.

"I don’t think we’re perplexed," said Garrett. "I think it’s pretty easy to see why that’s happened. There have been some critical errors we’ve made at certain times to put us in bad down-and-distance situations in the red zone. Converting third down and making some plays too. When we’ve done those things, we’ve been awfully good [at] scoring points. The biggest thing is we’ve just got to keep giving ourselves chances. We have the guys to do it. As we continue to go, if we get enough at-bats, we’re going to get some hits and score some points.’’

Of course, some of you will recall the Cowboys not being able to convert on three consecutive running plays from the Chargers' 1-yard line last Sunday. Running back Marion Barber failed to score on all three attempts, including one where he appeared to choose the wrong path. Conventional wisdom suggests the Cowboys should change up something, perhaps putting Tashard Choice or Felix Jones in the starting role.

But for now, Phillips has decided to stay the course, one that seems to be pointing toward another season without a playoff win.