Giants-Cowboys Preview

 

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• Countdown Daily Recap: Giants-Cowboys

SCOUTING REPORT

Giants-Cowboys: 10 observations After breaking down film of both teams, Scouts Inc. offers 10 things to watch in this week's Giants-Cowboys matchup. 1. New York needs to pound Jacobs between the tackles: Brandon Jacobs should be the mainstay in the Giants' ground assault, but he didn't get on track in Week 1. The Dallas defense was less than impressive in slowing down the Buccaneers' running game in their opener and can be exploited with the powerful "giant" back on downhill isolation plays.

· Full Scouting Report

Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
NYG	6-4	266	235	3-2	3-2	2-1	4-3
DAL	7-3	231	175	4-1	3-2	2-1	6-2
· Complete Standings

Individual Leaders

NY Giants Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Mannin... 60.5 2454 18 9 Carr 62.5 172 1 0

Dallas Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Romo 60.0 2624 15 7

NY Giants Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Jacobs 163 656 4.0 3 Bradsh... 115 549 4.8 4

Dallas Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Barber 123 572 4.7 4 Jones 54 353 6.5 1

NY Giants Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Smith 65 798 12.3 5 Mannin... 40 617 15.4 4

Dallas Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Austin 35 679 19.4 7 Witten 54 481 8.9 1

Full Player Stats: NY Giants | Dallas

TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS
TEAM OFFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Total Yards	NYG	386.0
	DAL	382.0
Yards Passing	NYG	251.7
	DAL	249.6
Yards Rushing	NYG	133.8
	DAL	132.3
TEAM DEFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Yards Allowed	NYG	282.2
	DAL	329.9
Pass Yds Allowed	NYG	177.4
	DAL	229.3
Rush Yds Allowed	NYG	104.8
	DAL	100.6

HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS (SINCE 2001)
NY Giants leads 10-8
Dec 14, 2008	NYG 8, DAL 20
Nov 2, 2008	NYG 35, @DAL 14
Jan 13, 2008	NYG 21, DAL 17
Nov 11, 2007	NYG 20, @DAL 31
Sep 9, 2007	NYG 35, DAL 45
Dec 3, 2006	NYG 20, @DAL 23
Oct 23, 2006	NYG 36, DAL 22
Dec 4, 2005	NYG 17, @DAL 10
Oct 16, 2005	NYG 13, DAL 16
Jan 2, 2005	NYG 28, @DAL 24
Oct 10, 2004	NYG 26, DAL 10
Dec 21, 2003	NYG 3, DAL 19
Sep 15, 2003	NYG 32, @DAL 35
Dec 15, 2002	NYG 37, @DAL 7
Oct 6, 2002	NYG 21, DAL 17
Dec 9, 2001	NYG 13, DAL 20
Nov 4, 2001	NYG 27, @DAL 24

The Dallas Cowboys are set to open their new $1.15 billion home against the New York Giants. They're hoping the different surroundings don't change the recent trend that developed between the NFC East rivals at the Cowboys' former stadium.

New York and Dallas meet in the first game at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday night, with both teams looking to build on opening-week victories.

The Cowboys are leaving Texas Stadium after 37 years for the new state-of-the-art, retractable-roof facility in Arlington, and they hope that doesn't spell the end of their recent home success against the Giants. Dallas won the last meeting at Texas Stadium 20-8 on Dec. 14, giving it three victories in the last four matchups there. The Cowboys have won four of the previous five meetings overall.

That December game marked perhaps the low point of the Giants' season, as the Cowboys sacked Eli Manning eight times, intercepted him twice and limited him to 191 yards passing with no touchdowns.

Dallas, though, didn't look nearly that formidable defensively in its opener. The Cowboys gave up 450 yards, their most in 36 games, to Tampa Bay last Sunday despite going on to win 34-21.

The yardage total was Dallas' highest allowed in a victory in 52 games.

"It wasn't anything they were doing to us," said linebacker Keith Brooking, who admitted to having trouble sleeping following the lackluster effort. "We just have to be more disciplined."

The Buccaneers rushed for 174 yards, and Brooking and his teammates will face another formidable ground attack Sunday with Brandon Jacobs and the Giants coming to town.

"We won't reinvent the wheel," linebacker Bradie James said. "We've just got to go out and play good defense, corral and populate the ball. ... This is a copycat league. I'm sure they will try to do a couple of things the Bucs did. But the Giants are the Giants. They're going to do what they know how to do, and they're going to do it real well. It's up to us to match their intensity and outplay them."

The Cowboys overcame the poor defensive performance thanks to Tony Romo, who threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns. Dallas rushed for 118 yards, led by Marion Barber, who had 79 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

While the Cowboys won in spite of their defense last week, the Giants were impressive on that side of the ball in a 23-17 victory over Washington. They held the Redskins to 272 yards -- 85 rushing -- and forced two turnovers and got three sacks, including 1 1/2 by NFC defensive player of the week Justin Tuck.

End Osi Umenyiora, sidelined last season by a knee injury, forced a fumble on a sack of Jason Campbell and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

"Not only was it a W, but it was against an NFC East opponent," Umenyiora said. "It was a great game."

The Giants will try to get another such win this week, and they hope Manning can repeat his performance from the opener. The quarterback looked sharp in going 20 of 29 for 256 yards with one touchdown and one interception, completing passes to seven receivers.

"It shows he has confidence in any number of people," coach Tom Coughlin said. "We were able to spread it around and get the backs involved. It's a good thing."

Another good thing for the Giants could be the activation of linebacker Michael Boley from the reserve-suspended list Tuesday. Signed as a free agent in the offseason and expected to start on the weak side, Boley was suspended for the opener by the league for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

New York also claimed rookie running back Gartrell Johnson off waivers from San Diego after third-string back Danny Ware was lost to a dislocated elbow last Sunday. Ware will miss at least two weeks.

The Giants also lost rookie receiver Hakeem Nicks for at least two weeks with a sprained foot.

The Cowboys' new stadium was the source of some controversy during the preseason, when Titans punter A.J. Trapasso hit the giant video board Aug. 21. That caused the league to alter its playing rules, which now call for an immediate whistle and a replay of the down, with no time taken off the clock, should a ball hit the board.

The teams meet at Giants Stadium on Dec. 6.

Cowboys upset about repeated officiating errors

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is tired of hearing the league apologize for officiating mistakes.

Living The Dream: A Cowboy Thanksgiving

The meal deal: What's Thanksgiving like for Cowboys after the game?

Cowboys TE Witten (foot) a game-time decision

Cowboys tight end Jason Witten will be a game-time decision for Thursday's game against Oakland because of a sprained foot.

Giants' Bradshaw wears boot on sprained ankle

Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw is wearing a protective boot on his sprained left ankle, and it's uncertain whether he'll make the trip for the team's game at Denver.

Traffic charges against Plaxico Burress dismissed

Four Broward County traffic tickets have been dismissed against former New York Giants football player Plaxico Burress , who still faces another case in which he's accused of cursing several times at a sheriff's deputy, the athlete's attorney said this morning.

NFL Putting Off Plaxico Punishment

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said today there is no timetable for making a decision on league disciplinary action for Plaxico Burress.

GIANTS: Updated: Boldin hires Eli's agent

KTAR Radio in Arizona reports that Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin has hired Tom Condon to be his agent.

Moving the Chains: Giants' Umenyiora takes aim at Eagles

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. A special buzz is building around the 2009 football season in Philadelphia, and a lot of it has to do with the rivalry between the Eagles and Giants.

Canty happy to be part of 'tremendous defense' in New York

CHAREAN WILLIAMS The movers were at Chris Canty's new home last week. He is starting to feel at home in the New York Giants' locker room, too.Canty left the Dallas Cowboys almost three months ago, the Giants' six-year, $42 million offer too rich for Dallas to beat.

Greg Ellis officially an ex-Cowboy

As expected, the Cowboys weren't able to find a team willing to trade for Greg Ellis, so they released him today.

Already interest in Greg Ellis

When news broke of the Cowboys' release of Greg Ellis earlier today, the phone of Ellis' agent, James D. Williams, started to ring from interested parties.

Money is no longer flowing for Dallas Cowboys

I don't mean GM broke. Or Michael Vick broke. Or even Tom Hicks broke. But it certainly appears as though Jerry is paying more attention to the bottom line when it comes to the Cowboys than he's ever done in the past.

Kitna knows his job with Dallas Cowboys is be ready if Romo isn't

By MAC ENGEL CARROLLTON - Jerry Jones was just kidding, but the sad part of what he said a few days before the 2009 NFL Draft was true.'Last year we had one quarterback who was hurt and another quarterback who was playing like he was hurt,' Jones said.The comment drew uncomfortable laughter, and Jones immediately recognized what he had just ...

Dallas Cowboys have plenty to prove in 2009

Jean-Jacques Taylor has been at the DMN for 16 years. He covered the Rangers and Cowboys before becoming a columnist.