Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants Preview
November 30, 2009 by Matt Lawrence · Leave a Comment
The Cowboys gave us reason to be thankful on Thanksgiving, but will the be able to march up to New York and beat the Giants? The Cowboys lead the NFC East, currently they hold a one game lead over the Eagles and a two game lead over the Giants. So once again this week the Cowboys can guarantee they will stay alone in first place with a win.
The New York Giants have lost 5 of their last 6 games, the only win in that stretch came after the Giants bye week. Last week the New York Football Giants lost in Denver 26-6 and Eli Manning is reported to have a problem with his foot, and Brandon Jacobs continues his season filled with disappointment for anyone who has him in fantasy football.
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THE REV SPEAKS – Cowboys Giants Review
September 23, 2009 by Matthew Fuller · 1 Comment
THE REV SPEAKS
Matthew R. Fuller
As an ordained Baptist minister I’ve heard my fair share of confessions. Most are incontrovertibly genuine, with the penitents expressing a deep remorse and a concomitant pledge to turn away from the sins which, without fail, lead to shame, fear, abandonment, and heartache. Sometimes, however, the mea culpa is more specious than the singing career of Heidi Montag
In these extreme circumstances it takes all of my Christian resolve to refrain from unleashing a thunderous torrent of dog cussing: How dare you defile the house of God with your bleeping mistakes! Your pathetic excuses are bleeping cowardly! Get your head out of your butt already! But that’s just me . . .
Which leads us to the embarrassment that occurred in Arlington (and not Dallas, thanks to former Mayor Laura “Madam No” Miller’s childish stonewalling, but don’t get me started) on Sunday night. What should have been a glorious moment for the Dallas Cowboys was instead turned into a horrifying display of amateur football. Thanks to the “franchise” quarterback, the grand opening of The Death Star was unequivocally marred. If Jerry were to ask my advice (and why he doesn’t is beyond me) I’d demand that he pay FOX analyst Troy Aikman whatever he wished to pull a Favre and lace up his cleats just one more time. (I’d also suggest he fire Wade, a.k.a. Mr. Fix It, immediately. That’s for another column, however.) Maybe I’m just sentimental since #8 won three Super Bowl titles during my formative high school years, but at this point any measure, no matter how extreme, should be enacted. How many times are we devoted and deceived Cowboy fans going to be forced to listen to the mealy-mouthed confessions of one Tony Romo? After every putrid game he’s delivered the same tired “I promise to protect the ball better” speech. In Sunday night’s three-INT implosion against the hated Giants he was beyond careless with the pigskin. He was reckless. He was feckless. He was gutless. (For those who value this stat, Romo’s 29.6 QB Rating was the second-worst of his career after the 22.2 bomb he dropped in December 2007 against the hated Eagles. The Cowboys would have beaten the Giants by at least a touchdown had Romo only thrown two picks!) Like all Dallas disciples, I’ve grown extremely tired of Romo’s lip service. Either you stop throwing the ball to the opposing team at an alarming rate—I don’t mind the occasional turnover that comes in the course of a long season, but there’s a limit to my grace—or stop feeding namby-pamby apologies to the media and the fans. Call me a hidebound fundamentalist Southern Baptist, but either you sin or you don’t. (This is a kissing cousin to the Big Bill Parcells theology of it is what it is.) I am not trying to alarm you, but the Cowboys are a decidedly average 11-10 in their last 21 games. That’s only ten more wins than the junior college Detroit Lions have posted over the same period of time! This would be funny if it weren’t so sadly mediocre and true.
Romo still has a very vocal cadre of supporters, and these slimy sycophants are almost as crazy as Pacman Jones at the Joule Hotel. At least he came out on Monday and held himself accountable for the loss against the Giants. While I admit this Romo reaction is light years better than his illicit Cancun vacation with Jessica “Yoko Ono” Simpson in January 2008, and much improved from his flippant if this is the worst thing that happens to me comment after last season’s win-or-go-home disaster in Philly, Romo could blame himself for the mess that is the Obama Healthcare Plan and I still wouldn’t be satisfied. Quarterbacking the Cowboys is one of the most glamorous and visible positions in all of sports, along with Shortstopping the Yankees (groan) and Caddying the Tiger (no pictures during his backswing), and Romo treats it like he’s playing Tecmo Bowl on Nintendo. Whatever. Then there are the Romo lemmings who are quick to point out that his career has started just like the prototype of all NFL QBs, Peyton Manning (http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MannPe00.htm). Except for these salient facts which the lemmings either leave out or forget: Manning played four years at a major-caliber SEC college against many future pro athletes, and he was drafted #1; Romo played at tiny Eastern Illinois against many future rec league athletes and he wasn’t drafted at all; Manning was born with football genes and groomed to be a QB from birth; Romo was born with backward-hat-wearing genes and groomed to be a wannabe golfer from birth. Again, whatever.
Those laypeople that support Romo are doing him no favors, just as Romo’s own teammates are sabotaging his ability to improve. In order for a sinful soul to be completely washed clean, the guilty party must be surrounded by a circle of believers who, while offering forgiveness, also buffet him with ample amounts of tough love. In this case, Romo’s accountability partners and prayer warriors are failing him immensely. The praise for #9 (and I’ m not talking about the true winner Mike Modano) was effusive from Valley Ranch on Monday and Tuesday (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/092209dnspocowboysinsider.2cc1f57.html), further complicating the paradox of Romo’s greatness. Teammates should absolutely stand by each other in times of crisis (and if they don’t they end up in the football hinterlands of Buffalo), but if Romo’s fellow Cowboys truly had his best interests at heart they would sit him (and Terence Newman while we’re at it) down and deliver a come-to-Jesus message: you can be one of the all-time greats if you just learn some discipline. (Yet another reason Jerry should have hired Norv “Aikman Architect” Turner in 2007, along with the fact that Turner’s electric Chargers are chugging along at 9-0 in December and Wade’s anemic Cowboys are choking along at 3-5 in the coconut-crunching final month.) Like a group of buddies who stage an intervention for one of their own who is abusing drugs and alcohol, so must Romo’s teammates stage an immediate intervention for the embattled quarterback. His legacy—and the Cowboys’—depends on it.
There are also those voices who believe that Jason Garrett should “dumb down” the offense in order to make it more Romo-friendly. This, too, would be a faulty solution. According to QB Rating (again, for those who value this statistic), Romo’s lofty 94.2 would be third in history (behind Steve Young’s 96.8 and Manning’s 94.9. Note: in order to qualify, a QB must have 1,500 pass attempts; with 1,363, Romo should easily pass that threshold by October) and makes him the second-best active passer behind Manning. Should Romo indeed become, as Big Bill constantly preached, just a bus driver, handing off 35 times to his eclectic stable of backs? As good as Barber, Choice, and Felix Jones are, I’m not sure this is a viable course of action.
A fitting way to color the portrait of one Antonio Ramiro Romo, therefore, is with many brushes, each drawing a patron’s eyes to different sections of the canvas with every look. Romo is like a work of art by the famed abstract painter Picasso: the sum is clearly greater than the parts. One week it’s hide-the-women-and-children ugly (http://www.sgallery.net/artnews/data/upimages/2007/08/picasso.jpg) and the next it’s spend-three-hours-in-awe resplendent (http://www.artquotes.net/masters/picasso/picasso_guernica1937.jpg). In Dallas, however, the only masterpiece that matters is a Super Bowl ring. (Or at the very least, an NFC Championship ring. It is naïve to expect more from this heartless bunch.) Anything less is a complete and utter failure. While I’m not the ultimate judge, I will say with confidence that Romo’s repeated confessions always ring extraordinarily hollow. We’re all waiting, Tony. You’ve repented time and time again, but we have yet to see sustained excellence on the field. Perhaps we’re expecting too much. Maybe you just don’t have it between the ears to lead the Cowboys to the promised land. (My favorite local theory.) Instead of becoming Romo the Redeemed he’s merely Romo the Recidivist. The Book of Proverbs (that’s in the Bible, folks) reminds us well: As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. If Romo throws up many more atrocious games like he did on Sunday night I’ll be throwing up. And it’d be a travesty to waste the $6 I spent on the cup of Dr Pepper at Cowboys Stadium.
Here ends the lesson. And all of God’s people say . . . “Amen!”
NFL Week 2: Dallas Cowboys v. New York Giants – What to look for
September 20, 2009 by Cody Dunlap · Leave a Comment
A huge game goes down tonight at the Death Star (Cowboys Stadium). In other news, the sun rose in the East today.
After the jump, here’s a few things to look for in tonight’s game between the New York Football Giants and your Dallas Cowboys. Read more
Dallas Cowboy Injury Report – Giants Injuries
September 15, 2009 by Matt Lawrence · Leave a Comment
The Dallas Cowboys will face off against the New York Giants this week in what looks to be a pretty even matchup. The main factors outside of how the Cowboys – Giants play will be home field advantage and injuries suffered by each teams. The Dallas Cowboys hold home field advantage in their first meeting with the New York Giants (advantage Cowboys). The Cowboys also take a slight advantage in the injury category because none of the injuries the team sustained in last weeks match up are not expected to sideline anyone for this week.
Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants Injury Report & Game Information:
Cowboys – Giants Time: 7:15PM Central Time
Cowboys – Giants Day / Date: Sunday – September 20 2009
Cowboys – Giants Location: Cowboys Stadium – Arlington, Texas
Cowboys – Giants TV Channel: NBC
Cowboys – Giants Tickets:
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Dallas Cowboys Injury Report:(source: DallasCowboys.com)
- QB Tony Romo
Injury: Sprained Ankle
Report: finished the game last week and is expected to practice and play this week. - RB Felix Jones
Injury: Quad
Report:held out of second half of game last week - OLB Demarcus Ware
Injury: Head Injury
Report: took a hit and sat out for a few plays, but returned to play the rest of the game, and is expected to play this week. - S Gerald Sensabaugh
Injury: bruised ribs
Report:expects to practice and play this week.
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New York Giants Injury Report:
- CB Aaron Ross
Injury: Hamstring
Report: expected to miss practice and game against Cowboys - WR Hakeem Nicks
Injury: Sprained Foot
Report: expected to miss 2 – 3 weeksCowboys – Giants | Preview – TV Channel – Tickets
September 14, 2009 by Matt Lawrence · 1 Comment
The Dallas Cowboys offense looked impressive in their week 1 win over Tampa Bay. The Cowboys won the game 34 – 21 and Tony Romo impressed with 353 yards 3 TDs, which was good enough for a 140.6 QB rating. Something tells me that Tony and the Cowboys offense didn’t miss TO in the season opener, and the offense looked more efficient without the disgruntled WR. The Dallas Cowboys special teams looked great, the Buccaneers average starting position was their own 25 yard line. The defense looked suspect in the game, they could not stop the run at all. Hopefully Wade and the other defensive coaches can fix this problem before Giants RB Brandon Jacobs comes to town. Last week the Giants squeaked out a 23 – 17 win against the Redskins. The Cowboys-Giants match up favors the Cowboys by 2.5 – 3 in their home opener, party passes and tickets
are still available for this divisional showdown.
Cowboys – Giants | TV Channel – Game Information – Tickets
Cowboys – Giants Time: 7:15PM Central Time
Cowboys – Giants Day / Date: Sunday – September 20 2009
Cowboys – Giants Location: Cowboys Stadium – Arlington, Texas
Cowboys – Giants TV Channel: NBC
Cowboys – Giants Odds: betting odds
Cowboys – Giants Tickets:
- Dallas Cowboys Tickets as low as $45 at StubHub!
- Buy Dallas Cowboys Tickets at RazorGator
- NFL Tickets
Eagles-Giants NFC Divisional Round Preview and Prediction
January 9, 2009 by Jerod-Morris · Leave a Comment
For the record, I am not a Cowboys fan. I’m not one of those haters that actively roots for the Cowboys to lose and that wouldn’t even urinate on Jerry Jones if he were on fire — and believe me, they’re out there in hordes — but I do somewhat enjoy the ridiculous ebb and flow and overreaction of Cowboys fans and the media here in Dallas to everything that goes on at Valley Ranch.Why am I prefacing this post in such a manner? Well, because I just want to make it very clear that I have no inherent passion for the upcoming Eagles-Giants NFC Divisional Round playoff game this weekend, outside of just the normal interest that a football fan would have. However, the thought of writing an Eagles-Giants preview on Dallas Sports Fans, and rubbing a little more salt in the wounds of the Cowboys 2008 season, was just too delicious a thought to pass up.
(This just in: apparently, the Dallas Cowboys did not make the playoffs in 2008. Multiple media sources are reporting that the team’s prodigious hopes coming into the year went down in an infamous blaze of gory in Philadelphia two weekends ago. Can anyone else confirm this? Where is Randy Galloway when you need him…)
Robert may restrict my admin access after this post.
Anyway, before we go any further, below is a quick breakdown of this weekend’s Eagles-Giants NFC Divisional Round playoff game, in which both teams have a chance to do something that the Cowboys do not: advance to the NFC Championship game next weekend.
Philadelphia Eagles (10-6-1) at New York Giants (12-4)
- Sunday, January 11, 2009
- TV Schedule: 1:00 ET on FOX
- Announcer Pairing: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Pam Oliver
- Point Spread: New York Giants -4 1/2
- Over-Under Odds: 40
(Info for this game, and this weekend’s other games provided by the NFL Divisional Round Playoff TV Schedule post at MSF.)
Let’s run down some of the quick keys to the game real game, taken straight off the top of my head:
First, it is imperative that the Giants be able to establish a consistent passing game. Eli Manning and the passing attack of the Giants has been wildly inconsistent since Plaxico Burress was suspended following the infamous incident in which he shot himself in the leg. If you haven’t seen the hidden camera footage of the incident, or the untold story of how Plaxico was actually trying to shoot Tiki Barber, reported by Flash Sports Tonight, it’s rather interesting:
(BTW, if you can’t see the video, just head over to the FST website and watch it there.)
Anyway, guys like Domenik Hixon and Amani Toomer are going to have step up and give Eli Manning consistent targets on 3rd down — and catch the ball. Hixon has had trouble shaking the dropsies, and will need to correct that for the Giants to be able to threaten the Eagles defense in multiple ways. We know the Giants will be able to run the ball, and they have Brandon Jacobs back healthy and ready to play, but they will need balance against the Eagles D and Jim Johnson, who are playing at an extremely high level right now.
On the flip side, Philadelphia’s offense needs to be balanced as well. It goes without saying that Brian Westbrook needs to stay healthy and play the entire game for Philly to have a chance. He is the motor that makes the Eagles go and provides a dynamic threat to any defense. But he can’t beat a team like the Giants all by himself. The Eagles will throw the ball, and they will throw it a lot, and they need to threaten the Giants downfield to open up the inside running and short passes to Westbrook out of the backfield. For this to happen, Donovan McNabb needs to be accurate and they need a big game from DeSean Jackson.
A couple quick links to give you more info and better analysis that I’m capable of providing:
Giants-Eagles Preview — (Pat Kirwan, NFL.com)
Giants D-Line must pressure McNabb — (Thomas George, NFL.com)
And now, before I give you my prediction, chime in with yours:
[poll id="4"]
(And for the record, if you vote for the Cowboys, you are either an idiot, Jessica Simpson, or Jerry Jones. Honestly, I’m not sure which of those three I would rather be — or which one would do a better job of running the team.)
Sounds like another poll to me!
[poll id="5"]
This is the joy of having admin access and posting before Robert even wakes up. This post will go live before he can edit this post.
Okay, I’m done playing around. Time to offer up a prediction that you can take to the bank to be absolutely and terribly wrong.
The Giants have been an outstanding team all year long, and obviously have the better pedigree having won the Super Bowl last year. Philadelphia always seems to be that team that is just dangerous enough to win some games in the playoffs, but never can quite get over the hump. I like how Philly’s D is playing, and the fact that Brian Westbrook appears healthy and is providing that dynamic running/receiving threat gives them a fighting chance.
But I’m going with the defending champs. Having Brandon Jacobs back means that the great trio of Jacobs-Ward-Bradshaw and can pound away at the Eagles D and take some pressure off of Eli Manning and his undermanned received corps. I think the threat of the run, combined with play-action, will allow Eli to spread the ball around effectively to Hixon, Toomer, Steve Smith, and Kevin Boss.
I agree with Pat Kirwan of NFL.com and pretty much everyone else who thinks that this game will go down the final drive and be an outstanding, exciting viewing experience. In the end, I like the Giants to make the one or two plays that will decide the game, and to ride their running back trio into the NFC Championship game next week.
New York Giants 24 | Philadelphia Eagles 20 | Dallas Cowboys 0
Maybe next year Cowboys fans. But this weekend, you’ll have to watch the two best, most consistent, and most well-run franchises in the NFC East duke it out. And it should be one hell of a game to watch.
- Dallas Cowboys Tickets as low as $45 at StubHub!
