NFL
By: Greg Rector
Dallas Cowboys (9-4) vs New York Giants (4-9) 1 PM Sunday, December 19th
One of these days there will be a complete sixty-minute game played by the Dallas Cowboys right? After absolutely dominating the WFT for the first half to the tune of a 24-0 halftime lead, yet again as per usual the Cowboys stumbled and bumbled their way into a 27-20 win. They got lucky to escape with the victory, You all know how much I despise letting the foot off the gas especially against a divisional opponent, doing so against a team that was basically missing their first-team defensive line and for good measure lost both their backup defensive ends, entered the game without their top tight end, their 2nd running back option, and then during this game lost their left tackle, number one wide receiver, and the starting quarterback, but escape with a 7 point win. Absolutely ridiculous to be outscored 20 to 3 against that many backups. Let’s look ahead to the end of this three-game road trip as the Cowboys travel to New Jersey.
Dallas Defense vs Giants Offense
Don’t get me wrong as someone who only ever played defense I absolutely loved most of what the defense did for one half against the No Names, creating turnovers, getting sacks, and forcing three and outs is music to my ears. Where that went to in the second half is beyond me (Looking at the coaching staff AGAIN!!!) It appears Daniel Jones is no closer to coming back as the Giants starting quarterback, therefore Mike Glennon will likely be the starter for the 3rd straight game. If that’s the case then the feeding frenzy the Cowboys front had on Taylor Heinicke, should be repeated, and please do so for an entire game Dallas. Is that asking too much? We know in the first meeting between the two teams the foot was taken off the gas and the Giants scored late in the game. The Giants’ offense simply has due to injuries never really gotten on track all year. They have flashes and then turnovers or rather anemic play courtesy of the offensive line stall drives. Saquon Barkley still is nowhere near the running back he was prior to his injury either. That means it’s time to turn the defense loose. Attack the Giants and this time don’t stop attacking. I could care less if the lead is 3 points or 30 points, play for the entire game, no playing prevent defense is allowed. This is the time of the year for a killer instinct from the opening kick off until the clock hits 00:00 sixty minutes later. It was a pleasure watching the Cowboys’ defense that had their projected starting lineup together for the first time all season go to work for 30 minutes. It’s clear that despite the doubts I and so many others had going into the season about this group, this defense can be a very dangerous group. With the struggles the high-paid offensive side of the Cowboys is having, this group will need to continue to perform beyond expectations. With the way Micah Parsons is playing currently, I’m sorry Myles Garrett and TJ Watt fans, it’s not just the Defensive Rookie of the Year, but quite possibly since 1983 when some guy named Lawrence Taylor won the DROY and Defensive Player of the year playing for the Giants, that could happen as well for Parsons this season. His second half of the season has been phenomenal.
Giants Defense vs Cowboys Offense
Once again the Cowboys’ offense was pedestrian, to put it mildly against Washington. Now the total yardage for the game was reduced thanks to the turnovers created by the defense. However yet again the struggles continue for this group. Of course, you can look at the quarterback play and attack Dak, or you could look deeper and see that this group is not in sync from the play of the line to receivers going in one direction while the quarterback thinks they are going the other way, too many throws sailing high above the receivers, all in all as a unit the Cowboys offense has simply been below average for every game except against Atlanta since the missed game by Prescott due to his calf injury. The ground game did put up over 100 yards against Washington which was a positive. Hopefully, Tony Pollard returns to the lineup against the Giants. Kudos to Cory Clement for coming in and doing his job, but Pollard is a true threat that teams must account for. Besides the far too many passes that were sailing high above the receivers, I have to wonder why we don’t see more of that group coming back to the football to give Prescott easier targets. The group is not getting enough separation between themselves and defenders. This Giants defense can be lit up, the Cowboys did so in the first meeting and the Los Angeles Chargers absolutely did so on Sunday. Now some of the second-half struggles could be partially attributed to losing both tackles, Tyron Smith was landed on by McGovern, while La’el Collins was ejected after overreacting when Prescott was pushed out of bounds legally, discipline matters and yet again Collins showed a lack of it. Statistics chasing time is over, this group must worry about one thing only, getting victories, that is all that matters. Likely to be a cold day again come Sunday, so for me, all I want is better execution. Everyone must come together on this offense. There’s no way the Dallas Cowboys can defeat teams in the playoffs with this caliber of play as a group. One thing the Cowboys did do just enough against Washington was keeping drives alive. That’s what is needed in December football. The fanbase needs to keep that in mind as well. This isn’t the time of the year for 400 yards of passing with 5 touchdowns. It’s time to focus on EFFICIENCY and EFFORT.
Intangibles and Prediction
Back-to-back weeks in two of the league’s worst stadiums for injuries. Outside of Tyron Smith’s status, it appears the Cowboys left Fed Ex Field fairly healthy. Staying that way at Met Life Stadium will be just as important. The weather as well will be a factor. If it’s cold and windy in New Jersey that means relying on four field goals again would be a mistake. The Giants are not a threat to the Dallas Cowboys, so of course, the inevitable taking an opponent for granted caution appears here (We all knew that was coming right?) Personally with making five or six more plays on offense than they managed against Washington, and having the first-half effort from the defense for all four quarters, I don’t see this game as being close. Therefore I am going with a 30 to 13 final with the Cowboys coming out on top.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
