Beasts of the East

[KiwiSupaFlyNuka]

Beasts Of The East

November 9, 2007

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. –It has been almost 14 years since the Giants and Dallas Cowboys played each other with so much on the line. On Jan. 2, 1994 – the final day of the 1993 season – the Cowboys invaded Giants Stadium with first place in the NFC East and the top seed in the conference playoffs at stake. Dallas won a thrilling game in overtime, 16-13.

QB Eli Manning will look to have a similar offense performance on Sunday as he did opening night. (GETTY)

Since then, the Giants and Cowboys have played several exciting and memorable games in their twice-yearly meetings, but none this late in the season with the division lead up for grabs. Until now. On Sunday, the 7-1 Cowboys will visit the 6-2 Giants, who own a six-game winning streak. A Cowboys’ victory would be their second this season over the Giants and give them a commanding lead in the NFC East. But a Giants’ triumph would create a tie atop the division with seven games to go.

“We are excited about the game,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said. “Everybody knows it is a big one. Every time you play a division team it is going to be a big game especially because both teams have been playing well and winning games.”

“Divisional games have great significance because they are the direct route to get to where you want to go,” Coach Tom Coughlin said. “Our games with the Dallas Cowboys, with the Eagles, with the Redskins, are always big games. And this is at a point in the season where we move into that second half and it is an important game and it is at home and it is in the division.”

Michael Strahan is the only player on either team remaining from that 1993 game. Then a rookie, Strahan played briefly as a reserve before re-injuring his foot, which had kept him out of seven games earlier in the season.

This summer, Strahan skipped training camp while contemplating whether or not to retire. He decided to return for his 15th season, in part to play in games like these.

“This is definitely part of the fun,” Strahan said, “to be in one of these games that really counts, especially midway through the season, and to play against the Cowboys, one of our biggest rivals, if not our biggest right now.”

In addition to the high stakes, this game is particularly special for Strahan and the other members of the Giants defense. The opener in Dallas was the first regular season game under new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Osi Umenyiora left the game early with a knee injury, forcing Strahan to take most of the snaps after not playing at all in the preseason. Mathias Kiwanuka, new to linebacker, and Kawika Mitchell, new to the team, were out of sync.

The defense was a step behind all night as Tony Romo sits to pee threw for 345 yards and four touchdowns and the Cowboys piled up 45 points, 478 total yards and 142 rushing yards, all season-highs for a Giants opponent, in a 10-point victory.

“It left an extremely bad taste in my mouth,” Mitchell said this week. “I personally had a terrible game. It’s a terrible thing to see 45 points. Anytime a team does that and you get to face them again, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

After Green Bay and Washington scored a total of 52 points in the next six quarters, the Giants had allowed 97 points in 2½ games. They have given up only 62 points in the 5½ games since and, not coincidentally, have not lost. Since Coughlin and Spagnuolo inserted Kiwanuka and Justin Tuck as interior pass rushers on passing downs, the Giants have had the NFL’s best pass rush. They lead the league with 30 sacks. The pass coverage has improved. The defense is now ranked seventh overall, yielding only 296.1 yards a game.

Now the defense gets to complete the circle in a rematch with the Cowboys.

“We will make a different statement,” Kiwanuka said. “We are not going to make predictions or anything like that, but just the way that we are going to play will be different. Obviously, it was a pretty bad last game and we want to get that corrected. We feel like these last couple of weeks, not just going into this game, but all of the weeks leading up to this one have been about correcting those mistakes.”

“It definitely gives us a great opportunity to see how far we’ve come and see the things we’re doing differently,” Tuck said. “We want to keep ourselves on the right track as far as the things we’re doing differently from that first game.”

The most significant deployment change from that game in Dallas is the use of Tuck and Kiwanuka as inside pass rushers. Tuck has 7.0 sacks, while Kiwanuka has 4.5. But just as significant will be the increased presence of Umenyiora and the improved condition of Strahan.

Umenyiora went out in the game’s first series. Although it was feared he would miss some time, he has started every game. Umenyiora is tied for fifth in the league with 8.0 sacks (including a team-record 6.0 vs. Philadelphia) and has twice been named NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

“I only played like three or four plays the last game and then I got hurt, so obviously you don’t want that to happen again,” Umenyiora said. “I am excited to be up and hopefully I will be able to make a difference.

“I didn’t play and Strahan was just getting back into the swing of things, but as a defense we just weren’t ready to play against that kind of offense. We had not jelled, we weren’t cohesive, and we weren’t working as we are working right now, so it is a totally different defense and a totally different team. They have gotten better also…it is going to be a very good game.”

Despite his lack of training, Strahan had five tackles (four solo) in the opener. He has since contributed four sacks to increase his career total to a Giants record 136.5. More importantly, he is again a force on the left side of the defense against both the run and the pass.

“I think just the speed of the defense and the knowledge of what we want to do make us a totally different team right now,” Strahan said. “The first few weeks I think we were searching for our identity and just to understand what Coach Spagnuolo wanted us to do. Now we understand and we get to our responsibilities as fast and, I guess, as violently as we can. It has been working for us and that is the motto or creed we are going to live by.”

Of course, there is still the little matter of stopping a Dallas offense that is ranked second in the NFL and features Romo sits to pee (who has thrown for more than 300 yards five times), Terrell Owens (who caught 10 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown last week in Philadelphia), tight end Jason Witten (who caught six passes for 116 yards and a score in the opener) and the running back tandem of Julius Jones and Marion Barber (a combined 888 yards and eight touchdowns).

The Giants believe they are much better equipped to handle that chore than they were two months ago.

“(The defense is) fast, aggressive and selfish with each other,” Strahan said. “We want to make plays. If a guy makes a tackle, we are upset we didn’t make it; if a guy gets a sack or more, we are upset we are not making those sacks. I think this defense is very selfish amongst each other. We love each other, but we always want to outperform each other. I think that has made us a lot better.”

“I think we had them in third and longs in a number of situations, but they were just able to convert (in the first meeting),” Umenyiora said. “They were getting big chunks of yardage at a time. I don’t think it was a situation where we just went out there and got demolished. We just weren’t prepared on third down to make the plays that we needed to make. I think if we are able to get them into the same situations, the result will be totally different.

“They have all those weapons, but defensively, we have a lot of weapons ourselves. As concerned as we are about them, they must be concerned about us. It is going to be a battle between the both of us.”

*On the Giants injury report, WR Steve Smith is out with the scapula/hamstring injuries, RB Derrick Ward is doubtful with the ankle/groin injuries, and WR Plaxico Burress is questionable, as he has been for the last six weeks with his ankle injury.

*WR Terry Glenn (knee) is out for the Cowboys. WR Isaiah Stanback (shoulder) is questionable, and CB Anthony Henry (ankle) and S Patrick Watkins (ankle) are probable.

*The Giants are counting on vocal support from their fans Sunday. They will wear their red jerseys against the Cowboys for the third year in a row and are urging their fans to also wear red.

“We are expecting the 12th man to be a big factor - a huge factor in the game,” Coughlin said. “It is a great challenge for our fans to come out and be extremely supportive and help our football team in the right situations at the right time. Dallas is very good on third down, but we need our crowd. Our players need to know that our crowd is in the game right with us as we play against Dallas.”

*A Giants victory will give the team its first seven-game winning streak since the 1990 Super Bowl champions won their first 10 games.

[Heidenreich]

31-13 Dallas.

The game won't even be that close.....

[CowboysSaintsFan]

It PAINS me to type this, but...

17-14 Giants in a slugfest.

[St_Redskin]

Slugfest yes. More like 24-14 Dallass though.

Next week at Texass Stadium.... 34-17 Skins

[Gman86]

Skins scoring 34 coooooomoooooon. No lies i dont know whats gonna happen this weekend i think its evenly matched could go either way. But its just one of those games i just wish would come already.

[KiwiSupaFlyNuka]

31-13 Giants.

The game won't even be that close.....

I agree with that..

[Warhead36]

I've got the Giants winning this week, but the Cowboys ultimately winning the division.

If the Skins aren't in it I would love to see the two teams play again in the postseason....

[bubba9497]

wait

isn't this a REDSKIN Message Board?