Must See Matchup Dal vs Giants!!!!

            Rivalries are a well-discussed topic when it comes to sports. Football has a ton of great rivalries, created for different reasons. We as fans sometimes create our own personal rivalries with a particular team. That can be because a friend likes a team you don’t, a girlfriend may be a fan of a different team than yours, or you just flat out hate another team. The Dallas Cowboys have many rivalries throughout the NFL. None bigger that the New York Giants.

            The New York Giants reside in the NFC East along with the Cowboys. That automatically makes two teams rivals. Throw in the two recent super bowls, elimination from the playoffs on a numerous occasions, and some hard fight battles and you get one of the better rivalries in the league right now.

            Week one of the 2017 regular season will be headlined by the Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants and it will be must see TV! These two teams have met 4 times in the last 5 seasons on week one. The Cowboys are 3-1 in those four match ups! These two teams matchup well with each other and both teams have the potential win the super bowl this season. This will be a very interesting game and one that I can’t wait to see.

            I’ve already done two other blogs on the Packers and Falcons match ups. I think this week one matchup between the Cowboys and Giants can jump start a run from either team. The confidence levels for these players will sky rocket with a win. Think about it, these are two playoff teams playing in week one. Both teams won over 10 games a season ago. The Giants will pit their top 10 defense vs the Cowboys top 5 offense. The best thing about this matchup is that it all starts up front.

            Last off-season the Giants spent over $200 million and revamped that struggling defense and man did it pay off. Damon “Snacks” Harrison is an absolute monster in the middle of the defense. He gave the Cowboys interior linemen hell all game. It was something to see this huge 340 lbs man play the entire game and just cause disruption. He is the single reason that the Giants are able to play the Cowboys the way they do. He is able to set the point of attack at the line and create flow lanes for those linebackers. This allow them to fill gaps and slow down the Cowboys rushing attack. This also allows them to play man coverage on the outside because they don’t have to commit the safeties to stopping the run. Throw in Jernoris Jenkins, Dominque Rogers Cromartie, and Landon Collins and you have a very tough unit. Harrison’s ability to win at the point of attack is the lone reason that the Giants are able to beat the Cowboys. I haven’t even mention Oliver Vernon and Jason Pierre Paul (JPP)…. SMH. I didn’t know that Veron was so good in run support. I knew he was a good pass rusher, but his ability to play the run is what made him special last season. JPP is just an animal. He is long, strong, quick, powerful, and he just seems to make plays. This Giants defense was something special and I fully expect them to be better in year two.

            Last year’s week one contest against the Giants was Dak Prescott’s first game as a starter. He didn’t play bad but he looked like a rookie. He missed some open receivers, left the pocket sooner than he should have, and wasn’t being aggressive down the field. With all that said he put the Cowboys in a position to win the game and had it not been for Terrance Williams, they may have kicked a long field goal for the win. As the season went on Dak played excellent and allowed the offense to come to him. The second game against the Giants was not a great one for the offense as a whole. There is plenty of room for improvement and the Cowboys have to be better prepared for this Giants defense this season.

            The addition of Brandon Marshall gives this Giants offense a different dimension. Marshall will not be the number one target. He will give Eli a big target and an outlet when Eli wants to just throw the ball up for grabs. Eli did this a lot with Plaxico Buress and Marshall is the same size and has a similar game to Buress.

            The Giants offense begins and ends with Odell Beckum Jr (OBJ). The Cowboys don’t have an answer for OBJ or Marshall so manning up probably won’t win them the game. The Cowboys are going to have to get to Eli early and often. Sacking Eli, forcing bad passes, batting balls down at the line of scrimmage, and forcing Eli out the pocket is the only hope the Cowboys have on defense. OBJ didn’t have big games against the Cowboy last season, he also didn’t have Brandon Marshall on the other side of him either.

            I think the difference in this year’s matchup will be Dak Prescott. When Romo was the starting quarterback, he would kill the Giants with his mobility and using it to extend plays. Dak will have to do a lot of the same things Romo did. With an entire off-season to prepare, Dak will be ready to take on this defense. That means Dak will know how to get Dez involved, when to leave the pocket vs when to check it down. He will know to find Vernon on the outside and adjust the protections to help on that side. This week one matchup should be a great game and will probably be one of the better games all season.