By Steven Panzarella
If someone would have told you the Dallas Cowboys would be in last place in the NFC East at the halfway mark of the season, you would not have believed it. The Cowboys were the NFC’s Super Bowl favorite, even though the defending champion New York Giants came into the season looking just as good or better.
On Sunday, Dallas showed that without QB Tony Romo keeping them in the game they would be unable to stay in a fight with a great defensive team like the Giants.
The Giants got a solid performance from Brandon Jacobs who ran for 117 yards on 17 carries, and got a good enough performance from Eli Manning who out-dueled Cowboys’ backups Brad Johnson and Brookes Bollinger. Manning had 147 yards passing and threw for 3 touchdowns. Seven of the Cowboys’ 14 points were scored on an Eli Manning interception that was taken into the end zone.
Both Johnson and Bollinger struggled: Johnson threw 2 interceptions in the first half and threw for only 70 yards on 5 completions and Bollinger came out after the half and his first pass went the other way for an interception. Bollinger threw a late touchdown, but it was meaningless.
On the defensive side of the ball the Giants were led by outside linebacker Danny Clark, defensive end Justin Tuck, who recorded 2.5 sacks, as well as one sack by Mathias Kiwanuka. In the secondary, the Giants got 2 interceptions by Cory Webster and one by James Butler. The defense was absolutely brilliant and with help from the Giants running game and some great passes by Eli Manning, the Giants were far too much for their division rivals.
Now the Giants have to look forward to a Sunday night game in Philadelphia. This game is important because finally the Giants will have played one game against each of their division rivals, and if they score a victory in Philly they have a chance to quickly win this division. That is something that may not be possible for the 5-4 Cowboys.
After the 35-14 trouncing by the Giants, Dallas has an uphill climb and these next 3 or 4 weeks for the NFC East are rather important.
Coming into this week’s game at Philadelphia, the 7-1 Giants are actually being called 3 point underdogs, which should keep the Giants on their toes. If their Super Bowl run taught us anything, it’s that picking against the New York Giants just makes them a better team. Expect a great match in Philly and one that, like most of their matchups, will come down to late game heroics. The Eagles will need a great performance by Brian Westbrook and a mistake-free performance from Donovan McNabb. If the Eagles can keep it close against the Giants, this should be a very interesting affair.
Look for a big game for the Giants defense, and maybe a (sort of) return to form for Eli Manning whose last few weeks have included mistakes and turnovers. This great NFC East matchup should help give us a better look at how the east will ultimately end up and if the Eagles can beat the Giants that will put them right into the mix of the division race.