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Thursday, September 6, 2012

More Olgetree Please! Giants v Cowboys Recap

Tony Romo gets all the blame when things go wrong in D-town, so its only fair that he receives some praise for last nights performance. A slow start for both teams, Romo got it going towards the end of the second half and never looked back. He made the throws he needed to make, converted on third downs and put his team in the best position to win. He had help along the way and The Cowboys balanced attack (307 by Romo through the air, 131 by Murray on the ground) keep that very talented New York Giant defensive line guessing the whole game. Kevin Ogletree came up big picking up right where Laurant Robinson left off. Dallas has a ton of playmakers so the WR3 is always going to see one on one matchups. He took advantage of his opportunity, now lets see if he can sustain success. Here are some of my pregame match ups looking back to see how this game was won.

Dallas new secondary vs Giants WRs

Its safe to say there is a new sheriff in town and his name is Brandon Carr. Lined up on Victor Cruz most of the night he was held to just 6 catches for 58 and zero touchdowns. He was lined up man on man most of the night with little or no help over the top. He is shutdown and worth every penny the Cowboys spent. Rookie Morris Claiborne had a pretty good outing as well matched up against Hakeem Nicks who was held to 4 catches for 38 yards and zero touchdowns. Their ability to lock-down receivers on the outside means more time DeMarcus Ware has to get to the QB. (2 sacks last night). Advantage Cowboys

Dallas O-line vs NASCAR 

For the most part the Dallas O-line held their own. You wont expect a perfect game out of this group, but when your team can put up almost 500 yards of total offense the first night out the big uglies upfront were doing their job. I thought Jason Garrett did a great job of mixing the run with the pass with a balanced attack. (29 attempts from Romo, 20 carries for Murray). Doing this always gives an advantage to a young offensive line. They gave up a few sacks and a few blown assignments, but that is to be expected when you face NASCAR. Advantage Cowboys

I predicted the Cowboys to win this game and I am glad they proved me right. But CowboysFan don't get all amped up and go SuperBowl or bust now. Enjoy the win and hope your team is ready for next week.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Thank You Tebow, Football Back! Giants v. Cowboys Preview

Tonight is opening night in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys taking on defending Superbowl Champion New York Giants. Today's game not only brings back the game which so many people love so dearly, but offers as good a kickoff game that any sport could offer. This rivalry has heated up in the past few years with the playoff success of the Giants and subsequent failures for the Dallas Cowboys. Once again the Giants fly under the radar starting the season. Not a Superbowl favorite by anyone, hell, some experts don't even expect them to win the NFC East. All the jaw-jacking and back and forth is over with, time to strap on the pads and settle it on the field for all America to see. Here are a few keys to the game.

Dallas Offensive Line vs New York Defensive Line

With all the talent and upgrading that the Dallas Cowboys did this off season, they have yet to put together a group that can be successful in the NFC East. The Giants defensive line has had their way with the Cowboys pass protection each of the past few seasons and is the only thing from keeping Dallas from being a legit contender. The only way to slow down their pass rush is to keep them guessing. Too many times Tony Romo goes a roll hitting five or six passes in a row and then they abandon the run. This feed right into a pass rusher's mentality. If they know they can just pin their ears back and come after you its makes things a lot simpler in their mind. But if you stick with the run, throw some screens and draws that should help this young offensive line and the Dallas offense as a whole.

Dallas Secondary vs New York Recievers

Dallas did all they could to upgrade a terrible secondary from last year. They moved up in the draft to take standout corner Morris Claiborne from LSU and paid a pretty penny to have Brandon Carr be their lockdown guy. They will be tested tonight against a team with a veteran QB and a slew of talent on the outside. Nicks is a bit nicked up, but should be fine tonight. Victor Cruz has been getting number 1 attention since the middle of last year. I do think the secondary will progess as the season goes along, but to have this be your first test is like walking into a Physics test when you've been studying Sociology all night. Eli will test the young corner and how he responds early will give u a good explanation on how the rest of the game will go.

Prediction

Both of these teams are very talented. They play each other a lot and know each other very well. This will be a close game, but I do think the Cowboys pull this game out. They are fighting for pride. They lost the last week of the regular season to see these Giants make that run and become Superbowl champions. That is all they have thought about all off season and will play a motivated game. Although the front four of the Giants can cause damage I don't see the back 7 being able to keep up with the playmakers Dallas has on offense even without Jason Witten. 28-24 Cowboys over Giants