Just figured I'd start up a thread for the discussion of the opening game of the year. I fully expect Dallas to dominate this game. The Giants D-Line is very weak, and I'm thinking Julius and Marion should each have big games, while Romo runs an efficient offense, much like he did his first few starts last year. </p> On the Giants side, if they score a TD, I'll be shocked. This is going to be one of the toughest secondaries in the NFL this year with Hamlin, Williams, and Newman all out there. And to be honest, Eli is awful. If he gets frustrated early on, the Cowboys will be able to coast to a win. He'll need to stay away from early mistakes if they want any chance. They'll also need to find a way to replace Tiki. He accounted for over half of their offense last year, and I'm not sold on Jacobs quite yet.</p> In the end, I'm expecting the 'Boys to thrash the Giants. I'm thinking something like a 27-6 rout in this one. The RB combo of Jones/Barber is going to be too much. Plus, if they manage to stop that, Dallas can go to the air. Romo is going to have another Pro Bowl-esque season, and I fully expect Owens to flourish even more this year. He and Romo looked like they had great chemistry last year, so I'm thinking this year they should be quite the dynamic duo. </p>
Praise!</p> I will say that we're going to be hurt with Glenn out for a while, but Crayton's got amazing hands, and we've got good depth in Hurd. Here's a question: will we see any of Isiah Stanbeck? Hm?</p> I wouldn't completely say that the G-Men's D-Line is garbage; if Strahan plays he could be effective. Although our O-Line is much improved, he's always given us trouble in the past.</p> Also, F the giants . I'm predicting Cowboys 86 - Giants 3 </p>
I think Strahan is trash now. He's old and washed up. He's not as quick off the ball as he used to be and he's lost more than just a step. He's been highly ineffective recently, and I honestly think he could be more of a hinderance to the G-mens D-line than anything this year. We'll see though, I'm just not bought on him anymore. If a guy was seriously contemplating retirement, you just have to wonder if he can do it anymore and if he has the heart and will to do it.
I know a win is in our cards. We have the offense to do it with. Owens, Crayton,Witten will just destroy in the air, while Jones will power it up the middle and Barber can on some plays, finish it off. The Romo Vs. Eli match-up I love, because Romo is a much better QB with control of his offense and his QB skill is much higher. He should go 14/26 with 2 TD passes and keep everyone happy.</p> On defense I absolutely love our LBs. DeMarcus Ware is amazing. I don't care about the comparisons to Shawn Merriman, if not able to be better. With James - Carpenter - Ware and/ or Akin Ayodele, then behind them Roy Williams we can just shut down the G-Men's running game then with Newman - Henry - Hamlin, I mean, we have a great defense. </p> This should and will be a win to start 1-0. My score prediction is 28-7, Jeremy Shockey with the only G-Men TD. Owens will have 1 TD, Jones with 2, Crayton with 1. </p>
While it'd be nice to see Julius get a couple TDs, it's unlikely. Marion Barber is a TD vulture for this team, and when they get to the goal line is when they use him the most. That'll be the case once again this year. Julius might get 6 or 7 this year, but Barber is going to get the bulk again and end up with 15 or so.
Well, Barber is the TD king for the Cowboys, I guess it is because Jones just runs it up to the goal line, and Barber finishes. I think Jones will have about 8 and Barber with 15 or so like you said. I really want a big year out of Owens. </p> BTW, I have a sig bet with Chutney, so GMJigga, if I win, can you make me a really embarrassing sig showing how the Cowboys own the Giants, if you have time. Thanks Bud</p>
Is Newman even playing? I heard he's going through injury problems that'll make him much less effective. Even if he's on, your secondary's nowhere near as imposing as it was last season. Better hope the pass rush is working, because I can see Eli shredding a Newman-less secondary.</p> And you're badly underrating our D-Line. Umenyiora's one of the best DE's in the league and nobody seems to know about the monster that is Justin Tuck. Strahan's probably going to be a little slower since he didn't go through preseason, but he would still start for most teams in the NFL, and we have him alternating off our bench. Fred Robbins had a breakout season last year and I don't see why he can't build upon it. Besids that, you have a fast, athletic linebacker core right behind them that will be blitzing a lot this season. </p> Don't let the second half of last season cloud your judgement with the Giants. We had massive injury problems and two terrible coordinators (both of who've been replaced). We might not make the playoffs this season, but we'll be a hell of an underdog and tonight's game will be a closer than you think.</p>
You do have your good points there, but you forget a couple things. First, you lost Tiki Barber. I don't care how good Brandon Jacobs is, he's not Tiki. By losing Tiki, you lost over half of your offense, and your'e going to have issues replacing that. Jacobs will be decent, but he can't do everything Tiki could.</p> Secondly, Eli Manning is your QB. He's pure garbage. It's like I said earlier, if Dallas can force him to a mistake early on, or pressure him frequently, he'll be awful all game. He lets things get to him far too often and lets a mistake linger around him all game. If he screws up early on, you guys will be hard pressed to do anything against Dallas. Cause, when Eli struggles, he struggles. I don't see how this will be any different this year. </p> </p>
Losing Tiki is tough. There's no doubt about that. But you need to understand that when you say we lost the majority of our offense with his retirement, much of that is because of our previous offensive coordinator. Huffnagel was incredibly incompetent. He couldn't set up a passing offense that suited Eli's strengths, didn't understand how to start a solid drive, and was predictable as hell (I've never seen the "screen pass" used so many times in a single series). All of that meant that we usually had to hand the ball to Tiki in tough situations and hope for the best. And to his credit, he did a remarkable job.</p> But we have an offensive philosophy that makes a hell of a lot more sense and I think it'll help us cope with the loss of Tiki. The Brandon-Droughns power duo is a look that not a lot teams have and it should wear down opponent's run D's early and often. And it won't have to shoulder all the load, because our passing game is healthy and dangerous once again. The Burress-Toomer-Steve Smith WR core is a versatile trio that suits Eli's game (short accurate throws, peppered with the occaisonal deep route to the outside corner). And not to mention Shockey, who's finally ready to be used more effectively in the passing game again.</p> I'd also say that you're badly underrating Eli. In fact, I believe he's a better QB than Romo that has never had a stable O-line and has dealt with injured teammates and a general lack of effort from his supposed number 1 target over the years. </p>
I agree that Dallas has the best chance of winning but you never know, being that it is the first game of the season, never know what happens.
I can't see how I'm underrating Eli. He's never proven anything. He's shown he knows how to choke, but that's about it. I just have an issue with someone that lets one mistake rattle him all game, like he does. You mention him being better than Romo, but I don't think so. Romo has one thing that Eli doesn't, and that's confidence. While that can be a double edged sword, at least Romo doesn't let a mistake haunt him. Listening to him in the offseason after botching that snap, he's still got a ton of confidence. That's the big thing I like about him. </p> I'll say Eli does still have the ability to be a great QB. He's got the tools. He's shown flashes of brilliance (first half of last season), he just hasn't shown it consistently. He needs to start showing up to play every week, instead of showing up one week and forgetting what color his teams jersey's are the next. I just don't think he's got the confidence level to get to the next level. So regardless of his weapons, I just don't see him breaking through. Unless he proves he can bounce back from a mistake and not suck the rest of the game, he's never going to be more than mediocre. And that'll be the ultimate downfall of the Giants if that happens. </p> You also mention how different the Jacobs/Droughns backfield is compared to the rest of the league, and I don't know if that's good. Having two power backs could be good, but it's not going to vary your running. A team could stack the line of scrimmage on any given play, and if there's no hole to go up the middle, neither of them have the footspeed or quickness to burst outside. That's why most teams have a power/finesse duo in their backfield (Bush/Deuce, Jones/Barber, etc.), simply cause you want to give your opponent a different look on occasion. The Giants won't be able to do that with their backfield, so it'll be relatively easy to gameplan a game to stop them. </p>
Don't know where you get the idea that he chokes. He's been known as one of the more clutch starting QB's in the league (mainly for singlehandedly engineering game winning drives against Denver, Dallas, and an amazing one last season against Philly). The kid's shown a ton of potential and has performed when given a fair chance. A fair chance. That's the key thing. He's had terrible blocking over the years (his blindside has never been protected well) that has always prevented him from getting in a rhythm. He's had an incompetent O-coordinator that has made him throw the one pass he's always struggled with. He's had half-hearted selfish teammates, who by the mere fact of seniority, have often made being a leader more difficult (he's shown tremendous progress this season, with Tiki finally gone). And he's lead a team that's struggled with injuries (two years ago our defense was hobbled and destroyed by the Panthers in the playoffs, and look at the roster we put out in the 2nd half of last season... it was one of the worst in the NFL). Throw Romo in a similar situation and I don't think we'd even be talking about him right now.</p> I agree with you about the lack of variety in our running game (personally I hoped we could get Dominic Rhodes). Although we have a rookie in Ahmad Bradshaw who's been impressive in preseason, its still not going to prevent us from being a little predictable. The only thing I can say about this is that, for the first time is quite some time, the passing game will be the focus of our offense instead of the run. Teams will be worrying more about the WR's and hopefully it'll allow Jacobs to do his thing.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Master Shake)</div><div class='quotemain'> BTW, I have a sig bet with Chutney, so GMJigga, if I win, can you make me a really embarrassing sig showing how the Cowboys own the Giants, if you have time. Thanks Bud</p></div> Haha, I am thoroughly behind this cause </p>
I'm excited to see our depth come through. With Ellis, Newman, and Glenn out I'm expecting big things. Jacque Reeves starting at corner kind of scares me, but perhaps Courtney Brown will get a look? Will Carpenter and Burnett step up (By the way I'm thinking this could be a big year for Burnett)? Will we see anything out of this mythical project Isiah Stanbeck? Should be interesting
Damn everyone thinks the Giants are trash.... lol</p> I think it'll be closer than ya'll think. They are always close and both teams always fight to the end. I think with Tiki gonbe Eli will have a good game and will lead them to victory.</p> 27-21 </p>
6-3. I like how Jones is playing so far. He is really having his way with the G-Men. If only the offense and Romo can get on the same page, we should be in business. Giants on offense now with 6:26 left in the first. Lets go Cowboys!
