Cowboys, Giants in Different Places
The Associated Press
By DAVE GOLDBERG
November 30, 2006
Six weeks ago, the New York Giants seemed on the way to the NFC East title. The Dallas Cowboys were reeling. They're in opposite places when they meet Sunday at the Meadowlands. The turnaround actually started with New York's 36-22 win in Dallas, when Tony Romo replaced Drew Bledsoe at halftime as Dallas quarterback.
The Giants, on the other hand, lost defenders LaVar Arrington, Osi Umenyiora, Brandon Short and Justin Tuck to injuries in that game, the beginning of a run of aches and pains that leaves them a game behind the Cowboys in the division and on life support with their fans and media.
But things can change quickly.
A win Sunday and New York (6-5) would be back even with Dallas (7-4) and hold the tiebreaker because the Giants won that game in Dallas, which showed up only sporadically on television because ESPN was too busy shilling 'Dancing with the Stars' and other shows under the Disney corporate umbrella.
But it's more than the injuries with the Giants, who last week inexplicably blew a 21-0 lead in Tennessee in the last 10 minutes and lost 24-21, a historic meltdown that has the pundits writing off everyone involved _ from Tom Coughlin to Eli Manning.
The pundits forget this is NFL 2006, when things change almost instantaneously.
The Giants hope their season was changed by a players' meeting held on Monday.
'It was an upbeat meeting,' said center Shaun O'Hara who knows things can turned around _ he played at Rutgers when it finished 0-11 or 1-10. 'It was a good meeting. It was just what we needed.'
But that was followed by the latest circus, Michael Strahan calling out Plaxico Burress on a radio show and then complaining about the reporting.
You can bet Dallas is taking nothing for granted, even with Romo the NFL's new 'hot quarterback' and the Cowboys 4-1 since that loss to New York.
On Monday, Bill Parcells cut kicker Mike Vanderjagt and replaced him with equally problematic veteran Martin Gramatica. That's a typical Tuna move, a reminder that no one is safe if he doesn't produce.
Beyond that, the Giants are finally getting healthier. Umenyiora and Short might play this week and even Strahan could be back.
'I think they'll rally up and I think that they're still our main competition in the division, without question,' Parcells says. 'They beat us pretty badly down here the first time. They played well and we played poorly, and the combination of that made it very one-sided. I'm expecting a very tough game.'
By DAVE GOLDBERG
November 30, 2006
Six weeks ago, the New York Giants seemed on the way to the NFC East title. The Dallas Cowboys were reeling. They're in opposite places when they meet Sunday at the Meadowlands. The turnaround actually started with New York's 36-22 win in Dallas, when Tony Romo replaced Drew Bledsoe at halftime as Dallas quarterback.
The Giants, on the other hand, lost defenders LaVar Arrington, Osi Umenyiora, Brandon Short and Justin Tuck to injuries in that game, the beginning of a run of aches and pains that leaves them a game behind the Cowboys in the division and on life support with their fans and media.
But things can change quickly.
A win Sunday and New York (6-5) would be back even with Dallas (7-4) and hold the tiebreaker because the Giants won that game in Dallas, which showed up only sporadically on television because ESPN was too busy shilling 'Dancing with the Stars' and other shows under the Disney corporate umbrella.
But it's more than the injuries with the Giants, who last week inexplicably blew a 21-0 lead in Tennessee in the last 10 minutes and lost 24-21, a historic meltdown that has the pundits writing off everyone involved _ from Tom Coughlin to Eli Manning.
The pundits forget this is NFL 2006, when things change almost instantaneously.
The Giants hope their season was changed by a players' meeting held on Monday.
'It was an upbeat meeting,' said center Shaun O'Hara who knows things can turned around _ he played at Rutgers when it finished 0-11 or 1-10. 'It was a good meeting. It was just what we needed.'
But that was followed by the latest circus, Michael Strahan calling out Plaxico Burress on a radio show and then complaining about the reporting.
You can bet Dallas is taking nothing for granted, even with Romo the NFL's new 'hot quarterback' and the Cowboys 4-1 since that loss to New York.
On Monday, Bill Parcells cut kicker Mike Vanderjagt and replaced him with equally problematic veteran Martin Gramatica. That's a typical Tuna move, a reminder that no one is safe if he doesn't produce.
Beyond that, the Giants are finally getting healthier. Umenyiora and Short might play this week and even Strahan could be back.
'I think they'll rally up and I think that they're still our main competition in the division, without question,' Parcells says. 'They beat us pretty badly down here the first time. They played well and we played poorly, and the combination of that made it very one-sided. I'm expecting a very tough game.'
posted by The Gryphon at 7:23 PM
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