Giants vs Cowboys SNF Keys to winning the NFC East

New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys Week 17 Keys To Victory.

   So it has come down to this.  In the final game of the final week of the 2011 regular
season, the NFC East title will be decided in New Jersey in what should be a thriller between the
Giants and Cowboys, two of the most hot and cold teams in the league this year.  The last time
these two teams met it was the Giants who held off the ‘boys 37-34 in a classic battle in Dallas.
This time the stakes are different because this time the winner will be the in the playoffs and
the loser will go home to a long off season of scrutiny and hot seat questions.

  There are several things each team needs to do in order to win Sunday’s game.  For the
Giants, they must build on the momentum of last week’s win against the Jets.  For only the
third time this season this defense showed up and became aggressive and they carried this
team to victory instead of Eli Manning.   If the G-Men want to go to the playoffs this defense
must show up and play consistently.  The key will be the defensive line getting to Tony Romo
and shutting down the Dallas rushing attack.  The Giants have struggled against the run the
whole year until last week when they held the Jets to 78 rushing yards.  If the Giants are
successful in shutting down the run, the pressure will be on an injured Tony Romo who isn’t
exactly known for being cool under pressure.  This leads me to the Giants pass rush.  With Osi
Unenyiora seemingly done for the season and possibly done with the Giants, it’s up to an injury
plagued Justin Tuck who fought through the pain and played like the perennial pro bowler that
he is and Jason Pierre-Paul who has caught everyone’s attention this year with his stellar play
and was the hero of the last Dallas-NY matchup.  These two will have to take advantage of a
Cowboys offensive line that has just lost LG Montrae Holland for the year with a bicep strain
which means rookie Kevin Kowalski will likely start and he will have his hands full especially if
this Giants defensive line plays like they did last week.  On offense, the Giants will have to
attack the weak Dallas secondary much like last week and they will have success with or
without TE Jake Ballard (questionable) and WR Mario Manningham (questionable).  The running
attack of the Giants must be aggressive this week much like last week to set the tempo for the
passing attack.  If the Giants focus on these keys, they will be the NFC East champions.
 
And in the red corner we have the Dallas Cowboys.  The team that plays as inconsistent
as the jeckel-and-hyde Giants, but when they are in synch they are one of the most dangerous
and talented teams in the league.  In order to secure a playoff spot on the road in the cold
weather the Cowboys will have to attack the Giants with the run because the Giants’
inexperience at linebacker they have struggled all season to stop the run.  This will open take
the pressure off of a banged up Romo and o-line especially if Dallas utilizes play-action against a
Giants secondary which has more than its fair share of communication breakdowns and blown
coverages.  Jason Witten is a matchup nightmare against anyone on the Giants and he could
have a monster game if Romo uses the play-action to confuse the giants secondary and allow               Witten to find holes when the Giants play zone coverage.  This will allow slow down the giants
most effective weapon, their pass rush.  On defense, the Cowboys must get to Eli early and
often to cover up their weak secondary.  DeMarcus Ware must have a huge game in flushing
Manning out of the pocket and rattle his confidence early and often.  This may not be as hard as
it sounds because of how out of synch Eli and the giants passing attack looked last week.  If the
cowboys can’t get past a re-shuffled Giants offensive line and hit Eli, he will pick apart that
secondary which will put the pressure back on Romo which isn’t exactly a great option based on
history.

  So on Sunday night these two almost evenly matched teams will do battle again for a
shot to go to the playoffs but it’s anyone’s guess as to which Giants and Cowboys teams will
show up to play.  Will we see the Giants who shut down Tom Brady and got 5 sacks on Mark
Sanchez?  Or will we get the Giants who looked awful and lost against the Redskins and
Seahawks.  With Dallas we will see if we get the Cowboys who went on the road and beat the
49ers and demolished Tampa Bay?  Or will we get the Cowboys who got embarrassed against
the Cardinals and twice by the Eagles.  Nobody can tell until the lights go on on Sunday and the
showdown begins but one thing is for certain.  Despite whatever unpredictable and crazy things
happen in the game, when the dust settles we will have an NFC East champion depending on
who focuses on their keys to victory.



Written by:
Anthony Valerio
Twitter: ajvalerio24