I talked about ebb and flow in my last post and how I felt, even after a disastrous Thanksgiving night game, the Giants would find a way to beat the Cowboys. Probably more impressive than anything is the way they did it. Offense, defense, and special teams all played a big hand in a game that kept the season alive and sets up a revenge game versus the Eagles.
Let’s start with the defense. Give credit to the coaching staff for making lineup changes. Canty (for Robbins), Kiwi (for Osi), and Goff (for Blackburn) all started and by all accounts played well. Most interesting was second year linebacker Johnathan Goff, who looked active and not overwhelmed in his first start. If anything, we’ll find out what he can do against some good competition the rest of the way. One of the first axioms of having a good defense is stopping the run. The Giants completely shut down the Cowboys on Sunday, which was especially impressive considering how they looked versus Denver last week and Dallas in the first meeting. When you stop the run, the other team becomes one-dimensional. A turnover caused by Kiwi late in the first half setup a go ahead touchdown, one of the biggest plays of the game. Nice job by Bill Sheridan, being much more imaginative on defense. I loved the standup look by the defense before the snap, which confused the Cowboys’ protection. This unit certainly responded.
One of the first things I noticed about the offense was some throws by Eli Manning. I do believe that his foot his indeed bothering him. There were two specific plays. The first was a pass on a forced rollout to a open receiver which was under thrown. Eli has been very good at making that throw this year. The other was a long incompletion intended for Steve Smith which didn’t have the usual look when Manning play fakes and goes deep. What’s puzzling is on Ahmad Bradshaw’s big run in the fourth quarter, Manning was seen sprinting (yes, I rewound my DVR) down the field to block. I believe that running in a straight line is actually easier than dropping back, planting, and throwing. Something to watch going forward. This is the first time I really noticed it.
Now the offense wasn’t spectacular by any means, but it answered a 10-0 deficit in quarter two with a touchdown and then down 17-14 in the third, made the biggest play of the game (and maybe the season). Manning’s four yard flat pass to Brandon Jacobs turned into a 74 yard touchdown pass down the sideline. It was significant to me for two reasons. First, and obviously, it erased another Cowboy lead and gave the Giants the lead for good. Secondly, it told me something about the Cowboys. When you come into Giants Stadium with a chance to secure your first place position while also knocking the Giants out for all intent and purposes in regard to their season and give up a play like this, something is wrong. Brandon Jacobs is one of my favorite players and that play had me jumping off the couch, but you can’t, as a defense, allow that to happen.
Finally, Domenik Hixon put the game away with a punt return making in the trifecta of for the offense, defense, and special teams. Great team win. The victory was huge for obvious reasons, but more importantly the Giants now own the tiebreaker on Dallas come playoffs. If Dallas loses at home to San Diego next week, the wheels will be completely off. They started coming off on Sunday. And yes the Giants still have a chance at the division given this result, but I’ll defer any enthusiasm I have until after the Philly game. The team should certainly be motivated, after being embarrassed earlier this year. Win and it could be the start of something. Lose, and it’s back to clawing and scratching.
