Why the Dallas Cowboys Will Win: This Ain’t San Diego

The Dallas Cowboys are one of just a handful of teams that can claim the fame of building a dynasty. In fact, the Cowboys have done it twice, in the 1970s and the 1990s. The Cowboys lead the all-time series with the Giants: 54-35-2.

But no other season when the Cowboys won the NFC East and secured the top spot in the playoffs has brought so much insecurity among fans, pundits and the naysayers. And to have already beaten a team twice, like the Cowboys have the Giants, and pundits still claim that this matchup will be one in which the Cowboys will likely struggle, is just evidence that the media-fueled frenzy over Terrell Owens, Tony Romo and his girlfriend has fooled folks to believe this Cowboys team is the San Diego Chargers of last year.

They are not.

Not one day after a wiseacre at ESPN writes a silly article on 9 reasons why the Cowboys will lose to the Giants, I shall reveal how and why the Cowboys will win Sunday. I won’t use stats. I won’t use bravado. I won’t use slapstick humor.

1. The Dallas Cowboys are rested. The Cowboys aren’t rested like the Tampa Bay Bucs were rested. The New York Giants have been fighting hard their last two games. The New England game, which is why so many pundits are picking the Giants to win, has catapulted these underdogs into the limelight as the NFC’s most underrated team. Fine. But the Cowboys are the NFC’s best. Tony Romo, according to media reports, is rested and focused. Terrell Owens is playing and I think his injury and the seriousness of it reported in the media is just a ploy. Terry Glenn is going to get more play time and he very well could be the wide-open defacto receiver for the Cowboys. Jason Witten, anyone? The Giants don’t have enough weapons in their secondary to stop this offense. That’s evident in the 70-plus points the Cowboys have scored on the Giants.

2. No Shockey. Very few writers are making a big deal of this, but I will. He’s a weapon the Giants don’t have and now they have a rookie tight end in his place. Why this is less of a factor for the Giants than an 80-percent Terrell Owens is beyond me. But allow me to point it out: Plaxico Burress has a bum ankle, too.

3. Defense. The Cowboys defense has improved drastically over those four games that have brought so much criticism. Yes, the Giants have a decent defense, too. But the Cowboys have a little bit more to play for in this game in my opinion. DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis are forces the Giants will have to control, and that’s unlikely in a game of this magnitude. Which brings me to point 4.

4. Eli Manning. You pressure this guy and he’s in trouble. Eli Manning has lost more important games for the Giants than he has won (1). He has one good game last week and the media is ready to crown him. Give me a break. Everyone forgets it was his interception late in the Patriots game that led the Giants to the loss. I have said it all week and I will say it again: Eli Manning will lose this game for the Giants. It may be close, it may not be. But he will make an error or three that will cost the Giants the game. Someone please prove me wrong. That’s just the kind of quarterback he is.

5. Contrary to belief, Jessica Simpson will NOT be at the game.

6. The Dallas Cowboys are not the San Diego Chargers. If they are the top seed, they play like the top seed.

7. Tony Romo is no longer the field goal snap holder. He’s the quarterback.

8. History is on their side. Teams with an opportunity to earn a three-game sweep of an opponent have succeeded 11 times or 67 percent.

9. ESPN can talk all it wants about the Cowboys rushing game, but it fails to look at the two matchups the Giants and Cowboys played to analyze the running game.  Big tough-guy Brandon Jacobs has rushed for a total of 112 yards and 0 TDs in two games versus the Dallas Cowboys. Marion Barber/Julius Jones combined for  213 yards and a TD against the G-Spots. Go figure.