The New York Giants (0-0) and Dallas Cowboys (0-0) will square off on Sunday in a Week 1 matchup.
The Giants opened the week as 7.5-point road underdogs and little has changed on the current spread, which lists Big Blue at +7.5 entering the weekend.
With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Cowboys Wire managing editor KD Drummond.
Giants Wire: The talk of the town is that Ezekiel Elliott has returned just in time for Week 1, but Giants fans are indifferent to that given that Zeke has been pedestrian versus Big Blue in his career. They’re far more concerned with the returning Giant Killer, Jason Witten. How did he look this summer and what should we expect from him on Sunday?
KD Drummond: For the course of the season, I’m still not a believer that Witten is going to be a huge win for the Cowboys. He was pedestrian his last few seasons, with nothing left in the tank except for his insane ability to break on his routes. That’s great for completions, but no speed and no tackle-breaking ability means that’s where the yardage ends.
Fortunately, he gets to start off against the Giants, who cower in fear at the mere mention of his name. Witten has looked a bit rejuvenated this offseason, which will probably wear off later in the year but for now he’s going to be a viable weapon. I think he’ll see a ton of third-down targets now that Cole Beasley is out of town, and that starts Sunday.
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Since we wouldn’t be able to move on without a more central focus on Zeke — at least for a moment — what sort of pitch count, if any, do you think he’ll be on after taking a page from Tony Romo’s book and spending an unnecessary amount of time in Cabo? Was Jessica Simpsons with him, by chance?
Fortunately he didn’t have the entire running back room with him on the deck of a boat, right Giants’ fans? He was actually putting in major work, and if he had Jessica Simpson, Marge Simpson or O.J. Simpson out there with him, it wouldn’t matter. He checked in during his training at a weight 10 pounds below what he played at last year; he’s in shape.
Missing camp will hurt, as someone who starts the year slow due to no preseason carries normally (why he’s been “pedestrian” vs New York), but Dallas has a great new weapon named Tony Pollard. The rookie is dynamic in both the run and pass game. The running back position will be just fine.
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DeMarcus Lawrence has been quite loud this offseason, particularly as it relates to Eli Manning. Is that all showmanship or does he actually believe some of the one-liners that come out of his mouth? After all, he’s amassed just 3.5 sacks of Manning in eight games while going up against the likes of Ereck Flowers, John Jerry and Patrick Omameh. Hardly impressive.
Is that what Giants fans tell themselves to sleep soundly at night, Lawrence has been “hardly impressive” against them? That’s hilarious. He has 3.5 sacks in his last four games against New York. He’s lived in the Giants’ backfield with a mind-boggling 23 QB pressures in those games, including three different contests with 7(!) pressures each game. He’s also checked in with 10 run stops and hasn’t missed a single tackle in those contests.
If that’s hardly impressive, just how molested has the Giants’ OL been the last couple seasons? Goodness gracious, trust me he believes it. The real question is, what have you been watching why you don’t believe it as well?
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Year 4 of Dak Prescott, who has yet to eclipse 3,900 yards passing or reach the 25 touchdown mark. Should we expect him to remain sort of a game manager or is this the season he finally breaks loose and proves he’s worth all the money he’s seeking?
::Turns on DJ Khaled and T-Pain:: All he does is win, win, win no matter what. Prescott’s won four in a row against New York, averaging 287 yards and 2.25 TDs against them, without throwing a single pick. In his last game, Week 17 (remember that game?) he had four touchdown passes. If he’s a bus driver, then seeing the Giants on the schedule must look like he’s shooting downhill through federal holiday traffic and not stopping to pick a single kid up, because he owns New York like the Wolf of Wall Street. This is where we all hum while rhythmically beating on our chests.
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Eli Manning won the first ever game at the now-AT&T Stadium, famously signing his name on the wall in the locker room after the fact. Assuming that this is the two-time Super Bowl MVP’s final game in Dallas, would you and Cowboys Nation find it at all fitting if he were to bookend his career in that stadium with W’s and autographs, or is that just not something you’d be at all interested to see?
Wait, Eli Manning’s still alive? Who knew.
Make sure you check out KD Drummond for all of your Cowboys needs over at Cowboys Wire.
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