Both the Giants and the Cowboys looked impressive in their season openers, with New York besting the Redskins 23-17 on their home field while Dallas traveled down to Tampa Bay and came away with a 34-21 victory.

 

This game’s line has held steady with the Cowboys as 3-point favorites. The over/under has risen in the last couple of days to around 45.

 

It can be argued that the Giants played the stronger competition in week one, a game in which it controlled from the outset. New York took a 17-0 lead via big plays from Mario Manningham and Osi Umenyiora in the first half, then held off a late push by the Redskins to hold on for the victory. The only problem for NY backers is that the late touchdown pass from Jason Campbell to Chris Cooley with 1:30 remaining in the game gave Washington the backdoor cover with the spread at -6.5. For the Giants, a win is a win but the late drama is something no bettor of NY wanted to see. Of course, if you bet on the road team you were probably jumping for joy.

 

The aforementioned Umenyiora has clearly made a huge difference with his return after missing all of last season with a knee injury. An already strong defense has its best pass rusher back, a player who had totaled 19 sacks the two seasons prior to the injury. The New York defense allowed just 272 yards to the Redskins and was dominant for much of the first three quarters. It forced two turnovers, had three sacks, and aside from a 34-yard run on his first carry Clinton Portis was held in check. Dallas’ offense provides different and greater challenges to the Giants, but don’t expect anything to come easy.

 

New York’s biggest question offensively was what the wide receivers would bring to the table. Week one brought mostly positive answers to that question as Steve Smith caught six passes for 80 yards, while Mario Manningham showed more than he had in his first two seasons including on a nifty 30-yard touchdown catch where he used his agility to elude defenders down the sideline. One minus is that first round draft pick Hakeem Nicks hurt his foot and will be out indefinitely, but that as long as everyone else stay healthy the loss should be minimal. The one-two punch of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw combined for 106 yards and had five catches between them, showing the versatility of the Giant offense. Kevin Boss also had a good opener and will always be a viable option for Manning, especially against a Dallas defense that gave up nine catches to tight ends last week. Lastly, it is important to mention the experienced NY offensive line as it is one that has played every game together for the last two seasons. Communication and assignment blocking is ultra-important in the NFL and these guys do it as well as anyone.

 

Dallas’ defense gave up a ton of yardage against the Bucs, 450 to be exact, but its offense made more big plays than the defense gave up to roll to the relatively easy victory. Similar to New York’s offensive question mark, it was wondered if the Cowboys had enough at the receiver positions after opting to release vagabond Terrell Owens in the offseason. The play against Tampa Bay seems to suggest they’ll be just fine. Tony Romo through for 353 yards and three touchdowns, with Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton each securing long TD receptions. And don’t forget about Romo’s other favorite target, tight end Jason Witten, who caught five passes for 71 yards. Marion Barber also showed good early season form in running for 79 yards on 14 carries. Basically, this offense is good enough to not worry at all about what Owens is doing in Buffalo. They showed it in week one and they’ll continue to show against even good defenses. Romo had his leadership qualities questioned in the offseason and he’ll be motivated to show he has what it takes to take this team towards its goals, including a first playoff win since 1996.

 

And while the Cowboy defense allowed some big plays against what should only be an average to mediocre offense, it was week one and they are better than that performance. They’ll be jacked up playing their first regular season game in the new billion dollar stadium and focused on showing last week’s performance was not the norm.

 

 These two teams split the series last season with each team winning their home game.

 

Prediction: Dallas Cowboys 34, New York Giants 21

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