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 Monday, January 24
Cowboys line vs. Giants' blitz
 
By Sean Salisbury
ESPN.com

 

<img src="hhttp://espn.go.com/i/nfl/playbook99/wk17_nygdal_1.jpg" width=400 height=480 border=0>

About this matchup: The key matchup in this game is the Cowboys offensive line against the Giants' blitzes. The Cowboys must mentally and physically deal with the different blitz schemes from Giants defensive coordinator John Fox. The Cowboys need to spend a lot of time studying who to block and how to block them. They have to know tendencies and not allow free runners to the quarterback.

Three keys for the Giants:
1. The Giants leading rusher, Joe Montgomery, has only 312 yards, and that is not acceptable. The Giants must win with the run on first down.

2. Kerry Collins must hit on 60 percent or more of his passes.

3. The Giants defense must score a touchdown to help an inconsistent offense.

Three keys for the Cowboys:
1. They must overcome the emotion of the loss to New Orleans.

2. The Cowboys offense must keep their pass attempts to less than 30. Troy Aikman is as good as anyone in terms of accuracy. If they throw between 20-30 times, that means Emmitt Smith is running the ball well.

3. The Cowboys defense must put Collins in third-and-long situations. Long yardage is too tough to overcome on the road more than a couple of times.

 


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