The Giants finished their regular season in style, with a little flash, and according to the script we laid out last week in an article titled Giants All In  The Giants are looking stronger as a team each week and are NFC EASTERN DIVISION CHAMPS.  They now host the Atlanta Falcons in the first ever playoff game at New Giants Stadium Sunday at 1:00 Eastern.  Let’s take a quick look back at the Cowboy game.

The Giants for the first time in a long time started quickly.  Electing to defer after winning the toss, they figured they would test Tony Romo and his bruised hand quickly, and see how he did in the wind and the rain.  Tony actually had a pretty good statistical night finishing 29/37 with 2 TD’s and one INT. A rating of 106.  However after running just 7 plays in their first two drives the Cowboys found themselves down 7-0.  One of the keys we discussed was the Giants healthy defensive line against the Cowboys Offensive line. The rotation of fresh players took it’s toll on the Cowboys as a combination of J.P.P., Tuck, Canty, and Osi Umenyiora accounted for 5 of the 6 sacks the Giants had on the night.  There were a few errant snaps from the Cowboy centers as we had discussed, and overall their line played poorly.

The other topic we touched on last week was the playmaking ability of both teams in the passing game.  Both Laurent Robinson and Victor Cruz made some big plays, but on this night Victor was the star again…even though Laurent thought he could dance the salsa too.  Cruz finished the game with 6 catches for 178 yards and another memorable TD.  Hakeem Nicks had a solid game as did Dez Bryant, but the Giants FINISHED their plays, as the Cowboys seemed to muddle along.

In the running game the Giants, although it sure didn’t seem like it, rushed for 106 yards, while the Cowboys managed just 49.  The ability to get some production out of the running game for the Giants is paramount to success.  The fact that Ahmad Bradshaw can run it in from anywhere, and Brandon Jacobs punishes those that dare get in his way when he makes it into the secondary, allows the Giants to be balanced and keeps defenses on their heals.

The Giants have FINISHED the seasons of the Cowboys, Eagles, and Jets, the past three weeks.  Let’s see if they can’t send the Dirty Birds from Atlanta south for the winter.