The Giants will make a trip to Texas Sunday Night to begin what they hope to be a successful run to the playoffs;  And a run is what they will need.  The Giants got a nice effort from the running game yesterday and that will need to continue for the foreseeable future. Eli Manning has backed up his words with his actions this season.  He is an Elite QB and definitely in the top 5 or 6 in the league.

The Cowboys have been a very inconsistent team this entire season.  For the first part of the season they had no running attack, then they found DeMarco Murray.  Murray has rushed for 5.4 yards per carry in the 10 games he has played.  Now they have a more balanced attack, but make no mistakes this is a team that wins and loses with Tony Romo.  Even when the defense has had exceptional days, Romo can put points on the board for either team at any time.

The Giants defense should be able to get pressure on the Cowboys Qb this week.  They have allowed 25 sacks this year, that’s two a game against teams that have half the pass rushing talent of the New York Giants.  The Cowboys allow 100 yards a game rushing and 5.5 yards per play on defense.  They still have a weak secondary that the likes of Nicks, Cruz, Ballard, Beckum, Manningham(?) and others should be able to exploit.  The question will be can the Giants run the ball effectively enough to keep Eli upright.  If the Giants go back to being a one dimensional team, they will be eaten up by the Cowboys pass rush.  Stay balanced, hit big plays, and keep Romo under pressure and force him into mistakes.

Injury Update:  This of course will change as the week progresses but initially it looks like Kenny Phillips will be missing for the next two weeks and Osi is still out. OL Stacey Andrews will be out for the remainder of the season with blood clots that moved from his legs to his lungs.

The Giants got lucky today when D. J. Ware was a full participant in practice.  Da’Rell Scott should see more third down action and also be used more in the passing game if Ware is limited in any way.  Of course Scott will probably not be returning kicks this week, so as not to expose him to injury unnecessarily.  Brandon Jacobs is still going to be the starter and hopefully a big contributor Monday Night.

Well, Eli needs to get to the line quicker to make his adjustments, and get the ball snapped earlier.  I think you will see the Giants try and use as much max protect pass, and quick passes as possible to move the ball consistently and hopefully quiet the crowd a little.  They will need to either test the Saints deep early to show their willingness to go downfield, or continue to move the chains and be successful on long drives.

 Tuck has been injured all season long.  He stated this week that he no longer wants to discuss it, and will just play at whatever level he is capable. The Giants have been brutal in zone coverage this year and need to find a way to get to Brees as early and often as possible.  The play of the young linebackers will be tested again this week by  the variety of screens and flat passes that are used by N.O.  Fewell will hopefully figure out how to find the right matchups against your talended receiving corps.  Pressure will be the key to this test and keeping the players in front of them will certainly be part of the plan.

The choice seems to be moving David Diehl back to LT or to start Stacey Andrews in Beatty’s place.  They have the luxury of having a player like Kevin Boothe to step in and play multiple positions.

Run the ball.  The only way Eli will ever get enough time to hit his talented receiving group is if he can use play action to his advantage, and keep th down and distance favorable.  Time of possession, turnovers, and defending the big play will tell the tale on Monday.  If the Giants don’t start running with consistency, they really have little to no chance of ever getting a lead that they can expect their defense to hold.