GiantsKickoff.com

The Dallas Cowboys led by head coach Wade Phillips lost last night versus the New York Giants.

There were several factors which contributed to their week 2 loss. The number one factor was simple, Big Blue just out played them and found a way to win a grind it out game as I predicted. New York however did receive some help from Tony Romo and the pass defense or lack thereof.

Another factor was their head coach Wade Phillips. He has had some success as a head coach with a couple of NFL teams but that success is limited to the regular season, almost sounds like Tony Romo's story. Phillips seems to run his teams with a laid back attitude, it almost seems as if he wants to be buddies with his players rather than their head coach. The most recognized football team in the NFL, the team with the most fans unfortunately are the Cowboys. How is this mild mannered, happy go lucky, soft man the leader of America's team?

In yesterdays game against the NY Giants Wade made a couple of very questionable decisions which baffled me as I sat there watching a thrilling ending. As Big Blue led by Eli Manning marched down the field and got within field goal range, at no point did Phillips call a time out to try and stop the clock. This was a huge mistake! New York was purposely allowing time to run off in order to leave the Cowboys as little time as possible after the 3 point score. Where was Wade's head at? You could clearly see that Manning was under complete control and had a plan. It was even more evident after the Giants decided to run one extra play with 13 seconds left in order to kill more time despite being within Lawrence Tynes range. Eli was in a groove, he has always been very good in the no huddle offense. You would think that the Cowboys would call a time out just to stop the Giants momentum and also to provide a bit of rest for their defensive players. By calling a time out or two they could have rested defensive players, reset their defense, stopped the Giants momentum and they would have probably left time on the clock to at least receive a kickoff after the field goal.

Another blunder was when Phillips' called the time out during the first attempt by Tynes. Even coach Dungy who now works for NBC commented on the questionable decision. Wade waited until the very last millisecond to call the timeout which allowed Lawrence to get the kick off and get his stride. He should have called the timeout well before the kicker could hit the ball in order to ice him. As a matter of fact if you watch the video, the first kick barely clears the side of the upright. The second kick on the other hand was perfectly down the middle. He gave Tynes the opportunity to get a warm up kick and his stride!

For a couple of years now Wade Phillips has had some of the best talent in the NFL under him and Dallas still cannot win playoff games. He is more of an assistant coach in my opinion than a head coach and Jerry Jones knows it. He must like the guy a whole lot but I am sure this will be the last year for Wade as the Cowboys head man unless they win the Super Bowl. Jason Garrett is still waiting for his chance and there may also be big time coaches available next season such as Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden and Bill Cowher, who by the way have all won at least one Super Bowl.

Carlos Caicedo
GiantsKickoff.com - Copyright 2009

Every game is important but even more so when we play NFC East rivals. Playoff implications begin week one as far as I am concerned especially when you play on the East coast with talented teams such as the Redskins, Eagles and Cowboys, arguably the toughest division in all of football. None of the teams mentioned above including the Giants were under 500 last year.

The Cowgirls beat the Tampa Bay Bucs this past Sunday and I have to say I was not very impressed. I was however suprised at how well the Bucs looked with their new coach and practically new team. Tampa Bay has lost or fired many of their core veterans and also their coach Jon "Chucky" Gruden. The game was very tight going into the 4th quarter, I believe it was 20-14 when Romo connected for a long TD pass. They had 2 huge plays in this game courtesy of broken coverages by the secondary. I do not see these types of lucky plays occurring when the Giants play them.

This game should have been much easier for Dallas, the score reflects an easy game but the reality is that it was close until a big play in the last quarter as previously mentioned. Cadillac Williams and Ward ran all over them so imagine what Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw will do to them.

Tony Romo had a good game stats wise but he threw a couple of balls that should have been intercepted. The Giants always put a lot of pressure on Tony, he usually runs around trying to extend the play and makes mistakes and I can see that happening this Sunday night.

I expect the Giants to win this game even though we are playing at Dallas in their new stadium which should be a ruckus atmosphere. As of now many Vegas outlets have the Cowboys as a 3 point favorite a few have it even. It will be a tough game but then again New York is used to playing these grind it out affairs. Big Blue all the way!

Carlos Caicedo
GiantsKickoff.com - Copyright 2009

GiantsKickoff.com

Week one of the 2009 NFL season starts on the positive side for the NY Giants who easily defeated the Washington Redskins.

The final score was 23-17 but it wasn't even that close. Big Blue dominated time of possession and the game. They still had some red zone issues, failing to get into the end zone with more consistency but there were some very positive moments that should make Giants fans very happy.

The running game was excellent even against a tough defense like Washington which includes big Albert Haynesworth. We did however lose Danny Ware who is an intricate part of our running game. He was set to be the third down running back and also the replacement for the recently departed Ward. He was hurt on the very first play of the game and it is still unclear for how long he will be lost for.

Steve Smith and the rest of the wide receiving core did a great job, this included a nifty touchdown by Mario Manningham. Hakeem Nicks dropped the first ball thrown to him but later made a very good catch in traffic. he also was hurt after twisting his ankle, preliminary reports are that he has a sprained ankle.

The defense lead by Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck was as expected. They put a ton of pressure on Campbell who looked flustered most of the time and very uncomfortable.

All in all the first week was a great success and good warm up for next weeks tough matchup versus the Dallas Cowboys.

Carlos Caicedo - GiantsKickoff.com - Copyright 2009

The NY Giants 2009 season starts later today and we will have a classic NFC East matchup against the Washington Redskins.

The Skins have revamped by adding free agents and none larger (literally) than Albert Haynesworth. They always play tough defense but so do the New York Giants. This is a great game to start the new NFL season, and test our young core of wide receivers.

The running game led by Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw should lead the way even with the absence of Ward who is now in Tampa Bay. Eli Manning who has progressed and matured as a football player every year is now considered the leader of the team and a true veteran, of course winning a Super Bowl with a last minute drive certainly helps the cause. Our veteran offensive line is back with every starter, they are considered one of the top lines in all of football.

The defense, well what can you say it should dominate! Osi is back this year, Tuck has more experience and the additions of Canty and others should help keep our core fresh and ready to put a hurting on Campbell who is shaky at best. There s been much talk about the defensive line, some have even copared it to the best of all time.

No more talking, it's time to play the game and show everyone that even out Burress we can dominate not only the NFC East but the NFL! The road to the Superbowl starts today!

Carlos Caicedo - GiantsKickoff.com - Copyright 2009