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Bounce-back game Dallas will recover with win over Giants on Monday night
Posted: Sunday October 17, 1999 12:20 AM
Dallas is coming off an embarassing loss to the Eagles, and a Cowboys player I talked with described the team as "mad as a hornet's nest." That's not a good sign for the Giants on Monday night. The loss of Michael Irvin is critical to the Cowboys. He already had three touchdowns receptions and his presence is always a factor. Now the NFL's top-rated team in the red zone has to find other weapons. Rocket Ismail, who has two touchdowns, will now team up with equally small Ernie Mills against a good pair of corners in Jason Sehorn and Phillippi Sparks. Unless tight end David Lafleur can pick up his production, the Giants will be able to help on the speedy Rocket. Emmitt Smith is having a great year and has rushed for over 100 yards three times this season. Without Irvin, it's a must he do it again, and with the best offensive line in the NFL in front of him, I think he can. I always lean towards the team with the best quarterback and it is clear that Troy Aikman outshines New York's options of Kent Graham or Kerry Collins. At camp this summer, one of the Giants warned me that picking a quarterback and staying with him was important to the players. I talked with him again recently and nothing has changed. He said the players don't really care which one it is. As he said "just stick with one and let's go." I like the weapons available to this week's starter Kent Graham. Running back Gary Brown will pound out the tough yards, while Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard are both ranked in the top ten in the NFC in receptions. Dallas will have cornerbacks Deion Sanders and Kevin Smith matched up on these two. The Giants need to take on this challenge and look to get the ball to their receivers. In the trenches, Giants all-pro Michael Strahan needs to step it up against Cowboys all-pro Erik Williams. Last year Strahan did not get a sack against Dallas and had only four tackles. The real pressure in the pit comes with defensive tackle Chad Hennings on rookie Luke Petitgout. If Luke can't handle Chad, Hennings will be in Graham's face all night. The Cowboys are 2-1 in their division, and will improve to 3-1 to set up a big showdown with the Redskins next week. I like the Cowboys in a low-scoring defensive battle. Pat Kirwan, who spent 12 years in the NFL as a coach, scout and personnel administrator, is an NFL analyst for CNN/SI. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
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