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STATS LLC Associated Press

Sep 07, 2016

 

One win. That's all the Dallas Cowboys could muster in 2015 in 12 games without starting quarterback Tony Romo.

 

Here they go again. Rookie fourth-round pick Dak Prescott gets the call Sunday in the regular-season opener for the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium against the New York Giants.

 

Prescott had a special preseason: 137.8 passer rating, 78 percent completions, five TD passes, no interceptions and a team-leading two rushing touchdowns. Perhaps this season the Cowboys have more than a hope behind Romo.

 

Romo is on the shelf, but while projections of 6-10 weeks have been tossed around, head coach Jason Garrett only this week allowed Romo would miss Week 1. Some projections are 10-12 weeks because of the compression fracture in his back, the third major injury to his spinal area, not including a procedure to remove a cyst from a vertebrae.

 

"You try to come up with some kind of a timeline for when the player is going to be available," Garrett said Wednesday. "In Tony's case, the IR term is for eight weeks and we feel like, given what the injury is and the progress he's made, we feel at this point we want to do that. We don't want to eliminate him from eight weeks of our schedule. He's making progress. We take his situation day by day and week by week and we're optimistic he can return."

 

He will not play Sunday, when the Giants face the Cowboys for the first time in 12 seasons without Tom Coughlin on the sideline. He was dismissed and replaced by Ben McAdoo, who was promoted from offensive coordinator. The Giants also kept defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and signed quarterback Eli Manning, 33 years old but coming off a 35-TD season, to a contract extension to showcase a degree of chemistry and cohesion amid the upheaval at the top.

 

Manning tutored Prescott at the summer Manning Passing Academy and said he expects huge things from the rookie. He said Prescott has a "bright future" ahead.

 

Manning has fared well against the Cowboys in recent meetings and Dallas was 27th in the NFL in pass defense last season. Improving that number without a proven pass rush is a concern. Defensive ends Demarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory are serving NFL suspensions.

 

McAdoo said he is "comfortable" with the Giants' offensive line despite woes in the preseason. The Giants also decided to stick with kicker Josh Brown, who was suspended one game for a violation of the NFL conduct policy related to domestic violence. Randy Bullock will handle kicking duties Week 1 with Brown out.

 

New York spent early and often in free agency, breaking recent form as general manager Jerry Reese sensed heat from the top to flip the Giants' fortunes on the field. Defensive end Olivier Vernon cashed in to the tune of $52.5 million and cornerback Janoris Jenkins is being paid like a No. 1 cornerback just for matchups like Sunday.

 

These teams are hungry for success after finishing 4-12 last season and splitting two games -- each won at home --decided by a total of eight points. The Cowboys were last in the NFL in 2016 in turnover margin at minus-22. Garrett believes the solution for the slippery fingers is reverting to the power-running game that produced 2014 Offensive Rookie of the Year DeMarco Murray.

 

A cast change pushes rookie first-round pick Ezekiel Elliott into that role behind one of the more complete offensive line groups in the league. At 220 pounds, Elliott runs with power that surprised some opponents this preseason -- including members of the Seattle Seahawks' vaunted Legion of Boom secondary - but his open-field speed surprised some of his own teammates. The Cowboys haven't started a rookie running back since 1993 (Derrick Lassic), and not even Emmitt Smith or Tony Dorsett were handed the saddle at this stage of their career.

 

"I know his commitment every day has been really, really good and he's learned quickly what we're asking him to do," Garrett said. "Again, his focus, and our focus, is on the Giants."

 

Elliott has been in headlines for a visit to a pot shop in Seattle and a domestic violence investigation in Columbus. But the Cowboys need him to be reliable, and are planning on just that Sunday.

 

If Dallas gets Elliott rolling, it means Prescott should have wide windows in the defense to find wide receiver Dez Bryant, who is back at 100 percent after a foot injury last season.

 

 

 

This should be SNF, not Pats/Cards.

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:Giants: 35

 

:Cowboys: 17

 

Zero faith in Prescott and Elliott. Eli should cruise on a great game passing.

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Dak to the Future. His time is now.

 

:Cowboys: 40

:Giants: 35

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:Giants: 40

 

:Cowboys: 21

 

Captain Autistic is due for a run..and while all of the world seems to talk about Dak and Zeke. They seem to forget that both are unproven rookies that have done nothing in this league besides bring attention and hype to a team that is in a dysmal state of affairs outside of them. No defense, multiple suspensions...and Garrettop is still your coach.

 

 

Eli is going to have a field day with OBJ..and most importantly Sterling Shephard and have a rekindling of the flame with mr. Cruz.

 

This won't be pretty.

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Giants never beat Dallas in openers? Don't really see the Giants defense being much improved. 'girls prolly win

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Giants declared RB Paul Perkins, QB Josh Johnson, S Mykkele Thompson, OT Will Beatty, WR Roger Lewis, LB B.J. Goodson and DT Robert Thomas.

A fifth-round rookie, Perkins figures to be a healthy scratch for the foreseeable future. He's an end-of-bench stash in Dynasty leagues.

 

 

 

Cowboys RB Lance Dunbar is active for Week 1 against the Giants.

Zeke Elliott should still see most of the Cowboys' third-down work, but Dunbar will be mixed in on passing downs. Inactive for the Cowboys are QB Tony Romo, S Dax Swanson, RB Darius Jackson, DB Kavon Frazier, LB Mark Nzeocha, OG Ron Leary and DE Charles Tapper.

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How do you let that happen if you're the Cowboys? T-Will deserves a ton of blame for sure. Aren't coaches/teammates reminded everybody what to do in certain situations to prevent these things and yet we have boneheaded stuff like this happen from time to time.

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That was a hell of a game to start the season. The defence was actually able to provide stops when needed and it was awesome to see the Salsa in the endzone again.

 

Zeek didn't look good at all apart from his TD. Dak I think is going to be legit and played a lot better than I thought, the loss isn't on him in any shape or form as I have no idea what Williams was thinking by staying in bounds.

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On the play you can actually see Dez screaming and gesturing toward the sideline, but Terrance didn't see him. *shrugs*

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