Dallas could sweep the Giants for the first time since 2007

GIANTS (5-2) AT COWBOYS (3-3)

By Football Night in America’s Eliott Kalb

• A Dallas win would allow the Cowboys to sweep the Giants for the first time since 2007 and just the third time since 2000.
• A Dallas win would give Dallas its first win over New York at Cowboys Stadium. The Giants are 3-0 in Arlington.
• The Cowboys racked up 433 yards in the opener at the N.Y. Giants including 143 rushing yards.Giants tight end Martellus Bennett was drafted by the Cowboys and spent four years with the team before signing with the Giants as a free agent prior to this season.
• Eli Manning is 26-5 in his career in the month of October. (but he’s only 13-17 in the month of November).
• Sean Lee–the Cowboys linebacker– was officially placed on injured reserve Wednesday due to a toe injury that requires surgery. Lee racked up 12 tackles (10 solo) against the Giants in their season opener and forced David Wilson’s fumble early in the NFC East matchup in Week 1.
• Although Eli Manning struggles when pressured like any other quarterback, he’s exceptional against the blitz because he reads it and gets the ball out so quickly. His 99.5 passer rating against the blitz in 2012 is higher than his overall rating of 92.5. It’s imperative for the Cowboys to find a way to get pressure on Manning without sending excessive defenders after him. If DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer, & Co. can get to Manning on their own, Dallas can sit back in Cover 2 Man-Under to limit the big-play potential of Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.
• Manning said the Giants’ improved running game would help to create passing lanes he did not find open in the first meeting. The Giants were limited to 82 rushing yards then, with Ahmad Bradshaw accounting for 78 on 17 carries. “The majority of the game, they played two safeties high and challenged us to run the ball,” Manning said. “We’ll see if we can run the ball better and get that to open up the play action.”
• Ahmad Bradshaw missed a Wednesday practice for the second consecutive week with a recurrence of foot problems that have troubled him through much of his career.
• On the other side, the Cowboys could be without RB DeMarco Murray. Murray is nursing a sprained knee and didn’t practice Wednesday. The Cowboys don’t believe he’ll play against the Giants. Backup running back Felix Jones also didn’t practice Wednesday with a knee injury.
• The Cowboys are -7 in turnover differential, while the New York Giants are +9 in turnover differential.Tony Romo has more interceptions right now than he has touchdown passes. Romo has eight touchdowns and nine interceptions, but that is slightly misleading because he had five interceptions in one game against the Bears.
• Miles Austin has four touchdowns, and is averaging 17.1 yards per reception and leads the team with 248 yards.
• Kevin Ogeltree has 248 yards in six games or just 26.8 yards per game in games this season in which he didn’t play against the Giants.
• Chris Canty played his first game of the season last Sunday against the Redskins after being activated from the PUP list.  He had four tackles.  He played 25 snaps against Washington and will probably play more against Dallas.  The DT could play a huge role.

• .The Cowboys are 10th in total yards per game but tied for 24th when it comes to points. Since scoring 24 in the opener, the Cowboys have topped that just once, against Baltimore two weeks ago, and are averaging 20.5 points per game.