Dez Bryant’s contract. Josh Brent’s comeback. Adrian Peterson’s potential arrival. Christmas lights. Thanksgiving plans. The Eagles’ showdown on the horizon.
And, oh yeah, the Giants are 3-7.
Add it all up and, sure enough, Sunday’s game in MetLife Stadium is the perfectly dangerous “trap” game. As in, the Cowboys – and their fans – are doing a lot of talking this week. But not much of it centers on the goal of beating the Giants.
The Cowboys can get to eight victories Sunday, eliminate the Giants from playoff contention and potentially run Tom Coughlin out of a job. But in order to do that, they have to be focused on the singular, detailed hand at task and not the overall rosy picture.
The Giants aren’t hideous. They played the Cowboys even through three quarters in Arlington a month ago. They played the Seahawks into the fourth quarter. They have offensive weapons and they still have a smidge of pride. The Cowboys have bigger, better things in their future, but an upset loss to the Giants can prematurely poop on the entire party.
You’ll know if the Cowboys are overlooking the Giants immediately. Not in physical mistakes, per se. But more so mental errors like pre-snap penalties, or a general lack of emotion. Jason Garrett has his work cut out for him, because I sense the Cowboys being in a bad spot Sunday.
The Cowboys are good. But they haven’t risen to the point where there are good enough to win without their best. Let their guard down – for whatever reason – and they can lose to any team, any time.
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Right, Redskins?
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
