The Cowboys got off to a rocky start, falling to Cam Newton and the Carolina

Cowboys vs. Giants: Saquon Barkley Color Rush Connor Williams Jersey , Odell Beckham Jr. present unique challenges for Dallas defense Panthers by a score of 16-8 to start the 2018 campaign. While the defense played mostly well in week one, Newton and offensive coordinator Norv Turner were able to find ways to hurt Dallas — specifically with the read-option and designed quarterback runs.Dallas lost contain on Newton, something that you certainly do not want to do against one of the more dangerous players across the league. Sean Lee and Co. often lost track of where the ball was, allowing Cam to get to the outside and pick up crucial yardage to keep drives alive. Then there was Christian McCaffrey, who accounted for 95 yards on 16 touches, though the second-year back lost a fumble deep in Cowboys territory.This week, the Cowboys encounter another difficult challenge: game-planning to stop one of the most dynamic players in the National Football League and a rookie running back with a unique skill-set designed to hurt defenses in more than one facet of the game.What does the Giants’ offensive personnel look like as the G-Men come to Dallas for a week-two clash in AT&T Stadium?The QuarterbackVincent Carchietta-USA TODAY SportsDallas opened the season against a quarterback that can hurt them with his strong arm and dual-threat ability, as Cam Newton hurt the Cowboys more often than not with his feet. This week, though, the Cowboys do not really have to prepare to defend the quarterback run with Eli Manning in town.Many assumed that with a new regime in charge the Giants would look for Manning’s predecessor early in the draft. It turns out that Pat Shurmur and Co. have decided to roll with Eli, as the team waited until the fourth round to select a signal-caller.A season ago, Manning threw for 3,468 yards on a 61.6% completion percentage to go with a 19-to-13 touchdown-to-interception ratio during a Giants season that saw numerous injuries, controversy, and a head-coaching change take place. Through one week in 2018, the veteran signal caller has stats of 224 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, and a 62.2% completion percentage. The Cowboys limited Manning to 448 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, and a 3.96 AY/A in two games last season.New York added offensive tackle Nate Solder from the Patriots, selected Will Hernandez in the second round of the draft, and moved former first-round bust Ereck Flowers from the left side of the line to right tackle in an effort to give their longtime face of the franchise more protection to get the ball to their plethora of weapons.The WeaponsBrad Penner-USA TODAY SportsFor all of the question marks surrounding the Giants, the talent at the skill positions in New York is not one of them. Featuring a wide receivers corps that includes one of the elite at his position, defenses have their hands full when defending the G-Men.The Giants passed on a quarterback class that featured the likes of Sam Darnold, Josh Allen and Josh Rosen, and instead selected one of the elite running back prospects to enter the NFL Draft in quite some time in Saquon Barkley out of Penn State. Barkley, 6-foot and 233-pounds Youth Tyron Smith Jersey , had one of the more impressive combine performances recorded, posting these eye-opening numbers:The former Penn State Nittany Lions star made his official NFL debut against a tough Jaguars defense last Sunday, carrying the rock 18 times for 106 yards and a touchdown. Most of the rookie’s yardage came on this explosive score:Barkley potentially gives the Giants an extra dimension to their offense to keep defenses honest. Containing Barkley from bouncing to the outside is critical, as the second overall selection is dangerous when he sees daylight.Elsewhere on the offensive side of the ball, Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram are waiting to make secondaries look foolish as the trio is among the best at getting open and making their opposition pay. We all know what OBJ can do. The former LSU Tigers star is among the best at his position across the league and has made quite a few plays against the Cowboys, averaging five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown in his meetings versus America’s Team. After missing both meetings last season, he will be surely be hungry to make a statement on Sunday Night Football. Shepard, meanwhile, isn’t so bad himself. The Oklahoma Sooners product has totaled 15 catches, 142 yards, and a touchdown in four games versus the Cowboys in his young career.Engram is a unique talent at the tight end position. The 2017 first-rounder is almost a wide receiver playing tight end as he glides down the field. Engram recorded 64 catches for 722 yards and six touchdowns while averaging over 11 yards per reception during his debut season in the NFL. The Jags gave up two catches for 18 yards on five targets in week one.One of the reasons why the Cowboys opted to bring in Kris Richard was to help their young, revamped secondary take this next step as this defense develops together. Well, Richard certainly has a challenge on his hands in preparing his guys for this group of weapons.The Big UgliesNew York added some new pieces to its offensive line in Nate Solder and rookie Will Hernandez, but questions still remain concerning the G-Men’s front five. The biggest concern for Giants fan has to be Ereck Flowers. The ninth overall pick of the 2015 draft has done anything but live up to his draft slot.In an effort to perhaps revive Flowers’ career, the Giants moved him to right tackle. Surely things would improve — even a tad — right? Yeah, about that ...Solder was protecting Tom Brady’s blindside a season ago, so the Giants are banking on him to be a reliable wall of protection for Eli Manning; however, the free agent acquisition appeared to have struggled in his first game with his new team. How much does that have to do with Solder and how much does that have to do with the Jaguars defense?Will Hernandez is a lineman that many Cowboys fans had on their short list of prospects that they wanted Dallas to look at it due to the need at offensive guard. The UTEP native has the potential to grow into a quality interior offensive lineman, but he — like Connor Williams, for instance — is still adjusting to and learning the NFL game. While the Giants have made some moves to improve its offensive line, they are still a weakness to exploit. When you add that to the fact that DeMarcus Lawrence is coming off an impressive outing against the Panthers, Taco Charlton showed signs of life, Maliek Collins recorded a sack, you should have a defensive line that is hungry to get out there on Sunday evening in prime time.Stat to Know: 48.72% Red Zone TD PercentageThe Giants converted less than half (48.7%) of their red zone opportunities into touchdowns in 2017, which amounted to 26th across the entire league last season. If the Giants are able to hit big plays to get inside the 20, it will be critical for this defense to make a stand — either by forcing a turnover (like the McCaffrey fumble last week) or holding New York to a field goal attempt.Bottom Line:The bottom line is that the Cowboys’ defense should dominate the line of scrimmage. If the Cowboys are successful in making the most of their advantage in the trenches, the Giants will become one-dimensional and rely on Eli to make things happen. Getting after Manning and forcing quick throws is crucial, as we all know it is pretty difficult to cover OBJ and Co. for more than a few seconds. This is the path the Cowboys need to take in order to get their first win of the 2018 season. It’s been an interesting week for the Dallas Cowboys. And that is despite the fact that they haven’t really done anything of note. Instead Color Rush Allen Hurns Jersey , it has been all about the talk, and what has and hasn’t been said about the future of offensive coordinator Scott Linehan. It all started with head coach Jason Garrett saying that he expects Linehan to be back, only to walk that back a bit after executive vice president Stephen Jones stated that no decisions had been made on the subject. That quieted the howls of protest, but just down to a low roar. Based on the traffic on social media, a large majority of both fans and reporters think that Linehan is the biggest problem with the Cowboys’ offense, and replacing him is necessary. However, where things stand now actually makes a good bit of sense when you step back and look at this. We can’t know the actual thoughts of the senior leadership, but there are three likely scenarios for what is going on. But before we get to those, there are some other factors to consider.It ain’t over ‘til the Johnny Walker Blue fan singsAs Garrett himself stated, the final decision will rest with owner and GM Jerry Jones. He will either make it himself, or will approve the recommendation of one or more of his chief lieutenants. In this case, that is pretty much down to Garrett and Stephen Jones. Will McClay may have some input, but given that he is the expert on player evaluation, it does not make sense that he would be as deeply involved.There is no rush on thisA lot of fans and writers may think that the Cowboys have waited too long, but that is a false view of the situation. Unlike most teams that have made major shakeups in their staff, Dallas was still in the playoffs until the sadness of last Saturday. Their abbreviated playoff run was in fact a test of Linehan (who certainly seemed to fail it against the Los Angeles Rams). Simply put, they had to see how he did with the challenge facing him before they could make a truly informed decision.There is the sentiment all the best options have now been taken by other teams.Well, what could the Cowboys do? Those new signings in the NFL were overwhelmingly made by teams that didn’t make the postseason. They certainly weren’t going to sit idle while Dallas (and other playoff teams) finished their runs. There was really nothing the Cowboys could do. It seems manifestly unwise to be engaged in any real discussions with potential new OCs while the one you have is coaching your team in the tournament. This was never going to be a snap decision, and that’s probably a good thingDespite the zombie-like meme of Jerry Jones being reckless and impulsive, the cold truth is that he utilizes a collaborative approach to big decisions. He relies on Stephen and Garrett to give him vital input. And for a decision like this, they need to take the time to evaluate things fully to make a good call. With the team trying to win it all, Garrett was certainly focused elsewhere. It also makes sense that both Jerry and Stephen wanted to see how Linehan did in the postseason. Now they have the data. It is time to sit down, cut through the bull, and figure out what to do about Linehan and his job.At this point, there are three basic ways things can possibly stand for the brain trust.Leaning towards Linehan stayingIt is entirely likely that we have lost some readers because whatever device they were using to read this just smashed to bits as they gave in to rage. For the calmer members, bear with me a moment.Garrett certainly seemed to be hinting at this in his initial, inflammatory statements on radio. And even though Stephen seemed to demur, he didn’t state unequivocally that he was not in the same camp. That would just leave getting Jerry on board. He has been rather opaque on this topic. However, he is notably loyal to his people, often to a fault. So this might not be a hard sell if Stephen and Garrett are unified.If this is how it goes Color Rush Leighton Vander Esch Jersey , fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy offseason.Linehan is out of favor, but those waterfowl need to be alignedThis, obviously, is what many are hoping and waiting for. The plan is to move on, but first, they want to get a better idea of who comes next. That does not mean interviews, which would come after an announcement that Linehan was now available for other opportunities. But a lot of work is done sub rosa. Agents can be contacted, some phone calls made, to see if some possible candidates would be interested in coming to work in Dallas, for the most visible franchise, at the most advanced facilities currently in existence, for one of the most generous owners in the league. If there seems to be a good pool of possibilities that could deign to suffer those hardships, then it would be time to call Linehan in and break the news to him. In all likelihood, he would have sensed the direction of the tide by then. It might come as a complete shock to him, but if he was actually that oblivious to all that has been swirling about his performance, it is just one more reason that he should go.Garrett is ready to die on Linehan HillThis is almost as bad as the first option. To be specific, it would be a situation where Stephen and Jerry want to move on, but the head coach insists that he keep his long-time friend in the job. Would Garrett put his own job on the line for Linehan? That seems unreasonable - but then, keeping him around so far doesn’t strike most of us as having been that great an idea in the first place. If the head coach would go so far, would Jerry and Stephen fold, or would they be willing to fire him and start over? That would be something some would be glad to see, since Garrett has long had his detractors. But it would likely mean a step backs as a new HC brings in his own system and philosophy. It would also likely mean massive changes all over the staff, since most would not be willing to accept assistants the owner forced on them (Garrett was a bit of an exception at the start of his tenure, but he had the half-year as interim HC, and a long relationship with the Jones family as well). This probably qualifies as the worst-case scenario, since there will be some turmoil and conflict however it plays out. Those are the three logical ways this could go. We should know how it turns out before too much longer. So what do you think will be the end result? Custom Seattle Seahawks Jerseys