Cowboys: 5 Reasons Dallas Will Beat Giants

Jun 16, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants safety Landon Collins (21) participates in practice during minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Steven Ryan-USA TODAY Sports

Injuries To Secondary

I knew that the Giants had experienced some bad luck with injuries to its secondary, but I didn’t realize that it was as bad as it really is.

The New York roster currently has nine names designated to its injured reserve list.

Five of those names are safeties.

Others have been injured as well, such as rookie strong safety Landon Collins, a second-round selection in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Seriously, there’s so much to sort through regarding this Giants problem that I don’t really feel like wasting the time digging up the story on each and every one. It’s anybody’s guess how this area of the Giants defense is going to handle the Dallas offense.

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The consequences of this New York predicament are numerous.

If it’s not the passing attack unleashed by Romo and his receivers, then the running game – more on that later – stands to get a big boost in this game.

With Pierre-Paul unavailable for this game, it’s quite likely that New York has to blitz in order to get any pressure on Romo. Unless this is a highly successful strategy, a depleted secondary could mean certain disaster for the Giants.

More likely to occur is a lack of blitzing by New York defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, which places him out of his comfort zone.

People have complained for years about the Cowboys corners, an issue that goes all the way back to the misguided idea that this part of the depth chart needed a major overhaul following the 2012 season.

Well, if you thought that was bad, wait until you see 2011 first-round pick Prince Amukamara trying to match up with Dallas wide receiver Terrance Williams.

Because of the injuries, I think we’ll see much more zone coverage out of the Giants, which will probably mean a little less in the way of pressure being created because of the exotic coverage schemes that Spagnuolo has to bring out. While he might be able to limit Dallas’ top wide receivers, a complete necessity if the Giants have any ideas of winning this game, there’s other liabilities that remain.

It should shock no one if receivers like Cole Beasley or perhaps Devin Street make some unexpected plays in this game.

If not them, tight ends Jason Witten and Gavin Escobar will be enough to create that much more in the way of unstoppable options.

Again, with Romo in the shape he’s in right now at this point of his career, having a depleted secondary with no obvious pass rush is about the worst formula imaginable for any team playing the Cowboys at home to begin the season.

Next: Dallas Running Game: DeMarco Who?