Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Dallas 7 at NY Giants 37 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Dallas Cowboys: If QB Chad Hutchinson is to be Dallas' quarterback of the future, the Cowboys must make sure that Hutchinson HAS a future. If he keeps taking a pounding like he did today, he won't last too long in this league. Hutchinson was only sacked 3 times but he was hit on nearly every single play, no exaggeration. RB Emmitt Smith and WR Joey Galloway have been the Cowboys only offensive threats this whole season, but today they combined for 62 yards. My advice would be to steer clear of all Dallas players through the fantasy playoffs. The Cowboys were 0-12 on third down at one point in the game. RB Troy Hambrick carried 10 times for 42 yards (as opposed to 13 and 32 for Smith). Also, backup RB Michael Wiley provided somewhat of a spark late in the game, with 49 total yards. New York Giants: Is "Thunder and Lightning" back? Maybe not to the extent it was during the 2000 season, but for today at least, both Giants RBs had much success running the football. Amani Toomer and Jeremy Shockey are where the Giants passing offense begins and ends. No one else even had 3 balls thrown their way, meanwhile Shockey and Toomer combined for nearly 20 targets. Kerry Collins came out late, but he didn't get hurt. The Giants were up 30-0 and Fassel wanted to rest his stars. Will Peterson, Michael Stahan, Michael Barrow, and Delvin Joyce all suffered various injuries and had to leave the game for stretches of time. Strahan's has the most significance from a fantasy standpoint so I should note that he appeared to be in a lot of pain but eventually returned to the game. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Dallas Cowboys QB: Chad Hutchinson may be the QB of the future for Dallas, but it is very difficult to get a read on his ability because he never has any time to do anything. Today, Hutchinson was battered and bruised by New York all game long. He finished just 16-40 for 161 yards and a TD, and it's a minor miracle he lasted the entire game. He did come up hobbling late after having his left knee rolled up on, but he stayed in the game. Early on, he showed a decent scrambling ability. This will be important if Dallas doesn't upgrade their pass protection in the off-season. RB: Just when this situation gets slightly clearer, one game muddies it all up again. Fantasy owners cannot afford to start a back who might get 25 carries but also might get 13, as was the case today with Emmitt Smith. For those who are unaware, Smith is not a viable option as a starting fantasy RB. He carried 13 times for 32 yards today. Troy Hambrick had 10 carries for 42 yards, a solid 4.2 yards per carry average. It is worth noting, however, that 17 of the yards came on one run. Michael Wiley saw extensive action late in the game. He caught 4 balls for 31 yards and carried twice for 18 more. He was the only Dallas offensive player who did anything worth mentioning, so you can see how awful the Boys' were today. WR: Every once in awhile, Joey Galloway will turn in a monster game. Then he'll turn around and catch 1 ball for 30 yards. With Hutchinson's inexperience and the overall malaise of the Dallas offense, no one has any business starting Galloway unless it is an absolutely PRIME matchup. He could have at least dived for a catchable deep ball thrown by Hutchinson, but instead he pulled up short. The ball wasn't thrown past him, it was next to him and he made almost no effort for it. Antonio Bryant was pretty quiet most of the game, but he managed to score a garbage touchdown with Dallas down 37-0. TE: Dallas has a tight end??? Dallas Pass Defense: Had no answers for Kerry Collins and the Giants passing game really. It's not that New York was great, but whenever they needed a play they usually got it. Registered zero sacks and zero interceptions. CB Derek Ross was especially picked on by New York with Amani Toomer. LB Day Nguyen should have picked off a Collins pass in his hands, but he dropped it. Dallas Rush Defense: This has actually been a fairly decent unit this season but not so today. Barber and Dayne combined for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Giants steamrolled Dallas from the opening. Dallas Special Teams: One bright spot for Dallas is the play of return man Woody Dantzler. Last week, he had one of the most spectacular return touchdowns I've ever seen. This week, he didn't break any enormous returns, but he definitely showed promise as a return man. He almost never goes down with the first hit, and he has great moves to boot. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** New York Giants QB: Kerry Collins wasn't incredible, but he was fairly solid. He completed just 13-27 for 190 yards and no scores, but he put the Giants offense into position to score all day. Most importantly, he didn't make any mistakes. There was a pass play to Amani Toomer on which the receiver fell down, got up untouched, and scampered to the end zone for an apparent touchdown but the refs incorrectly ruled him down. This would have added about 40 yards and a TD to Collins' numbers for the day. However, he was nearly picked by Dallas LB Dat Nguyen, but the ball was dropped. Collins came out because the game was out of reach, not because of an injury. RB: The early-season struggles of the Giants running backs are long forgotten. Tiki Barber has become one of the best backs in the league over the second half of the season. Today, he shared the wealth with teammate Ron Dayne. Barber finished up with 11 carries for 81 yards, including a tremendous 60-yard scamper to set up Dayne's first TD. Ron Dayne had a big game. He carried 19 times for 80 yards, and recorded the first 2-touchdown game of his career. He actually looked pretty good running the ball too. WR: Amani Toomer saw nearly all of the Giants receiver targets, and responded with 6 catches for 99 yards. He should have had much more yardage and a TD, but the refs incorrectly ruled him down on a play where he dove to make a spectacular grab, got up, and raced towards the end zone. Daryl Jones saw 2 targets and caught 1 ball for 12 yards. With the injuries to Hilliard and Dixon, and the retirement of Herman Moore, the Giants WR corps consists solely of Amani Toomer. TE: Jeremy Shockey saw a fair amount of targets and did ok with 3 catches for 28 yards. He wasn't too boisterous today, either. Basically did his job and even got involved in the run blocking, springing Barber for a couple of big gains. Giants Pass Defense: Got outstanding pressure on Chad Hutchinson all game long. S Shaun Williams intercepted a pass late when the game was already out of reach, and the team also collected 3 sacks. Really had the key play of the game in the first quarter. Michael Barrow came in untouched and drilled Hutchinson, jarring the ball loose. DL Kenny Holmes scooped up the ball and took it in for a TD, making it 14-0. The Giants never looked back. DE Michael Strahan left for a significant amount of time and appeared to be in a lot of pain after aggravating an earlier injury, but he returned to the game. CB Will Peterson was hurt on the game's opening drive and it was speculated he might have suffered another concussion. Giants Rush Defense: Did a solid job of shutting off the Dallas running game. The Giants were up big early on (21-0 after the first quarter) so Dallas had no choice but to throw the majority of the time. Giants Special Teams: Delvin Joyce did a solid job on punt returns, and he had a lot of practice today with how much the Cowboys had to punt. K Matt Bryant enjoyed another solid day, connecting on all 3 of his field goal attempts and each of his 4 extra point tries.