The Dallas Cowboys “stunned” the New York Giants last night. I had picked the Giants to win, and correctly predicted a score of 24-17 just had the teams reversed. Kevin Ogletree stole the spot light with 2 touchdowns off 8 catches for 114 yards but Dez Bryant quietly had a productive night with 4 catches for 85 yards. Bryant was targeted 5 times.
Dez has been mostly quiet this offseason due to a gag order the Cowboys placed on him. This was a result of the pending domestic abuse allegations and subsequent court case. But he spoke about the game last night.
“This win was very big,” Bryant said according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN Dallas. “I felt like we prepared well during training camp and we just got to keep the flow going.”
Some felt like the Giants opener gave them the whole preseason to prepare for that game and give them an advantage. Certainly there has been a lot of talks about the Giants in Cowboys’ camp including an invitation from Jerry Jones to “watch us kick their asses” and I’m paraphrasing.
“I don’t want to say expect (to win),” Bryant said. “I felt like we prepared well. That’s what we got to do throughout the rest of our games, and we feel like we got a good team and we all got each others back.”
The other side of the coin is the Giants had that same time to prepare. And both teams were battling injuries to key players and positions. Some might say the Cowboys had greater hurdles in their injury struggles.
The Giants threw everything they had at Dez Bryant and maybe that extra attention helped clear the way for Ogletree to succeed. Bryant is still the focal point of this offense and he worked especially hard to prepare for the season.
“I’m very comfortable; it takes time,” Bryant said. “Learning everything is not easy, and I feel like you got to put the time and work in to get it done. I think Tony (Romo) and the guys do a great job of helping all the younger guys like myself.”
He surely benefits from going up against CB Brandon Carr every day in practice. Those battles are most likely benefiting Carr as well.
“I felt like that’s my job. If I’m going to be put out there with Tony Romo, (Jason) Witten and Miles Austin, I got to know what the hell I’m doing,” he said. “I felt like I dedicated myself to do that. Not only that, I had help from Tony, I had help from Miles, Wit, the rest of the guys. I felt like it helped me out a lot and I learned a lot, and I’m going to keep it moving.”
With a big game from Ogletree who possibly emerged as another threat in an offense filled with playmakers that might in turn free Bryant up to have a big year.