Dallas Cowboys can clinch NFC East with win over Giants
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys have everything in front of them, and one little nagging thing behind them: the New York Giants.
The winners of 11 straight games, the Cowboys (11-1) can clinch the NFC East and move a step closer to nailing down home-field advantage for the conference playoffs if they can beat the Giants (8-4) at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night.
While the Cowboys insist this is just another game, you know there has to be some churning inside them in facing their division rivals.
After all, the Giants are the reason Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and company aren’t perfect.
New York posted a 20-19 win in Dallas in the season opener, and one has to believe Jason Garrett’s crew wants payback. And if not that, the Cowboys certainly don’t want to go into the playoffs wondering if they can beat the Giants.
“I’m looking forward to it a lot personally, and then I know this team,” Prescott said. “They’re the only blemish on our record right now, and just to be able to go up there at their place and be able to do what they did to us the first game, we’re excited for the opportunity.”
The Giants know the Cowboys will be motivated.
“They’re on a roll right now and I’m sure they don’t want to lose,” Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said. “We’re the only team that has beaten them. I’m sure that that’s on their mind, too. They feel that they could be 12-0. They’re going to try and come out and prove that they should be undefeated. It’s going to be a big challenge.”
The challenge got bigger for the Giants on Wednesday when defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul was lost for at least the rest of the regular season after having surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Not only did the team lose one of its playmakers on defense, it came in a week when the Giants are facing new…