GIANT MOUTH: Eli Manning, sacked by Dallas’ Jason Hatcher in the Sept. 5 season-opener, and the Giants didn’t give the Cowboys enough credit for the victory, Dallas defensive coordinator Rob Ryan (inset) says. (Getty Images; CSM/Landov)
IRVING, Texas — Big Blue is full of bull.
That was Rob Ryan’s profane message for the Giants and his own team yesterday when the Cowboys’ blustery defensive coordinator — and twin brother of Jets coach Rex Ryan — was asked to recall the aftermath of Dallas’ 24-17 win over their NFC East rivals at the Meadowlands last month.
With comments sure to liven up the rematch tomorrow afternoon at Cowboys Stadium, Rob Ryan described the Giants’ reaction as “a bunch of bulls–t” because they didn’t give his defense enough credit for throttling Eli Manning & Co. in the season-opener for both teams.
The 5-2 Giants were held to just 269 total yards that night — a figure that remains by far their smallest yardage output of the season.
“I understand we played the Giants before and the only reason we stopped them was their lack of execution, that it had nothing to do with our players or our scheme,” Ryan said yesterday during his weekly media session, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “That’s been well documented. That was said.
“They give a lot of credit where credit is due, and it’s just because of their lack of execution. We got the message, we understand that. That’ll be great. We’re looking forward to that challenge. They’re the Super Bowl champs. We’ve given them nothing but respect. They’ve hung a million yards up on us before. Then when we played them the first game of the year, they just had a bad day.”
Asked where he had heard the Giants faulted themselves instead of crediting the Cowboys, Ryan said: “I hear it. I got big ears, and I heard things after the game and I was like, ‘That’s a bunch of bulls–t.’ But it’s OK. We’ll find out [tomorrow].”
Ryan then ratcheted up the sarcasm even further when asked if he had reminded his 3-3 team this week of the Giants’ supposedly disrespectful comments last month.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say anything like that,” he said, smiling.
Ryan’s comments — by far the liveliest to come out of the Cowboys’ otherwise church-quiet locker room this week — no doubt will come off as puzzling to the Giants because they mostly praised both the Dallas offense and defense immediately after the Week 1 loss.
Center David Baas did say the Giants “didn’t execute well enough, and that is a clear point,” but wide receiver Domenik Hixon lauded the Cowboys’ defense for throwing in “some new wrinkles.”
Maybe Justin Tuck’s postgame reaction raised Ryan’s hackles.
“I thought we would’ve come out with a little more energy for the entire game,” Tuck said following the loss.
Ryan admitted he is particularly sensitive when it comes to the Giants because they embarrassed him so thoroughly in his first season as Dallas’ defensive coordinator in two Big Blue victories last season — the second of which came in Week 17 and sent Tom Coughlin’s team to the playoffs while eliminating the Cowboys.
In particular, Ryan is still smarting from the whopping 510 total yards (including 400 passing yards) the Giants piled up last December at Cowboys Stadium on the way to a crushing 37-34 defeat for Dallas.
The Giants nearly repeated that output three weeks later, torching Ryan’s defense for 437 total yards in a 31-14 rout at MetLife Stadium that decided the division.
Ryan, of course, also might be willing to invent a controversy to fire up his defense at a difficult, vulnerable time. The Cowboys are still reeling from the season-ending toe injury to Pro Bowl linebacker Sean Lee that was announced on Wednesday, and star pass rusher DeMarcus Ware didn’t practice all week due to illness (although Ware is expected to play).
“Like they said, it was all them — they self-destructed, apparently, against us last time,” Ryan said, keeping the sarcasm level high. “Hopefully, they have another bad game. We’ll take another miracle. That would be great.”