NFL

Time for old-fashioned butt-kicking

ARLINGTON, Texas — When you are the defending Super Bowl champions, you do not care who you play, when you play them, where you play them. And you do not let the Cowboys sweep you. And since talk is cheap and it is time to play the game, you need to remember what Jerry Jones said at a training camp fan event:

“Y’all should come to Cowboys Stadium and watch us beat the Giants’ asses.”

Butt-kicking Sunday has arrived.

So for Eli Manning and the Giants, this is not a game for posterity. It is a game for posterior.

It’s a chance to charge so far to the head of the division that the Cowboys are threatening to bring up the rear.

Jones is a colorful owner, a likeable man, and our condolences go out to him for losing his mother this week. It would be touching if his team could win this one for him and hand him the game ball at the end.

Except when you are defending the Lombardi Trophy, there is no time for compassion.

When you are attempting to repeat, and stamp yourself as a dynasty, you show no mercy for those 60 minutes or beyond, especially when you know the enemy has lost Sean Lee on defense and DeMarco Murray on offense.

“I don’t think you ever show mercy on a divisional opponent,” Mathias Kiwanuka said. “Until you’re in that victory formation, there’s no mercy being given.”

If you want to give yourself a cushion from the rigors of an unforgiving second-half schedule, you kick your enemy when he is down.

In this case, in the you-know-what.

One of these days, Jones will be able to have the satisfaction of watching his ’Boys get a game off the Giants in his Eighth Wonder of the World palace.

When you are determined to make Giants history and you are 1-2 in the NFC East, you make sure this is not one of those days.

“It’s always fun walking out of a stadium when it’s quiet,” Jason Pierre-Paul said. “It’s gonna be a crazy game. … It’s gonna be a battle.”

The 3-3 Cowboys will be the more desperate team. The 5-2 Giants are the better team. But if the better team does not match the desperation of the more desperate team. Coach Tom Coughlin will find himself telling his players what he told them after the NFL season opener against the Cowboys: “Take a bite out of humble pie.”

Tony Romo killed Big Blue with slants in the first meeting, but Michael Coe won’t be starting at cornerback this time, and Giants general manager Jerry Reese will be expecting Prince Amukamara to play like a No. 1 draft choice. And JPP (4 1/2 sacks) & Co. no longer are appearing on America’s Most Wanted, although the slippery Romo gets the ball out quickly and is dangerous, especially on those occasions when Dez Bryant runs the right routes.

“These are historic organizations,” Kiwanuka said, mentioning the Cowboys, Eagles and Redskins, “and these games usually have an effect on not just the playoffs, but sometimes the Super Bowl.”

If Ahmad Bradshaw — or Andre Brown, or David Wilson — is able to run the ball effectively behind jumbo tight end David Diehl against Rob Ryan’s Cover 2, Air Force 10 will be armed and ready for missile launch. MVP-li Manning will have a healthier Hakeem Nicks at his disposal this time to take the heat off Victor Cruz. And Lee’s loss is a big one if for no other reason than tight end Martellus Bennett, the conquering hero, should be able to exploit Dan Conner at will. DeMarcus Ware, the Cowboys’ JPP, has had the flu of sorts all week and has not practiced, but that won’t stop him from chasing MVPli.

“You know you’re going against a great team, with a great tradition, and if you’re gonna win, you have to be your best,” Manning said, “and you gotta perform and you gotta execute and play great football to get the win, so you get excited about that opportunity to go out there and play your best.”

No ifs, ands or … butts.

steve.serby@nypost.com