George Willis

George Willis

NFL

Giants full of confidence going to Dallas

The joke circulating around the Giants locker room yesterday was the reason Jerry Jones changed the name of Cowboys Stadium to AT&T Stadium is because Eli Manning and the Giants are 4-0 against Dallas in the billion-dollar building, opened in 2009.

“They’re going to change it back to Cowboys Stadium when we leave,” someone cracked.

Jerry Jones had 20 million reasons to sell the naming rights to AT&T, but you can’t blame the Cowboys owner if changing the karma of the Giants’ success there entered into his thinking. The Giants and Cowboys, two NFC East rivals, meet in their season opener Sunday night in Dallas, a place most opponents fear, but where the Giants have thrived.

“We’ve done well down there and we plan to continue to do well down there this year,” Giants fullback Henry Hynoski said yesterday. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to go down there and kick off our season against a quality opponent like the Cowboys.”

As the Giants officially opened “Game Week” with a light practice, the vibe was clearly different than in the preseason. It felt like the first day of school: serious, focused, on edge. The 53-man roster is set. It’s about the Cowboys.

“It’s good to have that first game against a rival, a division game,” Manning said. “It’s a big game on a lot of counts. Not just because it’s the first one, but because it’s in the division and it’s Dallas. You have to play your best to have a chance to win.”

Manning has been at his best in Dallas in recent years. He threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns in 2009 to win the first game played at Cowboys Stadium, and signed a wall to commemorate the victory. Overall, Manning has completed 62 percent of his passes for an average of 307 yards in the four games, with eight touchdown passes against four interceptions, and amazingly, has been sacked only twice.

“I know I have to play well if this offense is going to move the ball,” Manning said. “That’s from throwing the ball to making good decisions to scoring touchdowns. I’m excited about that.”

The matchup between longtime rivals isn’t without a few new wrinkles, especially in Dallas, where Monte Kiffin has taken over as defensive coordinator for Rob Ryan. Kiffin, master of the famed Tampa 2 defense, has implemented a 4-3 scheme Manning will study all week in preparation for the game.

“We’ve got to go back and look at some old films,” Manning said, “some old Tampa stuff, some USC stuff. There’s a lot of different films to look at to see what he’s done in the past, so you have an idea of what he’s going to do and what some of his blitzes might be.”

The opening game of the season isn’t necessarily a precursor of things to come. The Giants lost their season openers in 2007 and 2011 and still won the Super Bowl. But the NFC East figures to be a tight race this season with the Redskins hoping for a healthy Robert Griffin III and the Cowboys hoping Tony Romo can validate the $108 million contract he signed.

The Giants like their chances with Eli in his prime and several key players such as Victor Cruz and Jason Pierre-Paul returning to health.

“I think we’re talented,” Manning said. “It’s just going to be a matter of how we react to certain situations. The difference between a successful year and not are some of those close games. We have to see how strong we are, and can we finish the fourth quarter of games?”

They were able to do that at Cowboys Stadium. Will it be different at AT&T Stadium?