Fraser's Favorites Week 1

Fraser's Favorites for the remaining games of Week 1 will be posted on Friday night. For now, here is my view of the kick-off of the NFL season, a Wednesday night game at the Meadowlands.

Dallas at NY Giants

Fresh off their Superbowl victory six months ago, the New York Giants open up the 2012-2013 season with their division-rival Dallas Cowboys. Jason Garrett and the Dallas Cowboys have to be fuming after their roller coaster of a 2011 season ended with a 31-14 loss to the Giants in week 17, sending them to the golf courses earlier than anticipated. The Cowboys biggest difficulties last year were their inconsistencies in the fourth quarter, specifically Tony Romo’s propensity to become careless with the ball late in games, and their inabilities on defense to shut down opponents passing games. They addressed their defensive problems by adding cornerbacks Brandon Carr and LSU rookie cornerback Morris Claiborne, and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan finally learned to stay away from the media and let his strategies on the field do the talking. While this is the first game of the season, and very rarely are these first games considered instrumental in the outcome of teams’ seasons’, this game is crucial for both teams. Both want to start the season with a win against a rival, and both have high expectations. The expectations though cannot be as high for Giants starting left tackle Sean Locklear. Locklear sure got the short end of the straw as his first start this season comes against Demarcus Ware. Despite the myriad offensive weapons Eli Manning has at his disposal, expect Demarcus Ware and the Cowboys defense to lock down the Giants offense in a season-opening thriller.

Dallas- 23

New York Giants- 17