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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.
STAR DAZING: Mathias Kiwanuka and the Giants have a 4-0 record against Tony Romo and the Cowboys in Dallas’ new home, now known as AT&T Stadium.
Anthony J. Causi
STAR DAZING: Mathias Kiwanuka and the Giants have a 4-0 record against Tony Romo and the Cowboys in Dallas’ new home, now known as AT&T Stadium.

“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?

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The Dallas Cowboys have themselves a new defensive coordinator and a new 4-3 defensive look. Their first challenge will come against the Eli Manning-led New York Giants this Sunday night. And, as you might expect, Easy-E — who is 4-0 in Dallas since the opening or Jerry World — is looking forward to the start of the season and the excitement that comes with playing their No. 1 NFC East rivals.

    "You know, it’s hard not to be excited about it," Manning said on Monday. "Obviously they’re a very good team with a new defensive coordinator, new defensive scheme, but they still have a lot of good players so we have to go in there and play our best football and see what they’re going to do defensively. I’m sure they’re going to have a few wrinkles that they haven’t shown in preseason but we should be able to adapt to whatever they throw at us and be prepared and go out there and play well."

Despite the success Big Blue has had at the newly named AT&T Stadium, Manning knows each game is unique and that the past doesn't just repeat itself without hard work.

    "They’re still very talented on defense," Manning added. "You have DeMarcus Ware, you have Hatcher, you have two good corners. They’ve got talented players on their defense, their scheme will be very sound and let their athletes run. We’ve got to go back and look at some old film, some old Tampa stuff, some USC stuff, we have a lot of different film to look at."

The one downside to opening the season on the road against a divisional rival is that Big Blue may have to do it shorthanded. Although they returned to practice on Monday, the status of both wide receiver Victor Cruz and defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul remains up in the air. The same can be said for fullback Henry Hynoski and center David Baas.

Meanwhile, tight end Adrien Robinson, running back Andre Brown and offensive lineman David Diehl will not play. However, it's a relatively safe bet that one of them end up with a temp IR designation, allowing the Giants to bring in an additional healthy body.

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Caught Scott on the Boomer and Carthon show this morning. He was promoting his new Sunday pregame show on CBS and did not come of as the jerk he appeard to me last year when he boycotted the media.

About Eli he said, (paraphrased) This guy can play for me anytime. He might not always look great, but when the game is on the line he delivers. He doesn't get the respect he deserves but if he continues to perform as he does, maybe one day people will have to admit he was better than Peyton.

About the Giants, specifically their linebackers. "They are in a division where all three of their opponents will run the ball well. Not sure how the Giants LB's are going to respond.

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Lo and behold, the Giants aren’t the only NFL that has had to reshuffle its offensive line due to injuries on the verge of their season-opener.

The Cowboys are having offensive line issues of their own as they prepare to host Big Blue on Sunday night and with the Giants defensive line healthy and hungry, it could bode well for the visitors.

Even if Jason Pierre-Paul (back) can't go against Dallas, veteran defensive ends Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka are revving their engines, veteran free agent DT/DE Cullen Jenkins knows his way to the quarterback and rookie defensive end Damontre Moore (shoulder) could be ready.

That should be enough to generate enough heat to make the Cowboys offensive front uncomfortable.

Among the changes the Cowboys have made is moving veteran right tackle Doug Free to guard, a position he has never played.


Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo says change in mechanics can be "really special."

Defensive end Anthony Spencer has been slow to recover following knee surgery on July 25th. He was expected to be out two to four weeks but is entering his sixth week without playing.

Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne has missed entire preseason with a knee injury and believes the Giants will target him.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is pumping ex-Giants linebacker Kyle Bosworth
for information.