FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

Prediction: DAL 24, NYG 20

The Cowboys head north with their one game lead over the Eagles in the NFC East but are only 3-2 in road games. The Giants are 6-5 but only 3-2 at home. They have only won once in the last six weeks. The Giants won 33-31 in Dallas back in week two of this season. These teams have split the series for the last two years.

Pregame Notes: The Cowboys lead the division but need this win to stay ahead of the Eagles and prevent the Giants from taking a tie breaker away. December has been a very cruel month for the Cowboys for many years and this season is likely no exception with three remaining road trips to face the Giants, Saints and Redskins and hosting the Chargers and finally the Eagles. Only the Skins have a losing record from that crowd but winning at least three of them would likely clinch the division.

But again - December has never been kind to the Cowboys.

Quarterback: Tony Romo has been playing with a sore back but comes off a 309 yard effort over the Raiders with two scores - his first multiple touchdown game in four weeks. Romo has five 300 yard games so far and has scored in each of the last seven games.

Back in week two, Romo only completed 13 of 27 for 127 yards and one touchdown against the Giants along with his only rushing score of the year.

The Giants secondary has declined since that first meeting and five of the last six opponents of the Giants have thrown for two or more touchdowns. Look for a decent showing here by Romo with mid-200's yardage and two scores.

Running Backs: Felix Jones finally scored last week after only having one touchdown back in week two. He had two decent games in a row but all of his good showings are always at home. He has never gained more than 22 yards in his three road games this year.

Marion Barber has only one score since week four and has been mostly hanging around 60 rushing yards each week with minimal yardage as a receiver. But his best game of the year was the 124 yards on 18 carries he had against the Giants. He scored once in that game and had 31 yards on two receptions.

Tashard Choice had 67 yards last week thanks to a long run from the wildcat formation but he has been a nonfactor for the last six games.

The Giants rushing defense has declined as well with 13 rushing scores allowed this year and decent yardage. I like Barber to score again in this game and turn in moderate yardage. I will not project for Jones or Choice since neither has mattered in a road game this year.

Wide Receivers: Back in week two, Miles Austin was still little used and had only one catch in that game as did Patrick Crayton and Roy Williams. The Giants have been less than dominating against the Saints or Eagles recently but in home games they remain very stout and only two receivers have posted scores in New York. Only two have managed more than 58 yards as a receiver. I like one receiver score here but the Giants have been solid against the starting wideouts and have probably heard about Miles Austin by now. That leads me to expecting Crayton to be more likely to score though with Austin it only takes one good pass.

Tight Ends: Jason Witten was limited in practice last week and not even sure to play but he not only played with the sore foot, he had his best game of the year when he caught five passes for 107 yards. That was nearly double what he had done in the last two months. He continues to have just one score on the year and that was in week two against these Giants when he had five receptions for 33 yards. The Giants are weak against the position and the Cowboys are starting to use Witten again - I like him to snag a score here and have decent yardage.

Pregame Notes: Just when the Giants thought they had a turnaround by beating the visiting Falcons, the Broncos remind them that the problems are going nowhere. After the traditional hot start to the season, the Giants entered their late season slide almost a month early thanks in no small part to a rushing attack that has never developed and struggles in the passing game. The Giants destiny is clearly in their own hands with three straight games against divisional opponents but nothing in the last six weeks says the Giants are getting better.

I like a defensive score in this game.

Quarterback: An ESPN report had Eli Manning's foot injury developing a stress reaction and becoming worse but Manning refuted that and said it is not affecting his performance and is no worse than it has been. But after only throwing three interceptions over the first five games, Manning has donated seven more picks over the last five weeks.

Manning passed for 330 yards and two scores in Dallas this year but has been much less productive since with rarely more than 220 yards in a game.

The Cowboys give away at least one score to virtually all opponents and half the time let two touchdowns get scored. Look for Manning to have at least one and likely two since the rushing game is not accomplishing much this year.

Running Backs: Compared to the dominating rushing of past years, it's hard to grasp that Brandon Jacobs is still the starter here, he just does about half what he used to do. He has only three touchdowns on the season and still has never topped 100 rushing yards. Ahmad Bradshaw has been banged up most of this year and been a nonfactor since week seven. Danny Ware has been added to the mix but only for a handful of meaningless carries.

The previous meeting in Dallas had Jacobs gaining 58 yards on 16 carries and Bradshaw rushing nine times for 37 yards. This rushing attack has not improved any from week two. Expect moderate yardage at best from Jacobs and likely no score.

Wide Receivers: No changes here other than the young trio have been very light on scoring for the last month. Steve Smith has been solid enough with yardage every week but has not been in the endzone since week four. Mario Manningham offers up 50 yards a week but week six was his last touchdown. Hakeem Nicks - nice yardage and no scores since week seven. Meanwhile, Kevin Boss has no yardage and four touchdowns in the last four games.

Against the Cowboys in week two, Mario Manning had his best game with ten catches for 150 yards and a score and noting remotely close since. Steve Smith had ten catches for 134 yards and a score and nothing else like that since week four.

it has been over a month since a wideout here has scored but I like the Cowboys to give up one score to most likely the speedy Nicks who did not play in the first meeting.

Tight Ends: As noted, Kevin Boss had four scores over the last four weeks though none against the Broncos last week. He is more likely to score than the wideouts but only had one catch for 13 yards in the first meeting, plus the Cowboys are weaker against the wide receivers.