E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he was one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls up until last year. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

PARTY'S OVER, FELLAS,
TIME TO WORK ON AN 8-2 RECORD GOING INTO JERRY'S STADIUM

By Dave Klein
The Giants, facing two consecutive home games they should win, could be staring at an 8-2 record when they travel to Dallas on Thanksgiving Day to play the Cowboys.

The ‘Boys also had the weekend off, but their next two games are on the road, in Green Bay and then Minnesota. It is also no secret that their owner, Jerry Jones (the George Steinbrenner of the NFL), enjoys beating the Giants more than any other team and has been known to devolve into temper tantrums when he loses to them.

The Giants, on the other hand, will be at home against Houston and then Detroit, obviously a sinister plot engineered by the NFL offices.

It should be noted that the Giants, at long last, are favored in their next game - by 6 1/2 points over the 1-6-1 Texans, while the visiting Cowboys are 4 ½ point picks over the slumping Packers.

Allow us to take a brief step into the future now. Let's say the Giants win these next two games while the Cowboys, let's say, split, beating Green Bay and losing to 7-1 Minnesota (that's currently 7-1, except the Vikings play in Buffalo this Sunday). That might put the Cowboys a game behind Mara Tech the day of their fateful meeting.

The injured players piled up by Brian Daboll's team, second most plentiful in the NFL to this date, will have had a chance to heal. Notably, the return to health must come from such as rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger (eye), tackle Evan Neal (knee), wide receiver Kenny Golladay (knee), guard Ben Bredeson (knee), linebacker Oshane Ximines (quad) and defensive tackle Leonard Williams (elbow).

Bellinger and Neal are the most critical in terms of who can return at 100 percent. The 2020 version of Golladay would be nice, but he hasn't played much all season anyway. Bredeson and Ximines would be nice to have if healthy, and Williams got into the game against Seattle last week, recording eight tackles and a sack.

Now, if he didn't re-injure anything, the addition of this 6-5, 305-pound mainstay can only help. And it might be nice to have Bredeson and guard-center Nick Gates ready to go as well.

EXTRA POINTS - The takeaway from the following, one supposes, is that boys will be boys. But still, Giants' starting safety Xavier McKinney should have known better.

Instead, he took a vacation to Cabo San Lucas during the week-long break, and one day, while on a guided sight-seeing touring on an ATV (that's All-Terrain Vehicle, I'm told, much like a motorcycle), he had an accident and suffered a hand injury (reportedly a broken hand). By his own admission, “I could be out a few weeks.”

McKinney had been on the field for all 506 defensive snaps this season and has been playing at a Pro Bowl level. ... Oh, well.

The Giants have placed McKinney on the Injured List, along with defensive tackle Nick Williams (biceps).

It has also come to our attention, through various sources, that the Giants “would not be against” re-signing their first round draft pick of 2014, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

Beckham spoke on a radio podcast and said he is “considering” Buffalo, Dallas, Green Bay and the Giants. ... Well, you can eliminate the Packers, since they're losing and that's not in Beckham's best interests. ... He was with the L.A. Rams last season, and in fact caught a touchdown pass in their Super Bowl victory, but he doesn't seem to hold out much hope for that signing.

So it's Dallas, Buffalo and a reunion with the team that drafted him - also, a team desperately in need of a quality wide receiver. But is that team ready for the antics and behavioral silliness that he brings?.

davesklein@aol.com

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