By Luther Jefferson
NEW YORK (TheSportsNext) September 5, 2012: The National Football League 2012-13 (NFL2013) season will kick off on Wednesday with the defending champions New York Giants resurrecting the NFC East rivalry against the Dallas Cowboys at Metlife Stadium.
The two teams had met in the final encounter of the NFL 2012 regular season and the New York Giants had clinched the NFC East title by defeating the Dallas Cowboys and entering into the Super Bowl fight.
Both teams would look to impose authority in the early stages of the NFL 2013 season where Eli Manning and his Giants would try to prove a point that their last year’s success was no fluke.
The New York Giants, who became the Super Bowl Champions by defeated the New England Patriots in February to clinch their second NFL title in five seasons, have been criticized by many former NFL players and experts for being lucky to get into the playoffs with a 9-7 record which didn’t have victories over teams like Packers of 49ers.
The NFL 2012 season was more of an inspirational one for the New York Giants who relied on a late 6-0 winning streak to win the Super Bowl title and this time Tom Coughlin, 65-year-old coach is asking them to build on their momentum.
Talking to reporters the other day, the Giants defensive captain Justin Tuck said, "The leadership we have on this football team, that's going to be the spine of the bridge, if you will. I think we're in a good place as far as where we want to be coming into the game."
Giants’ Safety Antrel Rolle told reporters, "We've already showed people who we are. We can care less about that. We leave that up to spectators. We're just going out there and playing ball. And that is what it is all about. We can care less about what kind of recognition we are getting or who is crowning us and who is not crowning us. None of that matters coming into the 2012 season."
On the other hand, the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones are looking to devise a strategy that makes them end up the NFL 2013 season on a better note as compared to NFL2012 campaign which ended at 8-8 for them.
Their last match of the regular season ended with a humiliating 31-14 loss to the New York Giants on New Year’s Day and this time they have plenty of revenge installed in their minds.
Jerry Jones, who is known to be an outspoken owner, talked high about the season opener in an interaction with reporters the other day. He stated, “It's a great opportunity for us is how I look at it. So very meaningful. Everybody has all the appreciation in the world for what we're up against here, the quality of the team, so to have success up there would be very meaningful. As in any game in the NFL, it's certainly not how you ultimately will wind up one way or the other, but it is a big game in front of really the entire world of sports, high visible game against the world champions."
