Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys: Why Dallas Will Beat the Giants

As the hype continues to build for tonight's winner-take-all showdown for the NFC East crown between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, the key question remains: How effective will Tony Romo be tonight with his bruised hand he suffered last week vs. Philadelphia?

I think very effective.

I live just 25 miles from MetLife Stadium and in the heart of Giants country. Giants fans seem pretty confident that Big Blue will prevail tonight. I'm friends with several of them. They're ready. They're pumped.

However, in my neighborhood, I know several Cowboys fans (they're everywhere) as well, and they're worried.

"Romo never comes through in the clutch," one of my neighbors lamented.

"You watch, Romo will find a way to blow it in the end. He always does," another Cowboy backer whined.

Despite his bruised hand (and probably bruised ego), here are three reasons I feel that Romo and the three-point underdog Cowboys will ride into MetLife Stadium and leave with the NFC title tonight...

The Giants Pass Defense Stinks

The Giants rank 27th in the NFL in pass defense, allowing a robust 268 yards a game and 26 touchdowns. New York cornerbacks Aaron Ross, Corey Webster and rookie Prince Amukamara have been burned on a regular basis and Romo and his talented corps of receivers are ready to pounce.

Romo ranks fourth in the NFL in quarterback rating (102.2) and has really had a very good season, as his 29 touchdown passes attest. He has only thrown nine picks. In his earlier matchup with Big Blue a mere three weeks ago, he threw for 321 yards and four touchdowns.

To that end, look for No. 3 wide receiver Laurent Robinson to continue his outstanding season—he had four receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown against the Giants in Week 14.

Romo has other weapons in his arsenal in Dez Bryant (nine TD catches); a healthy Miles Austin (seven scores in just nine games); and old-reliable, tight end Jason Witten (five TD receptions), who slumped in the second half of the season but is still one of the best tight ends in the league.

Pressure, Pressure, Pressure

DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer will be licking their chops just waiting to get to veteran Giants signal-caller Eli Manning.

Ware is truly one of the best, if not the best, defensive players in the league. The right outside linebacker is tied for second in the league in sacks with 18 (tied with Jason Babin of the Eagles) and the Giants' shaky offensive line must account for him all game.

Left outside linebacker Anthony Spencer has chipped in with six sacks as well so look for defensive coordinator Rob Ryan's unit to also dial up some blitz packages from other areas of the field.

Ryan knows the Cowboys have to get sustained pressure on Manning—Dallas ranks eighth in the NFL with 40 sacks—or he can exploit their secondary with downfield strikes to Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks.

New York's Feeble Rushing Attack

The Giants rank dead last in the league in rushing, averaging a meager 88.1 yards per game. That's pretty feeble.

Although Ahmad Bradshaw gave the Giants a spark last week against the Jets, he and Brandon Jacobs will have to control the game on the ground so Manning can use play-action. Bradshaw gained a scant 12 yards on just eight carries against the Cowboys in Week 14 because of Dallas' speedy linebackers.

Jacobs, who has been very inconsistent this season, actually played very well against Dallas three weeks ago, rushing for 101 yards and two touchdowns. The question is: Can he do that again? Remember, that is his only 100-yard rushing effort all year.

Can lightning strike twice? Doubtful—his next best effort was just 72 yards against New England.