The NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys (8-3) travel to the Meadowlands this afternoon to face the struggling New York Giants (6-5).

Game time is 4:15 pm.

TV: FOX (Ch 5 in New York) Announcers: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman

Radio: WFAN 660 AM Announcers: Bob Papa and Carl Banks

Weather: Clear, low 40′s

The line: Giants -1; O/U 45 1/2

The skinny…….this is either the O.K. Corral or Waterloo for the Giants, who basically need to win every week from here on out to make the playoffs…….Injuries are forcing them to make the adjustments they should have made weeks ago. On offense, the running game is down to Brandon Jacobs, a hobbled Ahmad Bradshaw and Gartrell Johnson…….that means they will have to pass, so we may get our first glimpse of Ramses Barden today…..On defense, Antonio Pierce is out for the season, so Jonathan Goff is now the centerpiece of the unit….let’s see if GM Jerry Reese picked another winner here……Osi Umenyiora and Chris Canty will lose snaps to Mathais Kiwanuka and Fred Robbins in a strategic move to keep everyone fresh and, oh yeah, stop the run……….look for the Giants to play with more spirit today now that their backs are truly to the wall…….this could be the day that the young players make their presence known……..

Dallas has been one of the league’s most competitive teams. They could have easily won the three games they lost, the first one coming on a last-second FG to the Giants in Week Two.  The feisty Cowboys will be fighting fate beginning today, having a history of crashing and burning in December the past decade or so….they still have not won a playoff game since 1996…….they oddly have modeled themselves after the Giants, sporting a three-pronged rushing attack and defensive line rotation that is designed to get pressure without extensive blitzing……..QB Tony Romo has played well, much to the dismay of his critics, many who predicted he would struggle without Terrell Owens…..his 8.2 yards-per-pass is right up there with the league’s best…..