Ezekiel Elliott and Saquon Barkley are friends from their da

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s foes at Ohio State and Penn State.Now that they're set to share the field for the first time as pros , the running back of the Dallas Cowboys remembers his only college encounter with Barkley, the promising rookie of the New York Giants.To wit, the matching hurdle plays that Elliott recalls when Barkley was a freshman for the Nittany Lions and outgained the reigning offensive MVP from the first championship game in the four-team playoff era a season earlier. Elliott's Buckeyes got the bigger prize, a 38-10 win."I went out and hurdled a guy and literally the next drive he comes back and hurdles one of our guys," Elliott said. "That was pretty cool to me just to see him come back and do the same thing."Just as in that scenario three years ago, Elliott is the established star after leading the NFL in rushing as a rookie in 2016, and Barkley is the first-year upstart. As for the bigger prize Sunday night, the NFC East rivals need the win with both coming off season-opening losses."We don't worry about that," first-year Giants coach Pat Shurmur said. "That's fun for everybody to talk about outside the building. We didn't do enough in the first game to win the game, and we're working to do what we can to win this next one. Period. End of story."It could be just the start of the Elliott-Barkley story. Friends since that night in Columbus, Ohio, after Barkley rushed for 194 yards while Elliott had 153 yards and a touchdown, they are now among the most important pieces for storied franchises trying to get back to the Super Bowl.And each was the first running back taken in his draft: Elliott fourth overall in 2016 and Barkley at No. 2 this year."They're powerfully built guys," Shurmur said. "When I say 'collision balance,' in the hole, guys bouncing off, and they can keep their balance. (Elliott's) production in his first two years had nothing to do with us selecting Saquon, but they're similar in a lot of ways."Things to consider as these rivals meet within the first two weeks of the season for the sixth time in seven years:EYES ON THE RUNNERSThe Cowboys need to establish Elliott earlier than they did in a 16-8 loss to Carolina , but will need more help from a passing game still trying to figure out life after Jason Witten and Dez Bryant.The Giants wouldn't mind getting more from Barkley, even though a 68-yard touchdown in a 20-15 loss to Jacksonville made him the franchise's first to debut with a 100-yard rushing game (106). Now he'll try to be the first Giants rookie since Eddie Price in 1950 with consecutive 100-yard outings.DON'T FORGET THE BLOCKINGThere are questions up front for both teams coming out of the openers. Giants right tackle Ereck Flowers drew tripping and holding penalties on the first series after an offseason move from the left side. Free agent addition Nate Solder had a holding penalty at left tackle.The Cowboys are still adjusting to Joe Looney at center with four-time Pro Bowler Travis Frederick out indefinitely with a nerve disorder. Rookie left guard Connor Williams was beaten for two sacks. And one of the mainstays, five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith, had a pair of penalties.BECKHAM'S BACKIn his first game since an ankle injury 11 months ago and since signing $95, five-year extension, Odell Beckham Jr. had 11 catches for 111 yards against the Jaguars. The star receiver has had his moments against the Cowboys, most notably the leaping one-handed catch for a touchdown as a rookie four years ago. That was one of his two games against Dallas with two TDs. He has five scores in six games against the Cowboys.NOT SO SPECIALGiants punt returner Kaelin Clay, signed after the final cuts, had 4 yards on three returns. He fumbled the last one at the Giants 19-yard line, but he is getting a second chance. The Cowboys cut Dan Bailey, the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history, in favor of Brett Maher. The CFL veteran missed his first NFL kick, from 47 yards, when the Cowboys were trying to get within seven points late in the third quarter. It’s been a long time since we last saw the Dallas Cowboys play football. Their last game was on October 21st and it’s already Halloween. That’s forever in football time. The Cowboys have been on their bye which explains their extended absence in our lives. What’s more is we have to wait 24 hours more than usual after a bye because the Cowboys next play on Monday Night Football. We’ll make it, don’t worry.Interestingly, the next opponents up for the Cowboys, the Tennessee Titans, are also coming off of their bye. We talked about the details surrounding the Cowboys bye week back in the summer as it does feel unfair that the Cowboys are playing two teams in a row that are coming off of their byes in the Titans and Eagles.It’s true that next week the Eagles will be coming off of their bye while the Cowboys are coming off of a short week. It’s not ideal but it’s where we’re at. Speaking of where we’re at , we’re talking about this week against the Titans when the Cowboys are coming off of their bye. For only the second time in the now eight-year Jason Garrett era the Cowboys will play at home following their bye. They won the first game of such kind, but how do they generally play in the game following their week off?Jason Garrett’s Cowboys are barely above .500 in his first game after the byeSince Jason Garrett fully took over the Cowboys in 2011, here’s how they’ve done after the bye.2011: At New England Patriots, Loss2012: At Baltimore Ravens, Loss2013: At New York Giants, Win2014: At New York Giants, Win2015: At New York Giants, Loss2016: Philadelphia Eagles, Win2017: At San Francisco 49ers, WinIt feels fair to give anyone a pass for losing in New England, and if you thought Cowboys/Giants in Week 1’s Sunday Night Football slot was a tradition you might want to also add Dallas in New York after the former’s bye. The lone loss over the last five years was that third game in the Big Apple and in the Cowboys’ defense their quarterback was Matt Cassel.Generally Jason Garrett’s squads play well coming off of their bye. He hasn’t exactly been in a situation like this year before where his offense was consistently stalling, but 2015 was somewhat similar in that regard. Much like this year we saw the Cowboys make a few changes during the bye three years ago including their starting quarterback (Cassel) and running back of choice (Darren McFadden). The Cowboys have made significant changes this year in that they traded for Amari Cooper, fired Paul Alexander, promoted Marc Colombo, and brought back Hudson Houck. While it isn’t necessarily of the seismic variety this is definitely a lot of change to put your football team through which is an indication at where the Cowboys were at before the bye. Change was necessary and change was made.The Cowboys have won their first three games after the bye in each of the last two seasonsTennessee isn’t exactly a foregone conclusion of a win but this game does feel akin to last year’s game following the bye in San Francisco. You’ll remember that the Cowboys handily beat the 49ers then 40-10 (the Jeff Heath kicking game!) which provided a small boost for them. They won impressively the next week in Washington and had quite the victory at home over the Kansas City Chiefs in the week following. Of course after the Chiefs win was when Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension began and things were never truly the same.Dallas isn’t necessarily going to flip a switch and become an elite team just because they went on bye and shuffled a few things around, but there is some precedent here for the Cowboys getting hot-ish after the bye. In four of Jason Garrett’s seasons as head coach the Cowboys have won at least two of their next three games following the bye. In each of the last two seasons the Cowboys have even won all three games following the bye:2011: Loss, Win, Loss2012: Loss , Win, Loss2013: Win, Win, Loss2014: Win, Loss, Win2015: Loss, Loss, Loss2016: Win, Win, Win2017: Win, Win, WinOver the weekend we discussed how important this upcoming stretch (Titans, at Eagles, at Falcons, Redskins, Saints) is for the Cowboys. It’s going to define whether or not they’re a playoff team. Considering that it overlaps with Thanksgiving these are going to be some fun times for Cowboys fans everywhere. It all starts after the bye, and considering that’s on MNF that means it all starts under the watchful eye of Jason Witten in his homecoming. Will things go well? Will the thread be yanked at? We’re going to have quite the time finding out.

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