'A New Style'? Cowboys at Giants Means Micah vs. Saquon

"He's excited,'' Cowboys star Micah Parsons says of buddy Saquon Barkley. "He's talking about his new run style, how he's going back to the 'Penn State Saquon' ... a scary Giants thought indeed.

NEW YORK CITY - There is a rivalry that exists between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants that goes back more than 60 years ... and that is at this point being on the verge of re-achieving its previous heights.

"The Giants aren't a walkover team,'' Dallas' Micah Parsons said of his Week 1 opponent, both teams set to go here in the New York area for "Sunday Night Football.'' "They put together a great offseason just like we did. They've got great guys they've already had, and the rivalry makes it harder and something you've gotta prepare for because they're going to give us their best shot.

"This is like a Super Bowl." 

That might be especially true when rivals are also like "brothers,'' as Micah reminds us is the case with Saquon Barkley, the Giants star running back.

"He's excited,'' Micah said. "He's talking about his new run style, how he's going back to the 'Penn State Saquon.'

That's a scary enough thought, given that Barkley is in the discussion of best backs in the NFL. He might be New York's best player as the centerpiece of a team that made the playoffs, as did the Cowboys.

We have speculated that Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn might wish to utilize Parsons - among the sport's greatest pass-rushers - in a more traditional "linebacker'' way as a method of combating the brilliance of Barkley. But either way, the two figure to bump into one another on Sunday ... and will surely have fond memories to share.

"He's like a big brother to me,'' said Parsons, who shared that the two have spoken by phone "a good amount'' in the days leading up to this trip to New York. "He was a big reason why I committed to Penn State.''

And now he's a big reason why the Giants believe they can end a notable run by Dallas, which in the Dak Prescott era have a 10-2 career record against New York.

Parsons made that "Super Bowl'' comment, which is somewhat hyperbolic. At the same time, he suggested that every single Dallas foe will be treated the same way, that they'll all "get the smoke.'' The truth is probably somewhere in the middle; this game, for a number of reasons illustrated here, is more important that most ... in part because in some ways, the rivalry is sort of "brother vs. brother'' - as Micah and Saquon are about to prove.