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UPSET BREWING: Could The New-Look Giants FINALLY Take Down The Dallas Cowboys In Week 1?

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The New York Giants aim to end the Dallas Cowboys’ primetime dominance in a Sunday Night Football opener packed with uncertainty. 

Patricia Traina and Marcus Mosher examine John Harbaugh’s new-look Giants, Jackson Dart’s role under center, Malik Nabers’ availability, and a revamped ground game featuring Isaiah Likely and Patrick McCord.

The Cowboys face a major offensive-line challenge with All-Pro left guard Tyler Smith sidelined, while Brian Burns and Abdul-Carter test Tyler Guyton and Terence Steele. 

Key battles include CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens against the Giants’ cornerbacks, Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark against New York’s interior offensive line, and Dallas’ rushing attack against DJ Reader and Shelby Harris.

Red-zone efficiency, tackling, pre-snap penalties, and stopping Dak Prescott’s offense could decide the NFC East clash. 

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UPSET BREWING: Could The New-Look Giants FINALLY Take Down The Dallas Cowboys In Week 1?

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Locked On Cowboys - Daily Podcast On The Dallas CowboysUPSET BREWING: Could The New-Look Giants FINALLY Take Down The Dallas Cowboys In Week 1?. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.

This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. That crisp, smooth, Madeleine was part of college football tradition, no matter where you're watching. At the tailgate, posted up in the same lock with the same crew, sits back in the day. At the bar, sitting in your lucky seat with a Madeleine in your hand, Saturday after Saturday, or in the stands, not spilling a drop of your Madeleine through every fan quake. Because it's not just game day, it's tradition. Drink responsibly, beer imported by Crown imports Chicago, Illinois. This is brought to you by Colgate Total Active Prevention. Some routines make perfect sense, like securing your seatbelt before driving, just as buckling up helps prevent injury. Using Colgate Total Helps Prevent Oral Health

problems, like cavities and gingivitis, before they start. So put yourself in the driver's seat of your oral health and prevent problems before they start with Colgate Total Active Prevention, available at a retailer near you. The New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys kick off Sunday night football as big blue, aims to end big d's, prime time, dominance over them. You are locked on NFL crossover, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. 14 every day. Hello everybody and welcome to the very first Lockdown crossover program of 2026. I am Patricia Traynor, Lockdown Giants. He is Marcus Mosier of Lockdown Cowboys, the Giants and the Cowboys Square Off Sunday night football Sunday night football.

Marcus, isn't that great to finally say? I think so. I am always excited for week one. There are always some butterflies that pop up, you know, actually get closer to kick off. But yeah, I am so glad that football is back. I cannot wait to dive into some of these matchups. Yeah, that is for sure. And of course, on today's crossover show, we are going to take a look at the key storylines for the Giants and for the Cowboys. Then we will take a look at the key matchups and then the keys to victory. So Marcus and I are going to break all that down for you for the first Sunday night game of 2026. And Marcus, since the Cowboys are the visitors, let's start with you. What are the key storylines that you are maybe following a little bit closer than normal or have you concerned? So over the weekend, I was kind of prepping for this show. And I was already thinking about the biggest storyline. It's really the new look defense for the Cowboys. It's Christian Parker. What is the defense going to look like right away? It's our big reveal. We're going to see a lot of the new additions like Rashan Gary and Caleb Downs

and Jalen Thompson. And we can get into that Patricia. I would love to talk about the defense. But the big storyline has to be Tyler Smith, the Cowboys' best offensive lineman. They're all pro left guard who injured his thumb. At some point over the last week and half two weeks. And now he's going to miss at least the next four to six weeks. I think it's going to be closer to the next six weeks and maybe even longer. That's a bad injury to have just a week before the games kick off. And now the Cowboys are shuffling their offensive line. And that's tough when you're going up against the defense that has players like Brian Burns, Abdul Carter. We'll see how much Arvel Reese rushes to pass or cave on Tibido. And I know those guys are all outside pass rushers. But whenever you lose your best offensive lineman, it really hurts. Who are they plugging in for Smith at that left guard spot? Well, and that's the saving grace for the Cowboys a little bit here. It is TJ Bass who has been a spot starter for them over the last three years. He's played at least 300

snaps. He's not Tyler Smith, but he has been somebody who has played at least at an average level over the last really two years. So it's not like you're putting in somebody who's completely unproven, but it's not an all pro left guard either. And in terms of, you know, just what that does for the interior of the offense line because the Cowboys interior of the offensive line is probably one of their strengths. I mean, do you still feel kind of like queasy about it or what you're feeling about that? I feel fine about it. And the difference is going into this game. This is something that my co-host, Lannan McCool and I have talked about a lot. We kind of expected the Cowboys interior of offensive line, a Tyler Smith Cooper BB and Tyler Booker to really enforce their will on a giant defense of line room that does no longer has extra Lawrence. He's got guys like DJ Reader who obviously the giants are hoping can be a factor this year. We thought those guys were going to be able to absolutely dominate in the run game and maybe slow down the past

rush of the giants. That doesn't mean that it can't happen. It's just not going to be as easy as it would have been a week ago. Yeah, for sure. All right. Now let's swing over to the giants in the big storyline. I mean, we can go in so many different directions, but I think we have to go with Harbaugh, Bully Ball, John Harbaugh, a new sheriff in town completely made over this team, worked this team a lot differently in the summertime to get them ready. In the past, the giants have come out of the gate. They look sluggish. They've looked fatigued by the time the second half rolls around. All that is going to be gone. They're going to be more aggressive on offense, more aggressive on defense. They've got some new faces on both sides of the ball. On offense will start there. Isaiah likely who's going to who's a tight end, but he's going to be kind of that pseudo wide receiver to this coming after Daria Slaton was released yesterday. You've got Malik neighbors possibly coming back. That's a big storyline as well. You've got Jackson Dart working under center

more this coming year than he has in his college career and last year. That's a big one. A revamped running game, Patrick Cork, a big 300 pounder who's going to help lead the way with that physical run game. Then on the defensive side, you've got an upgrade at inside linebacker. Chameen Edmunds, Arville Rees, Arville Rees being the chess piece that they're going to be able to move around in various positions. The edge rushers, as you mentioned, Brian Burns, K von Tibito, Abdu Carter, still some questions for me in the secondary. I mean, I don't know who the starting cornerbacks are going to be, but I don't know that they're going to be tested as much. And then you mentioned the defensive line, which to me is the biggest question of the ball. And could be the biggest storyline because even though the Cowboys are weakened at the interior of the defensive line with the loss of TJ Smith, the giants defensive line, you know, DJ Reader shall be Harris. They should be fine, but who's behind them? That's where I'm most

concerned because there's just no way that Harris and Reader are going to play every single snap. So I think that's a matchup that, and we'll get into matchups later, but that's something that I'm definitely looking at. And Patricia, I'm just interested to see what does this hardball team look like because for me, it's really hard to separate hardball from Lamar Jackson, really over the last six or seven years because Lamar Jackson plays such a unique style. And now I want to see what does it look like when you don't have Lamar Jackson. What kind of offense are you running? I know they want to run more 12 personnel with two tight ends on the field. I know they want to be under center. I know they want to have a downhill rushing attack. What does that look like when you don't have Lamar Jackson at quarterback who can do all of these fun different things? I, listen, I'm not trusting the giants. I just want to know like what does a mat and Aggie harbogged reg roman brain trust look like on offense because we've seen variations of it before. I think we're going to get something new this year. I'm just curious

to see how it looks. I am as well. I mean, one of the things I hope we'd see is less of Jackson running on design runs. I mean, dark talks about, you know, I've got to be smarter. I've got to, you know, if it's third and long, I'm going to be smarter. But if it's goal line, I'm going to go for the guesstown. I'm like, you can't really, you know, say specific situations when you're going to go for it and when you're not because now you're kind of tipping your hand. But I want to see less design runs. I mean, I'm not saying totally takeaway, dark mobility. It is an asset, but use it a little differently. You know, you can use it on, you know, certain situations, but definitely use it to get out of trouble, which is something that he didn't really do a good job of last year. You know, a lot of times he held on the ball to the ball too long and then it would come out late or he would, you know, take a hit or a sack that he didn't need to if he had gotten rid of the ball quicker. So these are all some of the things that I want to see from Jackson Dart and that offense. And, you know, he's not Lamar Jackson. We shouldn't be expecting Lamar Jackson, but I am kind of curious

to see how this all comes to fruition. It should be it should be a lot of fun. And I think what makes it so unique is that we've got a new offensive coordinator on the giant set of the ball. And then for the Cowboys, they've got a defensive coordinator who has never been a coordinator in the NFL before. I think he's 34 years old. This will be his first time calling plays. There's just a lot of unknown going into this matchup. And I think that's what makes it so fun. All right, you have the crossover show, Lockdown Giants, Lockdown Cowboys. When we come back, we're going to talk about the key matchups in this game. Don't go anywhere. Today's episode of Cross Over Thursday is brought to you in part by PricePix. Sundays are about to get a whole lot more interesting. Every week brings new matchups, breakout players, big performances, and plenty of storylines to follow. And if you like getting even more

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wins. PricePix, run your game. Support for today's Lockdown NFL crossover show comes from Quo Spell Q U O the business phone system built so that you never have to miss a call. For businesses, every call can be an opportunity and missing one can mean missing a customer. Quo brings together text and voicemails into one place so the teams can see the full conversation respond quickly and stay organized. It can also be set up in minutes on any device. Keep an existing number and add teammates as the business grows. Quo helps businesses stay reachable and professional without being complex and with an optional AI agent for after-hour calls. Businesses can answer questions and book appointments even when the team is offline. You know, I once called the wellness provider to acquire about an appointment and to my surprise, they didn't have voicemail or a live person available to answer during regular business hours.

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Who are you looking at for this game? All right. So I've got two matchups I want to watch. One that I think favors Dallas and one that favors New York. And I want to start with the one that favors New York. And it's the edge rushers for the Giants and really it's me. It's Brian Burns and Abdul Carter against the Cowboys tackles Tyler Guy and Terence steel. Now by all accounts, Tyler Guy and his had a really nice training camp. He actually didn't play in the preseason because the Cowboys were very pleased by everything that he's done. So we'll see if he can take that next step. This is going to be a really good task for him. But on the other side Terence steel, he has not had a good training camp. And that's why the Cowboys were forced to go out and trade for broadric Jones because they need to add some competition. And I think now with Tyler Smith out of the lineup, I don't know how much help they're going to be able to give these two tackles. So if Abdul Carter and Brian Burns are able just to wreak havoc all day long, I think that could be a really tough spot for the Cowboys offense. All right. Now from a Giants perspective, I've got

a couple I'm looking at the run game of the Cowboys against the Giants run defense. It is still a problem, folks. And I know people are going to say, but DJ Reader didn't play Shelby Harris didn't play. How can you say that it is a problem? I'm not so much worried about Reader and Harris. I'm worried about the depth behind them. The Giants are still tinkering with that run defense, that defensive line in particular. You know, Darryus Slayton, he had a great spring. I was there. I saw it and I'm not lying, but this summer, I was like, what happened to him? It's just very salient. I mean, Darryus Slayton. Yeah. Yeah. Darryus Slayton, you know, one defense just basically fell off a cliff. And I don't understand why or what happened, but that's a concern. And then, you know, there's still adding guys, they were going to add, you know, a guy from that played with Pittsburgh last year, that, you know, I don't know if the transaction has gone through. So they're still tinkering with

that defensive line. And I'm just wondering what is the rotation going to look like? Because look, the Cowboys have a pretty good run offense. And even though they're missing Smith, that interior of that offensive line is still pretty darn good. So I don't exactly like that matchup if I'm being honest with you. So that's definitely one. Well, and this is what we've seen hard by doing the past is just low boxes up on first and second down when he doesn't have the defensive tackle talent. And basically, just throw numbers at that at the run game. And the issue is that exposes you to play action passes down the field. And that's the other matchup that I wanted to highlight. It's the Cowboys wide receivers against the Giants cornerbacks because Cowboys receivers feel like there's nobody that can stop them in the NFL and kind of get it, right? George Pickens had an all pro season last year, CD Lam's been an all pro receiver. And then another name that I want to mention, Ryan Flanoi, a late round pick from two years ago, did not play

in the preseason because the Cowboys really didn't want to unveil how good he's looked. But you look at the corners for the Giants and we talked about we're not exactly sure who's going to start Greg Newsom, who George Pickens has owned in the past. There's Deante Banks, who CD Lam is performed really well against Paulson DeBoe and then Drew Phillips in the slot. I don't think for them they really care. But this is a matchup where if the Cowboys are going to win this game, it's going to be because CD Lam and George Pickens are just more talented than the cornerbacks that they're going to be going up against. Yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up because that was another matchup that I'm a little concerned with. We do not know at this point who is going to be the starting quarterbacks for the Giants on defense. I think it's going to be a DeBoe and I think Newsom is going to be the other guy. Do I feel comfortable with that group against these Cowboys receivers? Not exactly. But here's what I'm kind of hoping in this game. I'm kind of hoping that the Cowboys do try to do more running against the Giants. Now the Giants, if they can shut that down

with loaded boxes, as you said, great. But I have a feeling the Cowboys are going to try and pound the ball against the Giants and maybe not rely as heavily on the passing game as maybe they would have done in the past. I would agree. Another matchup that I'm keeping an eye on, it's the interior of the Giants offensive line. And they're hoping that Frances Mauiaga can maybe be that eventual high-end guard. But I think you're looking at John Michael Schmitz, you're looking at John Runiam, and they're going to be facing up against Quinn and Williams and Kenny Clark, two of the best defensive tackles in the league. The Cowboys have a lot of moving parts on defense. We're not sure what they're going to get from their edge rushers. Donovan has Raku missed a lot of the offseason with a hip surgery. Rashan Gary is somebody that the Packers were willing to give away. Von Miller is 55 years old. I mean, not quite. So I don't know how much pressure they're going to get from the edge. It's going to have to be upfront at the defensive tackle position. And that's where if you can force

Jackson Dart outside the pocket, that's where some of the turnovers come. Keep an eye on the interior offensive line in the Giants versus the Cowboys defense tackles. Yeah, and just to add to that, and I agree with that matchup, by the way. You know, Frances Mauiaga, he's a people mover. He's a maller. He is a harbour offensive lineman. John Michael Schmitz, John Runiam, who just John Runiam just signed a two-year extension, he's serviceable, but he's not a people mover. He's more of a technician. Schmitz, more of a technician. So I'm not quite sure that they fit what the Giants ultimately want that offensive line to look like, but that being said, you know, Runiam, he's not going anywhere, although, you know, he was earlier challenged for his job. He's not going anywhere. I'm probably most concerned about Schmitz in that middle because, you know, he's a technician. He's not as he's not, you know, bad in terms of football IQ, but I power has always been a problem for him. And I just feel like the Cowboys are going to bring that against him and really challenge him.

Well, and what's so fascinating is the Cowboys have been a team like over the last five years. Let's just use that as an example. That used to be, they loved it when it was teams would go three, four receiver sets because then they could use their speed to get up the field and get to the quarterback. But I think with the way that they've reconstructed this roster, I think they want to play a physical brand of defense. And that means staying in a lot of base situations because even their edge rosters are big and are good against stopping the run. So that's where it's going to be fascinating. I, we know that Greg Roman, who I get, I know it's not the offensive coordinator, but he is going to have, I think a big say in this Giants offense. Obviously, I think Harbaugh is going to want to be a physical brand, have a physical brand of offense. Do we see these two teams just line up in 12 personnel versus base defense and see who is the more physical team? I would not be surprised if that's the way it plays out on Sunday tonight. Yeah, I agree. I mean, the Giants are going to lean very heavily into 12 personnel. They've got, I would even suspect they see a lot of 22 because you know, you throw Patrick

Card in there now. And you know, that's a guy who's going to look to pound the other side into submission. And then you know, Cam Scattaboo is coming back and you know, the Giants, you know, they beat up on that running game even though they didn't really tweak it that much. And then is Naje Harris going to play? That's the other guy we've got to keep an eye on. You know, he got a little, some work in the preseason finale coming back from bad Achilles injuries that he suffered last year. So the Giants, they're, they're rounding out that running game to be more of a grounded pound type of unit. It should be a lot of fun. I cannot wait to see how it plays out. Yeah, for sure. All right, coming up next, we're going to take a look at the keys to victory on this special edition of crossover Thursday, Lockdown Giants, Lockdown Cowboys. That's coming up right after this. Today's episode of crossover Thursday is brought to you in part by Dandu. Welcome to your most rewarding NFL season ever only on Fandall. How rewarding are we talking?

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management software that brings every part of your business together into one powerful platform, helping your team move faster, state-organized, and focus on growing the business instead of managing software. The best organizations know that success isn't just about talent, it's about having everyone working towards the same goal, and that's true in sports just like it is in business. Just look at how the New York Giants played this summer with a cohesiveness across the various units. Great organizations win because operations matter, and that's why you should get ODO. ODO is one platform to manage, grow, and scale your business. You can try it for free today at odo.com slash lockdown. That's odo.com slash lockdown. All right, everybody. Welcome back to crossover Thursday. Lockdown Giants, Lockdown, Cowboys, and we welcome in our every dayers. If you are an every dayer, listen to Cowboys or the Giants. We appreciate you. If you're just spending a few minutes with us today, we appreciate that as well.

All right, I'm Patricia Trina, Lockdown Giants. He is Marcus Mosher, Lockdown Cowboys and Marcus. What are the keys to victory for Big D? I think there's one very obvious one here, and that's the Cowboys Red Zone offense. Despite being one of the best offenses in the NFL last year, they were very poor in the Red Zone, and I expect the Giants to be able to create a lot of pressures, generally in this game. When you get opportunities to be in scoring position, down inside the 10 yard line, you've got to score touchdowns. I know we're still a couple days out, but the forecast looks like there could be some rain on Sunday night. It might be a slippery field. Scoring touchdowns and not kicking field goals is going to be massive in this one. If you can get to 27 points, you probably have a great shot to win. It's the same for the Cowboys on defense. The Giants are going to move the ball. We know that. It's going to happen. We shouldn't expect Christian Parkers defense to be the 85 bears right away. It's okay, it's going to happen, but don't allow the Giants to go three for three, scoring touchdowns and Red Zone opportunities.

If you can limit them at least somewhat, I think they'll have a great chance to win this game. Yeah, the Giants are very familiar with that problem because a lot of times when they got into the Red Zone last year, I can use to call it the dead zone because they would settle for field goals. And you know, at least this year they got a kicker that I think we can trust. It does matter. It does matter. I will say sometimes having a good kicker can be a detriment to your team because we've seen from the Cowboys. They're way too often they're okay settling for a 55 yard field goal. When maybe you should be a little bit more aggressive. We'll see how much how aggressive the Cowboys are early in the season. Maybe they just want to try to get points and stay ahead of the chains for the lack of a better term, but we'll see. Yeah, the ratio. I think from the Giants perspective, you know, I've talked about it earlier, they've got to stop the run. I am very, very concerned about that with that defensive line. You know, I mentioned Shelby Harris and DJ Reader, Tremaine Edmonds and Silent Linebacker. All of those guys didn't play. I know that they've

been repping the heck out of it, but you know, can they stop the run? Because if you can make the Cowboys one dimensional, you give yourself a fighting chance. And you know, Dak Prescott, he just has owned the Giants the last, you know, several years. So that's got to stop if you're the Giants. And just, you know, make them one dimensional, put the pressure on Dak and get after him. They've got an improved pass rush with our Bel Riz now at the Carter, Tibido, Burns. They're going to, they're going to find ways to get off for them on the field at the same time. Get after Prescott. Don't let him take off. Don't let him use his legs. So that's going to be, I think, number one, stopping that one defense, like I said, the other thing is Malik neighbors. Now we do not know exactly what the plan is for Malik neighbors. I think he's going to play. I think he will be on a snap count. I don't see him taking a full load. But just having him out there as a decoy even, I think it's going to make the Cowboys think a little bit more about what they're doing and how

they're lining up. And you know, it's interesting because Harbun's not saying what the plan is for Malik, but the Cowboys would be foolish, not to prepare for him, I think. Two other things really quickly for me. This is again, a new look, Cowboys defense. But a lot of the starters did not play in the preseason at all. In fact, most of the starters didn't play. So I want to see, eliminate the mental mistakes. You can't have receivers running wide open through zones. And then the other part is this is a big issue across the NFL in week one, tackling. Don't miss tackles. And we know what's going to happen because a lot of these teams just don't practice tackling. I'm curious to hear if the Giants did during training camp. But the Cowboys are not a team that does a lot of live tackling during training camp. If they can eliminate the missed tackles, I think they'll give themselves a really good chance to win this game. Yeah, the Giants basically are wrapped up in release. They don't tackle to the ground. But you know, that's at least putting themselves in the right position, but you're right. Sometimes depending on where you grab a

guy, you can slither out of your grasp. Well, and that's always my concern is what is it going to look like in week one because a lot of these guys are just not used to tackling ball carriers. Ball carriers are not used to being tackled either. And that's why you see fumbles and all that kind of stuff. If the Cowboys can just avoid sloppy football, the hope is that the talent can just overwhelm the Giants at the end by the end of the game. We'll see if that can happen. All right. And I'm going to give you one more key to victory from the Giants perspective. And they were very much guilty of this last year. They've been guilty of it a lot against the Cowboys. Don't make mistakes in terms of drive killing penalties. I mean, that's been a problem. The pre-snap penalties in particular, the Giants have wrapped up something like 29 pre-snap penalties in week one games over the since 2020. That's kind of stop. And you know, I get it. It's the first game this season. You know, maybe there's going to be a little sloppiness here

there because guys happen to play together and whatnot much on for the preseason, which you know, I'm in favor of because you can't match the pace of a game as you can in practice no matter how hard you try. But the Giants have got to be more disciplined. No ball starts. There should be none of that, especially playing at home. That's going to be an electric atmosphere. The Giants, you know, they've got to be on their peace and cues. At least James Hudson isn't playing in this game. Yeah, so that does help a little bit. That helps just a little bit. So all right, that all being said, Giants Cowboys Sunday night, the winner takes a one o'lead in the division. Also, it's actually kind of a one and a half game lead because it's head to head is the first tiebreaker. Who's going to come out on top? Marcus, real quick. Who do you, who do you like in this game? I made my season long prediction over on the Blue Star Bulletin. And I actually picked the Giants to win this game just because week one tends to be a little bit random. It doesn't always mean that the right team wins

in week one. We saw the Raiders beat the Patriots in week one last year. Like it can be noisy. I think the crowd is going to be electric. It's something new. It's Harbaugh. I think there's going to be an energy difference from the Giants. I'll give them a win here in week one. I'm with you. I am definitely with you. I think the Giants win this one. It's going to be a close one. It always is and something always funky happens in these games. But I'm going to Giants for this one for sure. And I'm not going to give a score because I'm lousy at predicting scores. I do think we're going to see a close game. I think you're going to see a lot of close games around the NFL. But I do just to cowboy listeners that are just screaming and swearing at me listening to this right now. It happens. One games tend to be very, very random. So don't overreact one way or the other. If the Cowboys win a 40 to zero game like they did a couple years ago. Don't overreact that. If they lose 27 to 20, it's not the end of the world either. Well, hopefully it won't be a 40 to nothing. That was a fun win. But all right. That's going to do for this edition of Cross Over Thursday. Lothang Giants,

Lothang Cowboys Giants and Cowboys Sunday night, MetLife Stadium, the only gaming town. Be there. Meanwhile, please check out Marcus on my thumb, Cowboys. Landon McCool is co-host. And also check out Lothang Giants. I won solo on Lothang Giants. So hopefully you'll check that out. For Marcus Mosha, I'm Patricia Trina. Thank you so much for tuning in. And we will see you on our respective shows tomorrow. Before ink met page, Superheroes rose from American ideals. Now these virtues take on powerful new forms in the US midst Comic Art, going in metal program featuring all new original designs of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, captured in 24-karat gold and fine silver. It's where American history and heroism unite in striking detail. Order exclusive DC Superhero coins and metals today. Visit usmit.gov slash DC. This crisp, smooth modelo is for the traditions that make college football Saturday's sacred. That modelo poured into the marinade that makes

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