It’s Cowboys Giants once again in a classic NFC East battle on Sunday in Arlington, Texas. It is a series that the Dallas Cowboys have dominated lately with seven wins in the last eight match-ups. The one loss came last season as the Giants beat the Cowboys, who were without Dak Prescott, 23-19 in MetLife Stadium in the 2020 season finale. Three months earlier, Dallas had edged out New York 37-34 in a Week 5 contest that saw Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott fracture his ankle, ending his season prematurely.
This season, the Giants (1-3) are no longer winless after they beat the New Orleans Saints 27-21 in overtime on the road. Daniel Jones threw for 402 yards and two touchdowns. Those are impressive numbers for Jones but even more so considering wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton didn’t play because of hamstring injuries. Jones’ leading receivers against the Saints were Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney, who had six receptions each. Saquon Barkley flashed some of his old form as well. He accounted for 130 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns in the victory, which saw New York rally from 11 pts down in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. In OT, they finished off the Saints by marching the ball down the field on the first possession.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys improved to 3-1 after defeating the Carolina Panthers at home. The Cowboys run game continued to dominate as Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard combined for more than 200 rushing yards. Prescott didn’t have to throw it a ton, as he only attempted 22 passes, but he still finished the game with four touchdown passes. The Cowboys’ defense has improved from last season but it is still a bit of a concern. The key ingredient for the Cowboys success on defense has been their ability to create turnovers. They will look for that trend to continue against a quarterback in Daniel Jones who has a history of struggling in that department. Here are some things to watch for on Sunday which might impact how the game unfolds.
INTANGIBLES
This is the Giants’ second straight road game and third in the last four weeks so weariness could become an issue for the banged-up team. I don’t believe a squad with a 1-3 record can afford to look ahead to another contest, but the Giants do face a very good Rams team at home next Sunday. The more pressing issue for the Giants are injuries. They have had players listed on the injury report at one point this week. The injuries aren’t all serious, but this roster is far from full strength. That is a concern for them considering the lack of overall depth on that team.
The Cowboys on the other hand, are playing in the third straight home game which is somewhat rare in the NFL. Next week, the Cowboys will hit the road and head out to New England to ace the Patriots. Considering this is a key divisional game, the Cowboys are not going to be looking ahead either. The Cowboys have been pretty banged up but they are getting much healthier. It will be interesting to see if the release of Jaylon Smith earlier this week has a psychological impact on a team that seems to playing with a lot of confidence. Smith wasn’t getting a lot of playing time under new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn but he was a player that was well liked within the Cowboys locker room. The Cowboys were able to move on from Jaylon Smith in part because of the emergence of first round pick Micah Parson’s and free agent addition Keanu Neal. Neal will return to the starting lineup after missing time due to COVID protocols. Rookie linebacker Jabril Cox, a fourth round pick out of LSU, may also see increased opportunities with Smith no longer on the roster. The Cowboys also have Leigthon Vander Esch on the roster as well as third year player Luke Gifford. Hybird Safety Javon Kearse can also fill in at linebacker as so to can Donovon Wilson when he returns from injury. The Cowboys have more than enough capable bodies to at least fill the void of Jaylon Smith on the football field.
RUN WITH ZEKE AND POLLARD
the Dallas Cowboys have been running all over their competition the past few weeks. The offensive line has been dominating and the two headed monster of Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard is as potent a one two punch as there is in the NFL right now. The Cowboys are 11th in the league averaging 31:13 minutes in time of possession. Keeping the ball out of the opponents hands is the oldest trick in the book when it comes to helping out the defense. Elliott and Pollard are leading the charge for a Cowboys team that leads the NFL with a 5.3 average yards per carry. An effective running game also only makes Prescott that much more dangerous in the pocket. Alvin Kamara and Melvin Gordon III both managed to run for over 100 yards against the Giants earlier this season. Unless offensive coordinator Kellen Moore changes things up, either Elliott or Pollard could do the same on Sunday afternoon. Who knows? Maybe both of them can do it. The Cowboys are averaging 166 rushing yards per game which is second best in the NFL.
DANIEL JONES
The Giants’ starting quarterback is coming off his best game of the season. He completed 70% of his passes for 402 yards and two touchdowns in the come-from-behind win in New Orleans. Jones did throw his first interception of the season, but overall he’s done a great job keeping the turnovers down with just two on the season so far. He’s a factor in the run game as well. In two games against Dallas last season, he totalled just 10 rushing yards on 11 carries so the Cowboys were able to do a good job in limiting him in that respect. So far this season, the Cowboys have allowed every quarterback they have faced to throw for more than 300 yards, although some of that production did come in garbage time. Last week, Sam Darnold totalled four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing), but he also had two interceptions and was sacked five times in a game. Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs had both of the picks and has at least one in every game this season.
FINAL PREDICTION
The Giants are a banged-up football team that is struggling to stop the run and doesn’t have the same level of offensive firepower as their opponent. That is a recipe for disaster in Sunday’s contest against a team that can beat you by running the ball but can also throw to a bevy of weapons if and when they need to. The Giants’ only hope is that Saquon Barkley‘s continued improvement allows them to control the clock and dictate tempo. Daniel will have to protect the ball and may be called upon to do some damage with his legs. Barkley will carve up the Cowboys defense a little bit, but it won’t matter. The Cowboys offense will be too much for the Giants defense to handle and Dallas will get another division win this weekend.
Final Score : Dallas Cowboys 38 New York Giants 14
*Photo by Joe Glorioso; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode