Afrigather There are some video games the place the dropping crew comes out of issues feeling wanting to get again on the soccer discipline and show they’re able to successful the following one. On some degree, the Cowboys must be feeling that approach proper now after outscoring the Ravens 19-0 within the fourth quarter and developing simply three factors shy when the clock hit triple zeroes.
As luck would have it, the Cowboys will get precisely that likelihood, as they play on Thursday night time this week. They’ll journey as much as New Jersey to tackle the Giants, themselves contemporary off their first win of the season.
On one hand, this sport comes on the excellent second. Dak Prescott and this offense seemed to have gotten their mojo again within the fourth quarter, and the hope is they will carry that vitality over to Thursday night time. In the meantime, the protection shut the Ravens out on the ultimate 4 possessions of the sport. And the Giants have seemed very dangerous, even throughout a win over the Browns this previous week, making this the right “get proper” sport.
Alternatively, the Cowboys have seemed lackadaisical for a lot of this season up to now. A slim win over the Giants – or, God forbid, even dropping to them – could be the sort of confidence-shattering second that would fully derail this season. As if the Cowboys wanted any extra strain proper now.
That stated, this must be a straightforward win for the Cowboys. The early line has them favored by 5.5 factors, the fifth-largest unfold in Week 4 and second-largest unfold for a highway crew. The Cowboys additionally personal a six-game successful streak towards the Giants, with their final loss to this franchise coming on the finish of the 2020 season with out Prescott underneath middle. To search out the final time Prescott misplaced to the Giants, it’s a must to go all the best way again to his rookie 12 months.
Even when the Giants final made the postseason in 2022, their first 12 months underneath head coach Brian Daboll, Dallas swept them. That season, by which quarterback Daniel Jones put up profession greatest numbers, led to a false sense of hope in Huge Blue and a contract extension for Jones that no less than performed an element within the Giants watching Saquon Barkley depart for the Eagles in free company this previous offseason.
Now the Giants discover themselves at 1-2 and struggling mightily, particularly on offense. Daboll took over offensive playcalling this season in an effort to rejuvenate Jones’ profession, but it surely’s but to work. To this point, New York is nineteenth in offensive DVOA, twenty second in complete yards, and twenty ninth in factors scored. Their run sport has fallen all the best way to nineteenth in each yards and yards per carry, whereas Barkley and the Eagles sit within the prime 5 in each classes.
A scarcity of weapons has been the principle story offensively, which makes the choice to let Barkley stroll all of the tougher to abdomen. Rookie receiver Malik Nabers has caught fireplace early on, although it’s truthful to surprise how a lot of that’s simply because of the Giants not having every other weapons. Nabers leads the league in each targets and goal share by a cushty margin, however he’s solely fifth in receiving yards and ninth in passer ranking when focused. Just one different Giants participant even has double-digit receptions up to now, a sign of how singularly the main target has been.
Defensively, the Giants supercharged their expectations within the offseason by bringing in a brand new defensive coordinator and buying and selling for star edge rusher Brian Burns. The transfer constructed palpable pleasure for a entrance seven that includes Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Dexter Lawrence. They’ve but to ship on these expectations, barely putting tenth in crew strain charge and solely having one defender (Burns) within the prime 10 in move rush win charge thus far.
All of this makes for an opponent that the Cowboys ought to have little difficulty dealing with on Thursday night time. There’s hardly any doubt that this would be the weakest opponent they’ve confronted thus far this 12 months, and the truth that it’s a divisional sport makes it extra of a blessing. Assuming the Cowboys’ fourth quarter efficiency towards the Ravens was what this crew appears to be like like once they’re firing on all cylinders, and assuming they’re locked in from the beginning on this sport, this could translate to a giant win.
After all, if each of these assumptions are flawed, then maintain onto your horses. For those who thought the temperature was scorching in Dallas after these final two weeks, warmth index data will probably be damaged if the Giants by some means emerge victorious. This sport figures to both be the impetus for a giant turnaround for the Cowboys, or the start of the tip for the present regime. However hey, no strain.
