Giants (

17.25) at
Cowboys (

21.25)

Game Overview ::

By MIKE JOHNSON >>

• Both of the New York football franchises are in complete disarray, as the Giants had an embarrassing performance in their first game since releasing former franchise QB Daniel Jones.
• Dallas is coming off an exciting upset over the Commanders as the Cowboys’ defense is getting healthier and improving, while Cooper Rush is showing improvement as he gets more comfortable.
• CeeDee Lamb has double-digit targets in six straight games, averaging 13 targets per game during that stretch.
• Giants rookie WR Malik Nabers has not eclipsed 100 receiving yards or scored a touchdown in the five games since returning from a concussion.
• The Dallas defense with Micah Parsons back on the field could wreak havoc on the Giants with Tommy DeVito taking sacks at an incredibly high rate.

HOW new york WILL TRY TO WIN ::

New York’s season is in the gutter and it seems that at this point the biggest question is whether they will clean house with their front office and coaching staff before or after the season, or if they will keep them in place for a reset in 2025. Head coach Brian Daboll is coming under heavy scrutiny, but he is one of the better offensive minds in the game and took the Giants to the playoffs by surprise in his first season with the team in 2022. In the two years since, he lost his starting QB a few games into the year and then lost his franchise RB when the team decided to let him leave after the 2023 season. The Giants re-signed Daniel Jones after he led them to the playoffs in 2022 and he did not play well this season. It is easy to be a prisoner of the moment and put this all on Daboll, who is not without fault by any means, but it is hard to imagine many (if any) coaches putting together strong teams last year or this year when you consider the totality of what the Giants have dealt with. The Giants are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Bucs in Week 12. The franchise decided to bench Jones for the remainder of the year to avoid triggering the injury guarantees in his contract. Jones then asked for his release, which they granted. To make matters worse, they have opted to start fan favorite DeVito rather than Drew Lock in place of Jones. Lock would almost certainly give them a better chance to win and be better for all of the Giants skill players, but the team is tanking without saying it.

As for this week, the Giants will likely try to lean on their running game and short passing game against a Dallas defense that has struggled to contain running games throughout the season. The Bucs’ defense completely shut down the Giants last week, but Tampa Bay has been a pass-funnel type of defense all season and it shouldn’t have been that surprising that it would be a spot the Giants’ offense would struggle in. This week projects as one where explosive rookie RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. may be heavily featured given how the matchup warrants it. I don’t like making these broad comparisons often, but this spot feels eerily similar to 2020 when Washington traveled to Dallas to play on Thanksgiving with rookie RB Antonio Gibson as their featured back and he ripped off 100+ yards and three TDs. Not to say that Tracy will have THAT good of a game, but both Tracy and Gibson are converted receivers with explosive ability on teams that are being somewhat left for dead. As for the passing game, DeVito has an incredibly high sack rate in games that he has started and the Cowboys’ defense with Parsons back on the field could tee off on him if things take too long to develop. This should tend to make the Giants focus on the short passing game to Tracy and wide receivers Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson. The Giants are unlikely to play with accelerated tempo, as their focus will be on ball control and limiting negative plays. Their pass rate will likely be average or slightly below, but the nature of their passes should be relatively conservative with the Dallas pass rush and secondary rounding into form.

How dallas Will Try To Win ::