NFL
By: Greg Rector
New York Giants 1 – 3 vs Dallas Cowboys 3 – 1 4:25 PM EDT
The Cowboys are coming off their third straight win after dismissing the Carolina Panthers 36 – 28, while the Giants beat the Saints 27- 21 in overtime on Sunday. Say so long to the Panthers’ top-ranked defense as the Cowboys amassed 245 rushing yards, while Dak Prescott added 4 TD passes to 4 different receivers. While Carolina scored late it was also an impressive game again from the Cowboys’ defense as they had 5 sacks and two Trevon Diggs interceptions, to put the game out of reach.
The Giants will come to AT&T Stadium Sunday afternoon and as with all NFC East games, there’s no love lost between these teams. Here’s how I see this one shaping up.
Cowboys Offense vs Giants Defense
Simply put there are too many weapons at Dak Prescott’s disposal. Worry about the passing game and Ezekiel Elliott ( 20 carries 143 yards 1 TD) and Tony Pollard (10 carries 67 yards) will run you into the ground. Put the extra guy into the box to stop the run and the Cowboys QB will find Cooper, Wilson, Schultz, Brown, or Lamb. Said it all year it’s picking your poison and then hoping your guys make a play against this Cowboys offense. Currently, the Giants are right in the middle of the pack overall defensively. Can’t take them lightly especially after assaulting what had been the top-ranked defense in the league. Despite his protestations about not running much anymore when needed Dak carried for times for 35 yards against Carolina, getting himself out of trouble. He was smart about it and went out of bounds instead of his pre-injury style of taking hits. The Cowboys’ offensive line though has been very impressive the last two weeks blowing open holes for Elliott and Pollard that grandma in her walker could gain yards with. Pass protection is not quite as good as you would like, but Prescott gets rid of the ball quickly or takes off to avoid taking the sack. I don’t see the Giants having anywhere near as good a blitzing game as the Panthers have, so I look for Dak to have a strong passing game. I said during the Eagles game on Twitter that the Cowboys were reminding me of the 2016 season, and the same story was told against the Panthers. Simply put if they establish the run against the Giants, which opens up everything else, it will be a long afternoon for the visiting team. Kellen Moore has to be very happy with the balanced attack the last three games, especially the last two.
When Dak doesn’t need to throw the ball over 30 times a game this offense is a beautiful sight to see. The Giants defense will need to bring their best game to stop this group. Right now that doesn’t seem likely. I think the Cowboys’ offense will dominate on Sunday afternoon.
Giants Offense vs Cowboys Defense
One name matters for the Giants offense to be successful. It’s not Daniel Jones, the name is Saquon Barkley, who had his best game of the season against the Saints, scoring the winning rushing touchdown in overtime, and earlier scored on a 54-yard touchdown pass. Before his injury, I said Barkley was second only to Christian McCaffrey as the best dual-threat running back in the league. If he’s playing effectively the Giants don’t need to rely on Jones exclusively. Realistically that’s the hope for a rather anemic offense. The Saints win might take some heat off the former Dallas head coach, and current Giants offensive coordinator, the guy I call Coach Clapper. Yes, indeed his play-calling is still predictable and vanilla. Something that Cowboys fans do not miss one little bit.
Here’s where the coaching of Dan Quinn will once again come into play. Knowing an opponent’s tendencies is always a big advantage for a defensive coordinator. Quinn has been employing a variety of schemes and his young charges have been solid at executing for the most part. The Cowboys’ defense despite missing so many bodies is making plays at key moments. As I said in the pre-season they don’t need to be elite, just competent and get the offense a turnover or two consistently to give the offense extra opportunities. That’s exactly what has been happening. In addition to the 5 sacks, Dallas had 8 tackles for loss against Carolina. Their vastly improved speed on this side of the ball is causing problems for their opponents. I saw a stat this week that there have been 10 Cowboys defenders clocked at 19 mph through the first three weeks, the most in the league. I would look for Trevon Diggs to be matched up against Kenny Golladay, with Brown covering rookie Kadarius Toney. This is still my one other area of concern in this game, once again the Cowboys gave up to many passing yards (301) against Carolina. Diggs left the game early on Sunday, and the FOX crew claimed it was for “personal rest time.” Carolina proceeded to carve up the secondary as they suddenly played soft coverage? I think he might have gotten a little dinged up, though it didn’t seem very serious. The Giants’ offensive line has not been a strength, so attacking them with a variety of looks will be important. Get to Jones and we’ve seen him get very rattled.
Intangibles and Prediction
Get used to me being a broken record. Sorry just been down this road far too many times the last quarter-century to not worry the Cowboys will play down to their opponent. So far they’ve avoided that often-repeated story. Two more games and then you get a break to enjoy what’s been done thus far. Overall I believe there’s too much of a talent discrepancy between these two teams. If the Cowboys play up the capabilities I have them winning handily 37 to 17.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
Rumor has it there might be another outlet that I will be using soon too. Keep an eye on @NutsAndBoltsSP for details.
