It may be a short week for the Dallas Cowboys (1-2) and New York Giants (1-2) as they prepare to face off on Thursday Night Football, but we’re not short on storylines.
However, before we dive into all of them, let’s start with a general vibes check to see how each team is doing after their first three games.
Charlotte Carroll (Giants): Oh, how the pendulum has swung in New York. After an embarrassing opener against Minnesota, coach Brian Daboll was answering questions about quarterback Daniel Jones’ job security. And after a disheartening loss to the Washington Commanders, Daboll was fielding questions about his own job security. But after taking down the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, the frustration around this franchise has simmered — at least for this short week ahead of the divisional showdown. A win against Dallas would get the Giants back to .500 and provide some hope for the rest of the season.
Inside the locker room, the players are embracing a defiant “F– it” mentality that helped them rebound from a rough start Sunday and usher in their first victory of the season. Perhaps that attitude will help them overcome a team they haven’t beaten in their last six tries.
Saad Yousuf (Cowboys): The vibes around the Cowboys revolve around the journey more than the destination. Having a 1-2 record is never ideal, but it would feel a lot better for Cowboys fans if it was a couple of close losses. Instead, the Cowboys’ lone win — Week 1 against Cleveland — looks less impressive with each passing week. Not only have the Cowboys lost their last two games — both at home, where they came into the season riding a 16-game, regular-season winning streak — but they’ve been absolutely embarrassed. The loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 2 was an atrocity, as the 44-19 final score aptly conveys. The three-point loss Sunday to the Baltimore Ravens looks way better on the scoreboard than in actuality. The Cowboys trailed 28-6 a few minutes into the fourth quarter before a late rally fell short.
The primary reasons for this demoralizing start were incredibly predictable. The Cowboys can’t stop the run, something that was an issue last season, too, and went largely unaddressed in the offseason. They can’t even pose a minimal threat with their own running game, and both sides of the ball contribute to bad starts to games that are hard to rebound from. The only silver lining is that the Cowboys have maintained a clean bill of health and should get reinforcements in the way of defensive back DaRon Bland returning soon. But optimism is hard to come by in Dallas these days.
Let’s talk defense. Is there any hope for the Cowboys? Should we put any stock in the Giants’ transformation in Week 3?
Carroll: The defense stepped up in a major way against Cleveland, and it will need to again against a pairing — QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb — that has had the Giants’ number.
It all starts up front with Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and even Azeez Ojulari, who had a big game (sack, four pressures, fumble recovery) against Cleveland. The four of them combined Sunday for 4.5 sacks, to go along with 19 pressures and nine QB hits.
But they also had a little help. Though defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is not known for blitzing, he cranked it up on Sunday, sending an extra rusher at Browns QB Deshaun Watson on 57.4% of his dropbacks. The Giants had only blitzed 31.3% of the time in their first two games. It will be intriguing to see if Bowen stays aggressive or if he backs off against a quarterback in Prescott who typically fares much better than Watson did while under duress.
Defense wasn’t messing around 😤 pic.twitter.com/dwMGxSNjEi
— New York Giants (@Giants) September 23, 2024
One contributing factor could be the health of the cornerback room. Both Adoree’ Jackson and Dru Phillips have not participated in practice this week, which doesn’t bode well for their availability Thursday night. This leaves a major question about slot corner, which Phillips has been playing. Additionally, will the Giants move their top cornerback, Deonte Banks, into the slot when Lamb slides inside? Lamb has lined up there more than 50% of the time this season and can wreak havoc if the Giants aren’t careful.
Yousuf: The run defense gets most of the pub for its ineptitude, and understandably so, but the pass defense has been pretty bad the past two weeks without the benefit of facing Watson. Players had a unified message after the most recent loss that the coaching was good enough, and the problems were on their shoulders for the lack of execution. But it all starts at the root, which is the front office not doing enough to address a known issue. Given the solutions, or lack thereof, available now, it’s on the coaches and players to figure it out.
The Giants do have the ingredients to give the Cowboys some trouble, particularly on offense. Devin Singletary is a quality running back who is capable of inflicting damage, especially against a bad run defense. Jones is an easy target for criticism because his play can be lackluster, especially compared to the contract he got. But he is still good enough to turn in a quality performance. The key for the Cowboys will be to play from ahead and make him one-dimensional. Jones is obviously no Lamar Jackson, but he can do damage with his legs, and the Cowboys need to eliminate that aspect of his game, along with the running game as a whole. Allowing Micah Parsons and company to pin their ears back and rush the passer is the formula for success.
The individual matchup that intrigues me the most is with Malik Nabers. The rookie is off to a great start. If he lines up against Trevon Diggs, or even Jourdan Lewis, he’ll be against the best the Cowboys have to offer. However, I’m curious to see how much the Giants can get him against rookie fifth-round pick Caelen Carson, who is starting in place of the injured DaRon Bland. Carson had a strong training camp, but he’s had ups and downs early in the season. That’ll be a matchup the Giants could look to exploit.
What have you learned about the offenses through three weeks?
Carroll: As you mentioned, Nabers already looks like a star. And he certainly already is this offense’s go-to player. Jones has already targeted Nabers 37 times, the second most of any rookie through their first three games since 2000. Nabers is also one of two receivers in the NFL to account for more than half of his team’s air yards (56.07%). The other is the Commanders’ Terry McLaurin (55.48%). Nabers likely won’t be able to continue at that rate, but he’s the focal point of what the Giants want to do on offense.
That said, and as you mentioned, the Giants need to be able to exploit Dallas’ porous run defense. Even with Daboll finding ways to add extra protection for Jones in the pocket, dropping back over and over again against Parsons an company is a recipe for disaster. Speaking of which, I’m extremely interested in see how well the Giants’ offensive line holds up against the Cowboys. They fared well against a not-fully-healthy Myles Garrett, but if this line can hold up against Parsons, too, it’s fair to start believing there’s been some positive changes after an offseason of investment in the unit.
Yousuf: Lamb is the main feature, and tight end Jake Ferguson is Prescott’s security blanket. Ferguson injured his knee in Week 1 but only missed one game before returning to the field Sunday. He didn’t miss a beat, which is an encouraging sign.
However, the Cowboys need more players to step up in the passing game. Brandin Cooks has the pedigree. but he’s struggled to gain much separation this year, which is a problem since speed is his strength. It might be time for the Cowboys to give some of Cooks’ role as the No. 2 receiver to Jalen Tolbert, who has been a solid No. 3 and could benefit with more opportunity.
The running game has been a disaster. There’s no semblance of a consistent attack that is capable of picking up yards when situations arise. There’s no lead back in the committee of Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn. All three have different skill sets, but none have been able to make their mark, or even provide the occasional big play. The Cowboys’ longest run this season is 12 yards, which came from Lamb. Dalvin Cook has been ramping up on the practice squad and could get a look soon. It’ll be worth monitoring when that happens and how big his role is on game days.
The Cowboys got run over by Derrick Henry and the Ravens.
And @JOEL9ONE doesn’t think the issue is an easy fix for Mike Zimmer’s unit.
More conversations post-Week 3 with @DMRussini and @ChaseDaniel on Scoop City ⤵️https://t.co/iFZu3ZIPhI pic.twitter.com/SuSv5xfsNu
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 24, 2024
OK, let’s make some predictions.
Carroll: History doesn’t favor the Giants in this matchup, especially when you consider the prime-time element. Jones is 1-12 in prime-time games. If you had asked me to predict this game last week, I’d have put my money on the Cowboys. But Sunday’s performances have me rethinking things. While I remain concerned about the defense’s ability to stop Lamb, I think the Giants can take advantage of a Cowboys defense still searching for an identity and put up some points. I’m going Giants 21, Cowboys 18.
Yousuf: It’s hard to get a full read on the Giants in this young season because of the current trajectory of their previous three opponents. Losing to the Sam Darnold-led Minnesota Vikings looked like a bad loss initially, but the Vikings seem to have something brewing on the back of Darnold’s resurgence, as they’ve gone on to beat the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans. There isn’t much good going on in Cleveland, so I don’t make much of the Giants’ win over the Browns.
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I think the Cowboys’ offense should get its act together. Prescott historically has been phenomenal against the Giants, and Lamb is going to be seeing red as he tries to rebound from a bad game on Sunday. Riding two straight losses, the Cowboys are desperate to right the ship, and I think they will. I’m saying: Cowboys 31, Giants 21.
(Photo of Dak Prescott and Daniel Jones: Richard Rodriguez / Getty Images)
