Cowboys at Giants: Oddsmakers Predict 3.5-Point Gap

Dallas at New York? To the oddsmakers, a gap still exists, as the Giants - even after qualifying for the NFL playoffs, as did the Cowboys - are listed as a 3.5-point underdog for their Week 1 regular-season opener.

FRISCO - The New York Giants have closed the gap on a Dallas Cowboys team that has generally dominated its NFC East rival from the Big Apple.

To the oddsmakers, however, a gap still exists, as the Giants - even after qualifying for the NFL playoffs, as did the Cowboys - are listed as a 3.5-point underdog for their Week 1 regular-season opener against the Cowboys.

And yes, that is despite the fact that the Giants are are at home … but maybe a result of the lopsided history involving the two foes.

The Giants are 46-73-2 in regular-season games against Dallas. The Giants have lost 11 of their last 12 meetings against their NFC East division rivals and have also lost four straight vs. “America’s Team.” The Dak Prescott era has been unkind to New York as well; while he is maligned in some quarters (often ignorantly), the Giants’ reasons for their Dak respect include the fact that he’s 10-2 lifetime against them.

The Giants have reasons for some confidence, just as Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy has reason to warn his guys about believing “reputations.” (Read more here.)

Still, in the 14 meetings between the Giants and Cowboys - the most ever on “Sunday Night Football” - Dallas is 8-6.

So if the Giants are buoyed by positivity? The Cowboys are as well, separate from the boost from history.

“There’s reputation based on what you did last year,” McCarthy told his Cowboys right around breakfast time on Monday. “It doesn’t mean much.”

But shortly after that, he met with the media here inside The Star and added a key comment.

"I think,” McCarthy said as he enters his Year 4 here at The Star, “the competitive spirit is higher than it's ever been since I've been here."