Giants Looking to End Dallas' Hold Over Them
The New York Giants won’t come right out and say it out of concern of giving the Dallas Cowboys, who pop into MetLife Stadium Sunday for a primetime game, any bulletin board ammo.
But they didn’t have to, as it’s clear that the Giants, who are 1-11 since 2017 against the Cowboys, are looking to move the pendulum in the other direction starting this weekend.
“All of these divisional games are big, for sure. It means a lot, so it’s a big opportunity for us, and we’ll be ready to go,” said quarterback Daniel Jones.
Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence agreed.
“A little more juice knowing it’s a division team, but I think the mindset is the same for everybody,” he said. “We’ve been preparing through camp, and we're going to prepare well this week. We’re going to go out there and play football and do our best.”
Head coach Brian Daboll, as he’s often done, noted that Sunday’s game against Dallas is just one of 17 and that because it’s the next one on the schedule, it’s the most important one.
“That’s how we always are. Got to put everything we have into this week of preparation, practice, how we are in the meeting room, walk-throughs to get ready to play our best game on Sunday,” he said.
Still, getting over the hump against the Cowboys is important as a win will not only serve as a litmus test for how much this Giants roster has improved, but it will also give the Giants an extra half-game advantage in the event of a tiebreaker because they’d own the head-to-head advantage if they were to win.
As is usually the case at least once a year of late between these two teams, the game will be played on a national stage, which has tight end Darren Waller extra excited for his Giants regular-season debut.
“I think these games are dope,” he said. “Those are the environments you want to play in--everybody’s watching and playing against a really good team. I feel like it will bring the best out of you early on.”
Throughout the summer, the Giants have been careful not to brag about the progress they feel they’ve made as a ball club. Daboll maintained the same message regarding the team's goal to improve a little bit more every day, which many of the players and coaches have echoed.
But it’s hard not to see the improvement and the team's cohesiveness coming out of training camp, thanks to the roster upgrades made by general manager Joe Schoen. Besides Waller on offense, the team added receivers Parris Campbell and Jalin Hyatt to a mix that includes running back Saquon Barkley, receivers Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins and Sterling Shepard, and tight end Daniel Belligner.
On defense, Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams will front a unit that includes newcomers like linebacker Bobby Okereke and rookie defensive backs Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins III.
In short, the Giants have added speed on both sides of the ball, something they’ve sorely lacked, which has shown in their attempts to stand toe-to-toe with their division rivals.
And now?
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Jones said. “I think we improved a lot throughout camp and made a lot of progress to get to this point, and I think we’re ready to go. We’ll work throughout this week at practice and make sure we tighten up every little thing in the game plan and make sure we put our best foot forward on Sunday night, but I think we had a good camp. I think we’re ready to go.”
They’ll find out on Sunday night how ready they truly are.
- Get the latest breaking news and analysis on the New York Giants
- Follow and like us on Facebook
- Submit your questions for our mailbag
- Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.
- Subscribe and like the LockedOn Giants YouTube Channel
- Connect with us via text alerts! Free 14 Day Trial!
