New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys Preview
The New York Giants haven’t won a regular-season game since Week 16 of last year.
Even longer than that, they haven’t won a game against the Dallas Cowboys since a 10-7 decision on December 11, 2016, at home, the 2016 season being the last time the Giants swept the season series against their NFC East foes.
This week, the Giants look to not only snap that lengthy losing steak against the Cowboys, but they’re also looking to join their NFC opponents in the win column.
And this week, we’re going to learn a lot about this Giants team, which has spent the last month of the season trying to figure out what they have and how to use it.
They have also tried to compensate for the season-ending injury suffered by star running back Saquon Barkley, the only player on the roster who legitimately puts the fear of the above in the opponent.
The good news is that the Giants have a golden opportunity to do some significant damage against a banged-up and underperforming Cowboys team that, like them, has a new coaching staff, albeit a more experienced one.
Last week the Giants showed some life against a very good Rams team; this week, they need to continue to show life and take that next step.
So here’s a look at all you need to know ahead of the Giants’ Week 5 visit to Big D.
Injury Impact
Second-year edge rusher Oshane Ximines (shoulder) has been placed on injured reserve after suffering an injury last week against the Rams that left him unable to practice all this week.
Ximines has had a quiet start to his sophomore season. According to PFF, he’s played 110 snaps, 56 of which on the pass rush, and has yielded just three pressures and no sacks.
With the Giants likely needing a roster spot for inside linebacker David Mayo, it looks like they’re going to give Ximines’ snaps to the vastly underused Markus Golden, last year’s sack leader.
Golden played in just 67 snaps in four games, including a season-low seven snaps last week.
Markus Golden
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
If Golden plays well Sunday, it's going to be hard for the coaching staff to justify using him sparingly the rest of the way.
The other significant injury to watch is safety/punt returner Jabrill Peppers (ankle). Peppers has been limited all week and is listed as questionable on the injury report, meaning he has a 50% chance of playing.
As usual, head coach Joe Judge wasn’t about to tip his hand about what the team has in store for Peppers.
“We’ll see where he is kind of through the weekend in terms of what he does on Sunday,” he said. “He got some work (Thursday). He was a little bit limited in some things.”
If Peppers is back this week, the question is, how much will he do if he is indeed active, as is expected?
“To me, it’s always more of a question in terms of not necessarily the reps, it’s more of a question of, ‘If we put a guy on the field, can he get hurt worse?’” Judge said in response to that question.
“To me, it’s a difference in tolerating pain, and that’s a player’s decision, and can he get hurt worse. If he can injure something worse or any player can, that to me is when we have to step in as coaches and trainers and make a decision for him.”
Outside linebacker Kyler Fackrell (neck) and defensive back Adrian Colbert (neck) are also on the injury report as questionable. Fackrell returned to action last week after hurting his neck, so there's no reason to think he won't be active this week, even if it's on a limited basis.
Giants Offense vs. Cowboys Defense
If there was ever a week for the Giants offense to come out firing on all cylinders, this would be it.
Forget about the fact that offensive coordinator Jason Garrett knows the dirty little weaknesses of many of the Cowboys players who were on the roster when he was the head coach.
This is a new team but not necessarily a better one than what was in place when Garrett left the building.
This year, the Cowboys defense has been historically bad against both the run and the pass.
Dallas is coming off a game last week against the Browns in which they gave up whopping 307 rushing yards, which sent them to 31st in the NFL (172.5 yards/game).
What's been the problem? The Cowboys are getting trampled in the pit in that opposing offensive lines are washing them out of the picture, the Cowboys defenders helpless in attempts of getting off blocks to make plays.
According to ESPN Analytics, the Cowboys have the league's 31st rush win rate (24%). Dallas was gashed on end-arounds to the right side last week, allowing 73 yards on two carries; in fact, 174 of the Browns 307 rushing yards came running to the right side of the formation, which is something to keep an eye on with a Giants team that has had better success running to its right.
The Cowboys' pass defense has also had its struggles. They're currently allowing an average of 258.0 yards per game, 23rd in the NFL, but the big takeaway in watching the Cowboys pass defense is that is struggling to find cohesiveness.
Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan runs a complex scheme that hinges on multiple looks to avoid becoming too predictable.
The problem--and stop me if you've heard this before--is that with no true off-season to get into the details (and trust me, there is a difference between seeing it on paper and executing it), the Cowboys are still trying to find a comfort level in what they're being asked to execute.
In the meantime, they have had breakdowns at every level on their defense that has some wondering if the Cowboys would be better off simplifying the scheme.
Here is one such example where Browns receiver (and old Giants friend) Odell Beckham Jr. picks up 11 yards on a comeback route while a Cowboys defender is left in the middle of the field covering nothing but air.
NFL Game Pass
It's a play in which it's hard not to conclude that there was a blown communication in the coverage.
Cowboys Offense vs. Giants Defense
If you think the Giants wasted the prime years of now-retired quarterback Eli Manning's career, just take a look at what has happened in Dallas the last five seasons.
Over that period, the Cowboys had arguably the best offensive line in football.
And what do they have to show for that in terms of playoff wins?
Yup, the same as the Giants.
Why do I mention that? Because that one-time All-World offensive line is no more. Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick retired. Pro Bowler Tyron Smith is done for the year due to a neck injury, and La’el Collins is on injured reserve.
That’s three significant losses for the Cowboys who, by the way, will also be without center Joe Looney, who replaced Frederick. That means they’ll be starting rookie Tyler Biadasz at center, and they could be looking to kick guard Zach Martin over to left tackle for Smith.
The Smith injury is significant. According to NextGen Stats, Cowboys quarterback, Dak Prescott has been pressured 32.8% of the time and has a 7.7% sack rate and has averaged 2.74 seconds to throw the ball without Smith in the lineup.
When Prescott has had Smith, those numbers drop significantly to a 28% pressure rate, 5.5% sack rate, and 2.87 seconds to throw.
And if that’s not bad enough, consider the impact Smith has made on the Cowboys offense in the red zone, where per NextGen Stats, Prescott has taken nearly three times as many sacks, and on third down with three or more yards to go.
Final Thoughts
If there is such a thing as a turning point in a season, this game would be it.
Judge has frequently alluded to the lack of preseason, and in listening to him, you’d almost swear that although he first four games count against the team’s records, he almost viewed those as an "experimental" period in which he and the coaches got to figure out exactly where the team was so they can adjust moving forward.
Starting this week, the Giants need to show improvement. A week after getting blasted by the 49ers B-team, the Giants had a mostly solid showing against a strong Rams team in a game they could have won were it not for the communication breakdown leading to Cooper Kupp's 44-yard touchdown and Daniel Jones' bad decision resulting in a game-ending turnover in the red zone.
This week, there are no excuses for the Giants. They are facing a wounded Cowboys team that, unlike the 49ers, is in a new system across the board and which has been struggling.
The day after a Giants loss is never any fun. But if the Giants don’t come out of Dallas without a win, given the circumstances and the matchups being what they are, I don’t even want to imagine what Monday morning is going to be like.
