New York Giants Storylines in Regular Season Week 5

The Giants finally got into the win column last week, topping the Saints in overtime. Can they continue their winning ways this week against a red-hot Dallas Cowboys team?

Football coaches at every level are always quick to remind their players to forget about the previous week's results and focus on the opponent ahead. But if you're the New York Giants, a team that has struggled to win and who is, of course, coming off the big overtime road win against a very good Saints team, that might be something of a tall order.

Not that anyone could blame the Giants if they're feeling extra good about what they accomplished. That said, head coach Joe Judge would prefer the players not get too elated over last week.

“Everyone wants to come in here right now and have a big emotional reaction, but the fact of the matter is we’re going to go back and watch this tape and identify things that we need to correct," Judge said after the Giants pulled off the upset against the Saints.

"We can’t keep riding this rollercoaster every week. For us, we need to look at the tape from the last few weeks and understand who we are as a team. To get the results, we have to play a certain way. There are some things from the game today that we were able to overcome. We need to look at the tape and be very honest with ourselves to see what the Cowboys are looking for in terms of mismatches."

Judge's point is well taken in that no two teams are the same, and to expect similar results without putting in the work would be foolish. But at the same time, the Giants, who for the first three games of the season have shot themselves in the foot, need to build up confidence, something that Judge believes comes over time rather than as a result of one game.

"If all you’re thinking about are results, you’re never going to get that accomplished," he said. "Sometimes, the worst thing that can happen to you is doing something the wrong way and having success. You’ve got to be willing to understand what the correct steps are you have to follow, what the true process is for you to be successful and stay committed to following that."

Here's a look at the Giants' top storylines ahead of this week.

Contenders or Pretenders? 

The Giants showed grit and toughness in their overtime win over the Saints, but the big question that lies ahead is whether that win means they have turned the corner or they just got lucky.

The Saints game represented the start of the tougher part of the Giants' schedule. New York's next six games are all against teams with winning records, including a trio of teams--Dallas, Rams, and Carolina--who are 3-1 through four weeks. That three-pack is sandwiched around a meeting with the 2-2 Chiefs before meetings with the Raiders and Bucs, also 3-1.

How the Giants perform over that period will paint a very telling story if this team is indeed headed in the right direction or if Sunday's dramatic overtime win against the Saints was just another tease.

Slowing Down the Cowboys Offense

The Cowboys have done something that can be hard to achieve for many teams on offense: they have struck a fine balance between the passing and the running games.

Over their last three games, the Cowboys have rushed for a whopping 603 yards and passed for 627 yards. And the odd thing about that stat is that the running game has come alive for the Cowboys.

Last week, Saints running back Alvin Karama gained 120 yards on the ground against the Giants, yardage that didn't hurt New York in the grand scheme of things. But unlike the Saints, who were without their top two receivers, the Cowboys have CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper.

So what this comes down to is a case of Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham having to pick his poison.

Does he stack the box against the Cowboys and leave Coper and Lamb single covered, or does he devote the resources toward the receivers and see if his defensive front, which thus far is allowing opponents an average of 4.5 rushing yards per play (24th in the league) and 128 rushing yards per game (20th), can slow down the two-headed tandem of Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard?

The answer might very well determine the game's outcome.

An Unhappy Anniversary

This one is more for the Cowboys, but since the Giants were involved, it is worth mentioning. This Sunday will mark one year that quarterback Dak Prescott suffered his gruesome-looking season-ending ankle injury when Giants safety Logan Ryan brought him down to the ground.

The injury wasn't intentional, and Ryan, being the gentleman he is, repeatedly expressed concern and his best wishes to Prescott as he began the lengthy recovery. And while both players have likely put the unpleasantness of the injury behind them, the Cowboys fans might be a different story.

Those who remember the injury--and there will be plenty that will no doubt be in the stands--will probably be less than friendly to the Giants coming in looking for their second straight win over Dallas and their first at Jerry's World.

As for Prescott, it will be interesting to see if he plays with a little extra juice against the Giants in his first game against them since that injury.

Gaining Ground in the Division

With a win, the Giants won't overtake the Cowboys for first place in the NFC East, but what they will do is even out their record against their division foes and gain a half-game advantage against Dallas.

The Giants are 0-1 against division opponents, having lost the Wek 2 game to Washington.

Dallas, meanwhile, is 1-0 after beating up on Philadelphia. A Giants win would even out the division records at 1-1, plus it would give the Giants the advantage in the head-to-head tiebreaker should the division end up knotted at the end of the year as it did last season.

It won't be easy--Dallas is 2-0 at home this year, and the Giants haven't beaten them at Jerry World since September 11, 2016, a 20-19 Giants win. But hopefully, the Giants have turned the corner to where their best football lies ahead, and that last week's win against the Saints wasn't just a fluke.

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• NFC East Division Week 4 Wrap: Dallas Starting to Separate from the Pack

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