Paul’s Pick
Sometimes you get a hunch, and isn’t it about time the Giants put together a truly solid game? They are healthier than they’ve been all season, at home and should be more competitive on defense after the additions of Leonard Williams and Deone Bucannon. Can they prevent the Cowboys from putting 30 on the board and protect Daniel Jones to allow him to find all his targets?
Cowboys 27, Giants 24
Marquee Matchup
Cowboys WRs Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup vs. Giants CBs Janoris Jenkins and DeAndre Baker
This was a knockout victory for the Cowboys in the season opener, with Gallup (7-158) having a career game and Cooper (6-106, one TD) doing plenty of damage. Huge chunk plays in the passing game destroyed the Giants. Since then, Baker has stabilized his rookie season — making far fewer mental mistakes while increasing his aggressiveness, though his game still is not where it needs to be. Jenkins is second in the league (to Devin McCourty of the Patriots) with four interceptions. Cooper has five touchdown catches and is averaging 16.3 yards per reception. Gallup is averaging 15.6. Play deep, and then deeper against these guys.
4 Downs
Fighting Words: If the words did not come tumbling out of the mouth of mouthy DeMarcus Lawrence, they might have flown under the radar. Lawrence is proud of the nickname he gave Daniel Jones — “another little Manning.’’ Though Lawrence went on to say “Eli is probably a soon-to-be Hall of Famer’’ there is always some sarcasm-laced derision when Lawrence talks about Eli Manning. In nine career games against the Giants, Lawrence has four sacks of Manning, so it is not as if he has been a game-wrecker. After posting 25 sacks the past two years, Lawrence cashed in with a five-year, $105 million contract extension prior to this season, but has just 3.5 sacks in seven games this year.
Gang’s Not All Here: The shocking news that Sterling Shepard is back in the concussion protocol means once again, the Giants will not have their four top offensive weapons on the field for Daniel Jones.
Shepard, Saquon Barkley, Golden Tate and Evan Engram have not played one snap together because of suspension (Tate), injury (Barkley and Engram) or multiple concussions (Shepard). This foursome has not played a single snap together this season, wrecking the best-laid plans for that this attack could be after trading away Odell Beckham Jr.
Dak Attack: The initial one-word response from Giants coach Pat Shurmur was appropriate: “Ouch.’’ Dak Prescott absolutely owns the Giants. In the past three games, he has nine touchdown passes against the Giants. In his career, he has thrown 14 scoring passes on his favorite defense to shred. He threw for a career-high 405 yards and four TDs in the season opener.
“I think he’s had success against other teams, as well,’’ Shurmur said. “But just from our standpoint, we need to get it fixed.’’
Overall, Prescott has no interceptions in his previous 183 pass attempts against the Giants, dating to 2016.
Match game: There are good matchups and bad matchups, and consider this one very bad for the Giants. Their defense allows opposing quarterbacks to throw for 9.15 yards-per-pass, the highest figure in the league. The Cowboys have 28 pass plays of 20 or more yards this season, converting six of them into touchdowns (fourth in the league). The Giants have allowed seven big-play passing touchdowns (20 or more yards), third-most in the league.
For more on the Giants, listen to the latest episode of the “Blue Rush” podcast: