This Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys (9-4) will be traveling to MetLife Stadium to take on division rivals, the New York Giants (4-9). It will be the final game of their three-game road trip before heading home for two of their last three games.
The NFC East is all but locked up. The Cowboys are now fighting to improve their playoff seeding and still have a chance, albeit a small one, to earn the first seed and the coveted first-round bye.
The game against the Giants should be easy in theory. The Giants are in shambles. They are playing with second-string quarterback Mike Glennon because Daniel Jones has been dealing with a neck injury. The offensive line is a mess, and they have no continuity at wide receiver as Sterling Sheppard and Kenny Golladay have missed multiple games this season.
In the two games that Mike Glennon has started replacing Daniel Jones, he has thrown for 378 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions and has completed less than 53% of his passes in both games.
All signs point to Glennon starting this week again for New York.
The Cowboys are familiar with Glennon as he came in for relief of Daniel Jones after he exited with an injury in their week five 44-20 win. Glennon was intercepted two times in that game, one of those being a pick-six for the Cowboys’ defense.
The running game has been non-existent all year for New York. They rank 26th in the NFL in rushing yards per game, with 94.2 yards a game on the ground. Saquon Barkley isn’t even their leading rusher; that honor would belong to Devontae Booker, who doesn’t even have 450 yards on the season.
The Giants offensive line ranks as one of the worst in the NFL. They rank 25th in pass block win rate (55%). It will be challenging for the Giants’ offensive line to go up against this Dallas pass rush.
The Cowboys’ defense is finally healthy, and they are looking ferocious. Last week with DeMarcus Lawrence, Randy Gregory, Neville Gallimore, and Micah Parsons playing together for the first time, the Dallas defense wreaked havoc on Taylor Heinicke and the Washington Football Team. They all recorded a sack in the game, accounting for all five sacks the Cowboys produced in the game.
The Cowboys rank fourth in the NFL in quarterback knockdown percentage (11.9%) and tied for third in total quarterback knockdowns with 56. Micah Parsons and Randy Gregory rank one and two respectively in pressure percentage.
The Cowboys look to get back on track after weeks of sloppy play on the offensive side of the ball. This could be the week for Dallas to right the ship even with Tyron Smith unavailable for the game, as he has been ruled out with the same ankle injury that sidelined him for much of November.
The Giants are not good at getting after the passer. They rank 30th in pass rush win rate (32%). The availability of Leonard Williams is also a huge question mark, which would be a massive blow for the Giants. This would put more burden on Dexter Lawrence upfront for them, although he did respond last week with a sack against the Los Angeles Chargers and had a pass-rush grade of 74.4 per PFF.
New York has also been mediocre in pass coverage, ranking 23rd in dropback success rate (49.6%). They have a talented secondary, though, with James Bradberry, Logan Ryan, Jabrill Peppers, and Adoree’ Jackson.
Jackson was a DNP in practice on Wednesday and would be a blow to the Giants’ secondary if he could not play.
The lack of success defending the pass has a lot to do with the lack of pressure the Giants create with their front four but make no mistake; they have the potential to play better than the stats and rankings indicate.
With the Cowboys’ offensive woes persisting since week nine, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they have some struggles against this secondary.
The Cowboys’ running game has been abysmal as of late. If they can’t find success against a Giants defense that ranks 27th in both rushing success rate (43.8%) and rush EPA (-0.015), it would allow a talented secondary to key in on Dak Prescott and the wide receivers.
Even with the Cowboys’ offensive struggles, they should make easy work of the Giants. Dallas’s defense will be too much for a putrid Giants offense to overcome, so, fortunately, the Cowboys’ offense won’t have to do too much. Just don’t turn the ball over, and it should be a wrap.
Cowboys- 27, Giants- 13
