Giants Cowboys Preview – Boys Ready To Roll?

Giants Cowboys Preview – Boys Ready To Roll?

By Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The New York Giants (7-3) travel to AT&T Stadium to face the Dallas Cowboys (7-3) on Thanksgiving in an NFC East battle. This is the second meeting between these teams, Dallas won the first meeting, 23-16, with backup quarterback Cooper Rush, who was filling in for an injured Dak Prescott. Dallas opened as a 7.5-point favorite, they are now 9.5-point favorites, indicating that the betting public really likes Dallas here. Dallas has dominated New York in recent years winning 10 of the last 11 matchups. New York is coming of a terrible 31-18 loss at home to Detroit, while Dallas destroyed 8-1 Minnesota, 40-3, last week in Minnesota, they sacked Kirk Cousins seven times. 

The Giants have been a huge surprise this season, many projected them to be one of the worst teams in the NFL, yet they now sit at 7-3. A big reason for the success is the health of star running back Saquon Barkley, who has dealt with an assortment of injuries over the past 3 seasons after a spectacular rookie season in 2018. Barkley is the NFL’s second leading with 953 yards, trailing Derrick Henry by just under 60 yards. Quarterback Daniel Jones has also been effective on the ground with 437 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns.

There are questions about whether Jones can be a franchise quarterback, the Giants drafted him 6th overall in 2019 and he has yet to establish himself as an elite player. Is Jones just not good enough or has he been a victim of a poorly run franchise? Outside of S. Barkley, all of the skill position players surrounding Jones have constantly injured or inconsistent. All 7 of the Giants wins have been one score games, 8 points or less, so you could say that luck is playing a role in their wins.

Superstar linebacker Micah Parsons (10 sacks) headlines the Cowboys elite defense, he’s pretty much a one-man wrecking crew, whether it’s pressuring the quarterback, forcing fumbles or stopping the run!! Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and defensive back Trevon Diggs are also standouts on the defense.

The great defense was able to carry the Cowboys to wins when Dak Prescott missed 5 games with an injury, and they’ve continued to do so since Dak’s return. The Cowboys no longer need for Dak to throw for 350+ yards for them to win games. Backup Tony Pollard may have established himself as the Cowboys best running back over the several weeks that Ezekiel Elliott missed with an injury. Over the past few years, there’s always been rumblings that Pollard could be better than the highly paid Elliott, he is showing it this year. 

The Pick

Despite both teams having identical 7-3 records, last week showed me one team is legit, while the other team could have some difficulty winning another game, lay the 9.5…Cowboys 35, Giants 13