The last time the Dallas Cowboys played the New York Giants, Eli Manning was under center. His long career as the starting QB came to an end early in the season though, and this time it’ll be sixth overall pick Daniel Jones who lines up versus the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. The Giants have had a rough season, racking up only two wins after eight weeks of action. But after losing to the New York Jets a few weeks ago, the Cowboys should know what “Any Given Sunday” means in the National Football League.
One of the biggest issues for the Cowboys this season has been an under-performing defense that ranks 19th in efficiency according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric. The defense hasn’t met the expectations after a strong 2018 season and it shows. That’s why it was definitely nice to see this team hold the Eagles to 10 points a couple of weeks ago and watch them force FOUR turnovers.
The Cowboys’ defense has been known for many things over the last few years but taking the ball away from opponents hasn’t been one of them. Even when they’ve had good defensive units, they haven’t been able to steal the ball frequently. Even still, they intercepted a pass from Carson Wentz and forced three fumbles on their way to a big win versus the Eagles.
Is it the start of something special for the Cowboys defense? Maybe, but not likely. It could’ve been just “one game.”
However, it should light a fire under a defense that had only forced three turnovers since week 2 of the season. Fortunately for Rod Marinelli’s defense, the Cowboys are facing a turnover-prone football team this week.
Daniel Jones impressed us all on his debut versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he slung the ball for 336 yards and two touchdowns while running for another couple of touchdowns. However, since his first career start, Jones has thrown seven interceptions and has fumbled the ball seven times. He’s worked with an injured offense, but his turnovers have been a serious problem for the rookie signal-caller.
There’s no doubt in my mind Jones will grow to be a better quarterback, but a flaming debut versus the Bucs was clearly not very telling. His latest struggles have. In total, the New York Giants have had 19 turnovers on offense in 2019.
The Cowboys are favored by a touchdown on their upcoming match versus the Giants, but they shouldn’t treat this game lightly. It’ll be a challenge, specially now that their rival is a healthier team. The defense should get a boost from its most recent addition, Michael Bennett. The former New England Patriot should bring another serious threat to the defensive line and help Robert Quinn and DeMarcus Lawrence go after opposing quarterbacks.
The Cowboys need to take advantage of a turnover-prone offense to continue improving on a talented defensive unit that should be playing better football than what we’ve seen this year.
