If Week 18 matters, the Cowboys drew the perfect opponent

by Jun 5, 2025
2 mins read
1

If the Dallas Cowboys survive the gauntlet of the previous six weeks and are still in the playoff hunt, at least the schedule maker threw them a bone.

Dallas will close out the season on the road, but against the New York Giants. While New York has improved over the offseason, they still have way too many issues to be considered a threat in 2025.

So if this game becomes a must-win, the Cowboys couldn’t have asked for much more.

Well, maybe have this game at AT&T Stadium instead of a windy, frigid Giants Stadium in New York, of course, but beggars can’t be choosers.

No matter who emerges the winner of this season’s Giants Quarterback Survivor, look for New York to be a running team.

Dallas Cowboys select Shavon Revel with 76th Pick

Dallas is probably going to get a bellyful of rookie Cam Skattebo, who they passed on in the third round of the draft. Let’s hope Shavon Revel has healed up enough to tackle Skattebo in the defensive backfield by then.

Will History Repeat Itself?

The NFL didn’t pick up an 18-week schedule until the 2021 season.

Since then, Dallas has faced, and beaten, the TushPushers™ up in Philadelphia in 2021, lost to the Commanders in D.C. in 2022, beat Washington in D.C. in 2023, and then lost at home to the Commanders in 2024.

But all the way back in 1993, the NFL experimented with two bye weeks in a single season. That created an 18th week of the schedule for that year alone, until 2021.

That final game in Week 18 of 1993 was an instant classic.

The defending champion Cowboys hit the road for the Meadowlands to face the Giants.

At stake was not only the NFC East title, but the NFC’s number one seed and a bye in the playoffs. Everyone watching that game got their money’s worth.

Cowboys look to keep winning Week 18 record alive 2

Despite separating his shoulder in the game, Emmitt Smith ran for 168 yards on 32 carries, leading the Cowboys to a 16-13 win.

They went on to win their second straight title a few weeks later.

The Cowboys wouldn’t mind if they repeat history with a Week 18 win at New York that leads to a sixth Super Bowl trophy.

By The Numbers

Dallas will start the year with a 77-47-2 record against New York. That number will increase by one in one of the three areas after the Week 2 meeting at AT&T Stadium.

The Cowboys are 35-26-1 against the Giants in New York and have won the last four meetings at the Giants’ home stadium.

Richard Paolinelli

Richard Paolinelli

Richard Paolinelli is a sports journalist and author. In addition to his work at InsideTheStar.com, he has a Substack -- Dispatches From A SciFi Scribe – where he discusses numerous topics, including sports in general. He started his newspaper career in 1991 with the Gallup (NM) Independent before going to the Modesto (CA) Bee, Gustine (CA) Press-Standard, and Turlock (CA) Journal -- where he won the 2001 Best Sports Story, in the annual California Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspapers Contest. He then moved to the Merced (CA) Sun-Star, Tracy (CA) Press, Patch and finished his career in 2011 with the San Francisco (CA) Examiner. He has written two Non-Fiction sports books, 11 novels, and has over 30 published short stories.

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