The Dallas Cowboys welcome the first repeat opponent of the season this Sunday when the New York Giants come to town.
Dallas faced New York in Week 1 of this season, and demolished the Giants in their own stadium by the score of 40-0.
It was a rainy night, but the inclement weather appeared to have only affected the home team.
The Giants turned the ball over three times, with QB Daniel Jones being the culprit on all three of them.
Jones threw two interceptions and lost a fumble that night in the midst of being sacked seven times.
He was pulled from the game in the 4th quarter with the outcome well in hand, and won’t be a problem for Dallas this time around.
Neither will backup QB Tyrod Taylor. The Giants will start third string QB Tommy DeVito, making his first career NFL start.
This game should be a cake walk for the Cowboys, but this is the NFL, and strange things happen on a weekly basis.
Look no further than last season when the 1-10-1 Houston Texans came to town and gave the Cowboys all they could handle.
Dallas would win the game, but it took a goal line stop and a 98 yard touchdown drive engineered by Dak Prescott to get it done.
Hopefully we don’t see the Giants put up a similar fight, and to prevent that, here are three things the Cowboys must get done today to secure a victory.
Establish The Run
The Cowboys, under Offensive Line Coach Mike Solari, have not been particularly great at running the football.
A backfield led by Tony Pollard for the first time in his career has not netted the expected results.
Pollard is averaging 4.0 yards per carry this season, which might not seem so bad except it’s the lowest mark of his career so far.
The Cowboys’ lead back has just two rushing touchdowns this year, and they both came in Week 1 versus these Giants.
Pollard has not found the endzone since, and a bounce back game versus a team that just traded away their best interior defender is a good opportunity to do so again.
Dallas was unable to generate a rushing attack last week against the Eagles, and any semblance of success could have altered the outcome of the game.
Establishing the run today is paramount to ensure the path to victory.
Contain Saquon Barkley
At the beginning of the season, all of the chatter from New York was how explosive QB Daniel Jones and the Giants’ offense would be.
With HC Brian Daboll and OC Mike Kafka in year two of the offense, Jones and his weapons were supposed to take the league by storm.
Sitting with a 2-7 record, that obviously hasn’t happened, and it has nothing to do with Jones’ injury.
Jones’ stable of weapons featured RB Saquon Barkley, along with new faces TE Darren Waller and rookie WR Jalin Hyatt.
Only Saquon has been even marginally effective this season, averaging 4.0 yards per carry but only scoring one touchdown so far.
He is the Giants’ best weapon, and any on field success from him could spoil the Cowboys’ day.
I expect Cowboys S Markquese Bell to shadow Barkley much like he did to both Austin Ekeler and Christian McCaffrey.
Preventing Barkley from making big plays will almost completely choke the Giants offense, and will lead to a win.
Protect Dak Prescott
Should the Cowboys be unsuccessful in establishing a running game, keeping QB Dak Prescott clean in the pocket becomes paramount.
Prescott is playing his best football of the season over the last three games, and there are no indications that it will change versus the Giants.
The only thing that could stand in the way of that is if the offensive line isn’t clicking, and Giants DC Don “Wink” Martindale’s blitzes are getting home.
New York sends extra rushers more often than any other team in the league, and are led by Kayvon Thibodeaux and his 8.5 sacks.
As much as RT Terence Steele struggled last week against the Eagles, there should still be some concern with Thibodeaux lined up across from him every down.
Thibodeaux uses speed to attack the quarterback, and Steele seems to be a step slow versus speed pass rushers this season.
The Cowboys didn’t provide Steele help last week when he was struggling, but they will need to this week if it comes to it.
Prediction
I’m predicting a Cowboys victory, but I’m torn as to whether it will be another complete blowout, or if the third string quarterback can keep it close.
This isn’t my bold predictions article, but I will be a little bold here and say that the Cowboys will shut out the Giants for a second time this season.
All three things mentioned above will be accomplished, and Dallas will extend their home win streak to 12 games with a 27-0 victory.