Cowboys (6-9) at Giants (5-10)
Sunday, 1 ET, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
TV: Fox
Danny Sheridan’s line: Cowboys by 2 1⁄
2
Giants’ keys to victory: During their four-game winning streak, the Giants were running the ball as well as anyone in the league. It’s no surprise they fell off when they got away from riding Wayne Gallman Jr. and Alfred Morris, so against the league’s worst run defense, it’s time to get back to that. Defensively, it’s about making life difficult for QB Andy Dalton with pressure and taking away big downfield plays from WRs Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup.
Cowboys’ keys to victory: Lock in on the weakest link, and that happens to be CB Isaac Yiadom. Across from Yiadom, CB James Bradberry is an island receivers can’t escape, so that makes the choice n easy. Yiadom has surrendered a completion rate of 66.7% and a passer rating of 129.9 this season. Rookie LB Carter Coughlin is also an easy target through the air and a mismatch TE Dalton Schultz should be able to take advantage of. On the other side of the ball, things are simple: Put pressure on QB Daniel Jones.
Matchup to watch: Giants OT Andrew Thomas vs. Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence. Although the Cowboys will also want to attack OL Shane Lemieux on the inside, the game could be decided on the outside with one-on-one matchups between Thomas and Lawrence. Both have performed at a much higher level in the second half of the season, and this will be an “empty the tank” kind of game.
Who wins? There’s a lot left to play for short- and long-term. How each team closes out the regular season will influence the decisionmaking in the coming weeks. Giants 27, Cowboys 23