QUICK TURNAROUND
The Giants did not have a lot of time to enjoy Sunday's win in Cleveland. As soon as the team landed back in New Jersey Sunday night, the coaches immediately went to work to start preparations for Thursday night's game against the Cowboys. Despite the familiarity between the division rivals, head coach Brian Daboll admitted it's a race to get fully up to speed on such a quick turnaround.
"As play callers, you're pretty honed in on who you're playing that week. So, there's a lot of catching up to do," Daboll told the media Monday. "We met after we got off the plane yesterday and did some things last night, we were here early. A lot of catching up to do. New defensive coordinator, same offensive coordinator, (Cowboys Head) Coach (Mike) McCarthy, but new defensive coordinator, Coach (Mike) Zimmer. Some of the guys stayed here last night. Other guys got in pretty early, so we're catching up. We'll be caught up, but with these short weeks, there's not much time. You need a lot of it. You need all the time you can."
This week's game marks the second consecutive year the Giants and Cowboys will meet at MetLife Stadium for a matchup in primetime. Of course, the two teams faced off in last year's season opener, a game that saw the Giants fall 40-0 and lose Andrew Thomas for the entire first half of the season. While last year's game might be in the back of some players' minds, Daboll reminded everyone that last year's outcome has no bearing on this week's game.
"I think each individual person is motivated by different things," the head coach said. "And my main focus is getting ready to play this team, 2024, the team that's just played these first three games. Different players, different schemes, making sure that we're prepared. Doing a good job in our walkthroughs, in our meetings, in our communication. But our focus is on task at hand."
"For me, personally, I don't hold it too much," safety Jason Pinnock added. "I'm a person every game I act like it's the Super Bowl for me, for myself. It's the Super Bowl. But, of course, you do remember. I think everybody will remember home opener being beat like that on primetime TV. But, again, as far as our defense, I think it was 17-0 before we hit the field. Never get too high, don't get too low about the situation. Just ready to go."
ALL-TIME SERIES
The New York Giants (1-2) host the Dallas Cowboys (1-2) in Metlife Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 26 for an NFC East Thursday Night Football contest to open Week 4 of the NFL season. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video and locally on FOX.
This is the 125th meeting overall and the first of the season between the Giants and the Cowboys. Thursday's contest marks the third matchup between the two franchises on a Thursday with the Cowboys winning the first two, both being on Thanksgiving Day in Dallas.
In 2023, the Cowboys swept the season series. The Giants look to snap a six-game losing streak against the Cowboys. The last Giants' win against the Cowboys was on Jan. 3, 2021 at Metlife Stadium, 23-19.
INJURY REPORT
Giants
Out: CB Dru Phillips (Calf), CB Adoree' Jackson (Calf)
Questionable: WR Darius Slayton (Thumb)
Cowboys
Doubtful: S Markquese Bell (Ankle), CB Caelen Carson (Shoulder)
NABERS, LAMB IN WR BATTLE
Malik Nabers has now put together back-to-back dominant outings after his breakout game in Cleveland. The rookie pulled in eight of 12 targets for 78 yards and two touchdowns, and as impressive as his box score looked, it doesn't do his performance justice. Nabers made several athletic catches, including his incredible grab over Browns cornerback Martin Emerson for a 28-yard gain late in the second quarter. His statistics through his first three games has landed him in the NFL record books, and has also led to him being nominated for Rookie of the Week three times already.
Across the field, the Cowboys' offense features one of the most talented wide receivers in the NFL. CeeDee Lamb led the NFL with 135 receptions last season, which he took for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns on his way to being named first-team All-Pro. While limited to just four receptions for 77 yards in last year's season opener, Lamb exploded for 11 receptions for 151 yards and a score in the second meeting between the two teams. Lamb's 52 receptions for 722 yards in eight career games against the Giants are his highest totals against any opponent.
"Tough opponent, really good player," Daboll said Tuesday about the three-time Pro Bowl receiver.
DJ LEADING THE OFFENSE
While Nabers deserves a lot of credit for the offense's success in Cleveland, the same goes for Daniel Jones. The sixth-year quarterback completed 70.6 percent of his passes for 236 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 109.4. This was Jones' highest passer rating since the Week 17 matchup against the Colts in 2022 when he finished with a 125.2 passer rating. This marked the first time Jones has thrown multiple touchdown passes with no interceptions in consecutive games since his rookie season, and the first time he's done it with zero turnovers overall in his NFL career. He also finished the game eight of 13 for 62 yards and a touchdown, good for a 98.9 passer rating, when getting pressured.
The Giants' offense scored three touchdowns in the first half for just the second time since the start of the 2021 season (vs. Eagles in Week 18, 2023). Jones played a crucial role in this as he completed 17 of 19 passes for 178 yards and both touchdowns in the first half, which earned him a passer rating of 140.8. The fact that he did it against a Browns defense that entered this game as the best unit at home over the last two seasons makes it that much more impressive.
"Another good week," Daboll said about his QB. "He's had two good weeks in a row. I don't know, another hundred-plus quarterback rating, two touchdowns, no interceptions, handled the noise well. Did a great job of not turning the football over. Executing, I think we were 100% but took the knee at the end. He was locked in and he's been that way. We're going to need it from him this week – a short week. A lot of work to do."
ESTABLISHING THE RUN
In last week's win, running back Devin Singletary carried the ball 16 times for 65 yards (4.1 avg.) and a touchdown, which marked the second consecutive week he averaged over four yards per carry. In the Week 2 loss to the Commanders, the veteran back averaged nearly 6.0 yards per carry after he took 16 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. The 27-year-old also had his best day as a receiver against the Browns as he caught four passes for 43 yards.
It wasn't all good, though. Singletary lost a fumble against the Browns, which was the second consecutive week in which he had a turnover. But Daboll isn't letting those two negative plays completely overshadow all of the good Singletary has done so far this season. The back has forced 17 missed tackles on the year, is averaging 3.93 yards after contact per attempt, and has six runs of 10+ yards already. All of this has led to him averaging 4.7 yards per attempt on the season.
"He's a pro," Daboll said about the veteran back's fumbles. "Yeah. He'll work on that. I've been around him a bunch. So, again, you can't let one bad or two bad plays define a lot of the good things. So, you keep working on your ball security, and he'll do that."
"He's a pro, played a lot of football," quarterback Daniel Jones added. "We have a lot of confidence in him and that's not changing any of our confidence. He's played well, come back and been big time for us. No one's losing confidence in that."
The Cowboys' defense has struggled against the run this season. Dallas enters this matchup having surrendered the most rushing yards, rushing yards per attempt, and rushing touchdowns in the NFL. In their Week 2 loss to the Saints, the Cowboys allowed Alvin Kamara to take 20 carries for 115 yards (5.8 avg.) and three touchdowns while adding another two receptions for 65 yards and an additional score through the air. Last week, Derrick Henry ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries (6.0 avg.).
View rare photos from the historic rivalry between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.
GETTING PRESSURE ON DAK
The Giants are coming off their best pass rushing game in nearly a decade and will look to keep the momentum going into Thursday. The defense's eight sacks of Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was the franchise's highest sack total in nearly 10 years and tied for the most in the NFL in Week 3. Their 36 total quarterback pressures also led the league last week, according to Pro Football Focus, as nine different players were credited with at least a half-sack. According to Next Gen Stats, nine different defenders recorded multiple pressures, as well. Outside linebacker Brian Burns led the way with seven, a new career-high.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had mixed results in Sunday's loss to the Ravens. While he threw for a season-high 379 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, he completed just 54.9 percent of his passes, his lowest completion percentage of the season. He also added a touchdown on the ground, although he did fumble for the third consecutive game. Regardless of how the last three games have gone, the Giants defense knows just how talented the Dallas signal-caller is.
"He's a special quarterback," defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence said about Prescott. "We got to do a good job rattling him and getting to him. He has a quick trigger, so we got to do well in the back end covering, making him look at his second option, third option. We got to do well up front getting to him."
Lawrence added, "He's a big dude. He can run. He likes to sit in the pocket, but when he evades, he's also dynamic throwing the ball down the field. We just got to make sure we keep him in the pocket and bring him down."
It will be important for the Giants to get pressure on Prescott this week. The Dallas quarterback has completed just 13 of 29 passes (44.8 percent) against the blitz this season, the fifth-lowest mark in the NFL. However, those 13 completions have gone for 229 yards and three touchdowns.
DEX'S DOMINANT START
Speaking of Lawrence, the sixth-year defensive lineman is off to yet another dominant start this season. The 26-year-old lineman led the way with two sacks and four quarterback hits against the Browns, giving him a team-high three sacks on the season (tied with safety Jason Pinnock). It was Lawrence's first multi-sack game since Week 7 of last year and only the third of his NFL career.
Three weeks into the season, Lawrence has once again proven to be one of the biggest pass rushing threats in the NFL. His pressure totals in the first three games are six, four, and seven, giving him 17 total on the year, according to PFF. This ranks second among interior defenders and is tied for fifth among all players across the league, and puts him on pace for a whopping 95 pressures this season (his career-high is 65, which he set last year). All of this comes with Lawrence also facing a higher double team rate than ever before. As if his pass rushing prowess wasn't enough, Lawrence has also been among the best interior defenders against the run this year, according to PFF.
"Everybody knows how good of a player he is and how much he can affect the game and affect the quarterback, it's huge," Daniel Jones told reporters Tuesday. "No one's surprised, and he's played well."
The Cowboys have given up nine sacks through the first three games of the season, although a lot of that has been at the expense of their tackles, Terence Steele and Tyler Guyton. Dallas' interior O-line, consisting of guards Tyler Smith and Zack Martin along with center Cooper Beebe, have performed well thus far. The interior trio has combined to allow 13 total pressures and three sacks, according to PFF, although they haven't faced a interior defensive lineman quite at Lawrence's level.
"Every year it comes down to the trenches," Lawrence said about facing the Cowboys. "I don't think we've slacked in other years in the trenches. They just beat us as a team. This year, having new additions, I think we could be better. I have confidence in us to go out here and win this game and that's the message on the short week."
SLOWING DOWN PARSONS, LAWRENCE
Fresh off a matchup against Myles Garrett and a tough Browns defense, the Giants' offensive line has yet another big challenge ahead of them this week as they try to slow down Micah Parsons and the Dallas pass rush. Parsons is off to a relatively slow start with just one sack in three games, although he has racked up six quarterback hits, including five in the season opener. The 25-year-old finished with at least 13 sacks in each of his first three seasons, and has nine quarterback hits six career games against the Giants, the most he's had against any opponent (tied with Washington).
"Dynamic player," Daboll said about Parsons. "He's lined up in a variety of spots. He has the ability to play really any position. Explosive, athletic, tough. He's a hell of a football player. One of the better players in the league. A challenge to block him."
Parsons is not the only talented edge rusher the O-line must keep an eye on. DeMarcus Lawrence comes into this game tied for the team-lead with two sacks on the season. The veteran seems to save his best for the Giants, as the 32-year-old has 12.0 sacks in his 17 games against the division rival. He does not have double-digit sacks against any other team.
According to PFF, left tackle Andrew Thomas has surrendered just one sack and nine total pressures this season, with most of that damage coming last week against Garrett. Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor has been credited with zero sacks allowed on the year, although he has given up a few pressures each game.
WEEK 4 NOTES & STATS
*This week's game represents the first time the Cowboys are ever playing a road game on three days or less of rest. Every other time they have played on a Thursday after a Sunday game, it has been played in Dallas. Every other NFL team has played at least six road games on short rest
*The last rookie with a 100-yard receiving game vs. the Cowboys in primetime was Odell Beckham Jr. at MetLife Stadium in Week 12 of 2014, when he made his famous one-handed catch.
*Daniel Jones is coming off two consecutive games with at least two total touchdowns and no giveaways for the first time in his career. No Giants player in the Super Bowl era has had three consecutive games of at least two touchdown passes and no interceptions. The only player to do so in Giants history was Charlie Conerly in Weeks 10-12 of the 1959 season.
*Jones is also one of just three NFC quarterbacks (Derek Carr & Sam Darnold) with two or more games of two or more touchdown passes and a 100+ passer rating in 2024.
*Since joining the Giants in 2023, linebacker Bobby Okereke has not missed a single snap on defense. He has played every defensive snap in 20 consecutive games.