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Storylines to follow in Week 13 NFC East matchup

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The Giants will look to snap their six-game losing streak when they travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

After falling 30-7 to the Buccaneers in Week 12, the Giants will attempt to even the season series against their division rival on Thursday. The Cowboys were able to pick up their first win since Week 5 with a 34-26 victory over the Commanders on Sunday.

Following Thursday's game, the Giants will return home for back-to-back games at MetLife Stadium against the Saints and Ravens.

Here are five storylines to follow in the Thanksgiving Day matchup.

'Get ready to play another game'

On Sunday, the Buccaneers jumped out to a 23-0 lead at halftime, and by the time the game was over, had outgained the Giants by over 200 yards of offense on their way to a 30-7 victory. Several players voiced their frustration with how the game went in the locker room after, something coach Brian Daboll said he understands.

"Look, these guys put a lot of work into this, as does everybody involved, and certainly not something that we wanted yesterday," Daboll told the media Monday. "We work hard every week to not have that happen, and that was a tough one. So, there's frustration that comes with it, understandable. And we communicate, I think we have good leadership in our locker room. I think we communicate on a daily basis. But certainly, a frustrating game, no question about it."

The team was forced to quickly flush Sunday's game out of their heads with this week's Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Cowboys rapidly approaching.

"You get ready to play another game, obviously on Thanksgiving," the head coach said. "You go through the things you got to get better at and you show confidence in your players and your staff and you make adjustments that you need to make. Again, I've got a lot of confidence in the guys in that locker room and would say we have good communication. We're going to work to do everything we can do to make it as good as we can."

Monitoring the QB situation

The Giants made some big changes at the quarterback position last week as Tommy DeVito started his first game under center this season. The second-year quarterback, who started six games for the Giants last season, put together a mixed performance. DeVito completed 21 of 31 passes (67.7 percent) for 189 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions, which earned him an 83.9 passer rating. He added 32 yards on seven rush attempts (4.6 avg.), and finished the game without a turnover. However, the Giants' offense scored just seven points on the day, including zero in the first half.

"You always want to be that spark," DeVito said after the game. "The quarterback gives the spark on any offense, not just right now what it is with the way things are going but across the NFL, everything flows through the quarterback. So, yeah I do. I take that heavy being able to get more points going and get things going in the first half. I take that hard.

"I am going to go watch film to see what I could have done better on my part, whether that's on the field, whether it's off, energizing the guys, keeping the guys going, like anything, any way, shape or form, I'm going to analyze but obviously, like you said quarterbacks get when it's good it's great, when it's bad it's bad. So, being able to just stay even keel through it all, understand what my job is and make it better for next week."

Daboll announced that DeVito was suffering some soreness in his forearm, which led to him being listed as a limited participant in Tuesday's walkthrough practice. While the head coach said he is "hopeful" the young quarterback will be good to go Thursday, he did say backup quarterback Drew Lock would get some snaps with the starting offense in practice this week.

"I'm going to give Drew a few snaps here and see," Daboll said. "We'll go ahead and we've got a lot of time on task with the walkthroughs, the stuff that we've put in. We just had one earlier, but I'm going to give Drew a few of those. But if Tommy's good, then Tommy would be the guy."

Get the run game going

One of the best ways to open things up for DeVito and the pass game is to get the run game going early in Dallas. Tyrone Tracy Jr. carried the ball just nine times against the Buccaneers, although he gained 42 yards on those limited carries, good for an average of 4.7 yards per carry, and added four receptions for 28 yards. However, a fumble deep inside Buccaneers territory at the start of the second half led to Devin Singletary and Eric Gray getting more opportunities. Nonetheless, Daboll said his confidence in the rookie back has not waned despite fumbles in consecutive games.

"It's something we got to continue to stress and work on," said Daboll. "But I have a lot of confidence in Tracy. But we can't turn the ball over to the other team."

Tracy and the rest of the Giants' run game has an opportunity to get back on track Thursday against a struggling Cowboys run defense. Dallas enters this game ranking 28th in rushing yards allowed per attempt and 31st in total rushing yards surrendered, while their 19 rushing touchdowns given up lead the league. In the Cowboys' last six games, only one opponent has finished with under 140 yards on the ground. During that span, opponents are averaging 163.3 yards on the ground per game.

Rushing the quarterback

The Giants' pass rush got off to a torrid start this year. For most of the first half of the season, the Giants led the NFL in sacks. Following the Week 8 matchup in Pittsburgh, the Giants had 35 sacks on the season, one more than they had in the entire 2023 campaign. But over the last three games, the pass rush has totaled just one sack, which has led to the Giants dropping to fifth in the league in sacks. In Sunday's loss to the Buccaneers, the Giants recorded a mere four total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Time in the pocket allowed Baker Mayfield to complete 80 percent of his passes for 294 yards and a 107.5 passer rating.

In the three games since taking over at quarterback for the injured Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush has been sacked a total of seven times and has five fumbles during that span. Additionally, Rush has completed just 55.6 percent of his passes for 153 yards, two touchdowns and one interception when being pressured, good for a 73.0 passer rating. When not facing pressure, the veteran has completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 660 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for an 81.0 passer rating.

In the first game between the two teams, the Giants registered nine total pressures and one sack of Prescott. While the Cowboys' offensive line surrendered a mere two pressures against the Commanders last week, the unit allowed 41 total pressures across the previous three contests.

Other injury updates

Three players did not participate in Tuesday's walkthrough practice: left tackle Jermaine Eluemunor (quad), outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari (toe), and defensive lineman Armon Watts (shoulder). All three players were sidelined for Monday's walkthrough, as well.

After sitting out Monday's practice, right tackle Evan Neal (hip) was back on the practice field Tuesday. Daboll said he's "optimistic" that Neal will be able to suit up Thursday.

Additionally, the following players were all listed as limited participants on Tuesday for the second consecutive day: cornerback Deonte Banks (rib), defensive lineman D.J. Davidson (shoulder), tight end Theo Johnson (back), inside linebacker Micah McFadden (thumb/heel), and safety Tyler Nubin (back).

After being limited on Monday, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence was upgraded to a full participant in Tuesday's practice.

View rare photos from the historic rivalry between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.

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