After laying an egg on Sunday Night Football in Week 1, the Dallas Cowboys will look for redemption on Primetime when they take on the New York Giants for Monday Night Football.
The Giants enter the game with the best start to the season since 2006, edging out wins with gutsy play-calling that has New York off to a 2-0 start. The Cowboys are at 1-1 after backup QB Cooper Rush managed to assuage fears across Cowboys Nation with a solid Week 2 performance against a tough defense, doing just enough without doing too much to put his team in position for a game-ending field goal over the Bengals.
Draft Kings and Fan Duel both list the Cowboys as underdogs heading into the weekend. The Giants are favored by three and a half points to win, with Dallas at +160 and the Giants at -190. The ESPN Power Index gives New York a 58.6% chance to take the win on Monday night in New Jersey.
Dallas owns a 71-47-2 all-time advantage over the Giants and has won nine of the last 10 matchups. Dallas swept the NFC East last season on their way to securing the Division title. The Cowboys were eliminated from the 2021 playoffs in the second round after earning a first-round bye.
The Giants are in rebuilding mode this season with a new head coach and a fourth-year quarterback who shows dazzling ability but also makes too many mistakes. Brian Daboll was hired as the Giants’ head coach in the offseason to try and get the team back on track. The team has not had a winning season since 2016 and has only had two winning seasons in the last decade. One of the first tasks Daboll faces this season is determining whether Daniel Jones will be the quarterback of the future for Big Blue.
The Cowboys’ offense looked rudderless in Week 1, and that was before quarterback Dak Prescott broke a bone in his throwing hand. While many teams may have to greatly alter their offense when losing a starting QB, Rush has been with the Cowboys almost as long as Prescott and fully understands Kellen Moore’s offense. While there is currently no controversy at the sport’s most important position, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he would welcome such a scenario.
“Wouldn’t it be something if you had a dilemma on which way to go?” Jones asked media members Thursday when discussing the QB situation. “You do that if he gets 10 wins. The same thing happened with Prescott. I think like that.”
Prescott earned his starting job when former Cowboys QB Tony Romo suffered a back injury during the preseason. Prescott went on to win 13 games that season, and the Cowboys never looked back. So far in two starts, Rush has a perfect 2-0 record while putting up better numbers than either Romo or Prescott did in their first career starts.
The outcome of Monday night’s game will likely hinge on how well the New York offense can handle the growing behemoth that is the Cowboys’ defense. Second-year coordinator Dan Quinn’s unit is firing on all cylinders out of the gate, led by linebacker/defensive end/nightmare Micah Parsons. In Week 1, the defense held legendary quarterback Tom Brady to just one touchdown, then went after rising star Joe Burrow in Week 2, collecting six sacks while allowing only one passing touchdown.
Both offenses are likely to lean on the running game to compensate for potential deficiencies in the passing game. Cowboys backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard were used sparingly in each of the first two games. Elliott had only 53 yards on 15 carries last week, while Pollard had 43 on nine carries. Elliott is one of the more sure-handed backs in the league but has only two receptions for -7 yards in 2022.
The Giants’ Saquon Barkley has emerged as a true any-down back. Barkley had 164 yards in Week 1 and added another 72 yards on 21 carries last week. New York will likely try to get Barkley going early to keep the Dallas pass rush honest in the hope of opening throwing lanes downfield.
Dallas has only one interception this season, which came from Donovan Wilson in Week 1. Trevon Diggs led the NFL last season and tied the franchise interception record with 11 but has not had many opportunities at takeaways this season. The Giants’ Jones is known as a turnover machine for tossing off-target passes that give defenses a chance at takeaways.
The meeting will be the first divisional game for either team. It is the Giants’ only Primetime game of the season, but they will face the Green Bay Packers in London and a rematch with the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys have a total of five primetime games in 2022. It will be the first Primetime game for Rush and the ninth for Jones, whose previous eight were all losses.