Week 3 concludes on Monday night time with an NFC East rivalry recreation between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, however it’s been a one-sided affair the previous 4 seasons.
The Cowboys personal a 9-1 file up to now 10 video games in opposition to the Giants. Six of these wins have been by 14 factors or extra and final season Dallas gained each video games by a mixed 39 factors, however the Giants have momentum going into this one by advantage of rookie head coach Brian Daboll’s undefeated begin via two video games.
The final time the Giants entered a matchup versus the Cowboys with a greater file than their rivals was Week 7 of the 2015 season, however New York should overcome a 10-game shedding streak in prime time to be able to get Daboll to 3-0, which might pit him with Dan Reeves (1993) as the one Giants coaches to win their first three video games with the workforce.
Now that the desk is ready, listed here are 4 issues to look at when the Giants host the Cowboys on Monday night time:
- Large reinforcements. First-year defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale has accomplished a powerful job to this point by scheming up a stingy protection that has allowed 18.0 factors per recreation via two weeks, and he’s accomplished it with out the Giants’ featured edge rushers. With Azeez Ojulari and rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux set for his or her 2022 debuts on Monday night time, the Giants protection will get a primary have a look at their true potential. The G-Males have simply three sacks (T-Twenty third in NFL) via two video games, which is atypical of a Martindale unit, and the pass-rushing duo figures add a component that’s been lacking not solely this season however of these in current previous. Ojulari led the workforce in sacks (8.0) as a rookie final 12 months and the Giants chosen Thibodeaux with the No. 5 total choose to be able to safe a stable tandem for the long run. Wreaking havoc off the sting ought to support a inexperienced Giants secondary that has been eased into the 2022 season after going through Titans and Panthers passing assaults that ranked within the backside seven in yards per recreation via two weeks. Ojulari and Thibodeaux will probably be going up in opposition to younger Cowboys offensive tackles in rookie Tyler Smith and Terence Steele, and these matchups alone is perhaps the distinction.
- Cooper Rush’s precarious quest. Dallas’ backup quarterback earned some respect final week after momentarily saving the Cowboys’ season from sure turmoil with a win over the Bengals. Rush achieved that feat by merely avoiding any main errors, however these outcomes typically change underneath the brilliant lights of a prime-time street recreation for second-stringers. In all chance Rush will once more take regardless of the protection offers him in New York, however with Michael Gallup making his long-awaited return from harm, extra possibilities is perhaps had with CeeDee Lamb, Noah Brown and Tony Pollard coming off good performances. That trio all had an essential hand in Rush’s huge win; even stopping that one dreaded mistake from taking place on a few events whereas accounting for 221 of the QB’s 235 passing yards mixed. Persevering with that manufacturing may enhance Rush into rarified air as he goals to maintain the Cowboys afloat. With a win and 190 passing yards on Monday night time, Rush would be a part of Corridor of Famer Kurt Warner as the one undrafted QBs since 1950 to go 3-0 of their first three begins whereas throwing for 750-plus yards within the course of, per NFL Analysis. With Dak Prescott aiding him on the sidelines, the 28-year-old Rush actually hasn’t marketed the poise of a QB that’s afraid to get there.
- Can Saquon Barkley get some assist? There’s a transparent correlation between the Giants’ undefeated begin and that of the Giants’ star operating again. Barkley enters Week 3 because the NFL’s main rusher with 236 yards and stands second in whole scrimmage yards with 282. Going up in opposition to a Cowboys protection that has allowed 120.5 speeding yards per recreation on 4.2 yards per carry to this point, the X-factor for the Giants on this matchup is simply as obvious. In response to Subsequent Gen Stats, Barkley has 86 speeding yards over expectation, 137 rush yards after contact and has 20 touches in back-to-back video games inside the identical season for the primary time since Weeks 16-17 in 2019. What’s behind Barkley’s resurgence can vary from the 25-year-old lastly being wholesome after two misplaced years to Daboll’s dedication to getting the ball in his arms. Sustaining one of these manufacturing will get more durable as opponents zero in on No. 26, however his menace also needs to open issues up for quarterback Daniel Jones. Daboll made a reputation for himself in Buffalo by serving to make Josh Allen into what he’s immediately. Jones, who’s lite model of Allen at greatest given his dual-threat capabilities, must take benefit within the early throes of a prove-it season.
- Micah Parsons appears to proper a unsuitable versus Giants. With 17.0 sacks in his first 18 profession video games, Parsons wants three in his subsequent two video games to develop into the quickest participant to succeed in the 20-sack mark because the stat turned official in 1982. The Cowboys move rusher has notched two sacks in every recreation this season to this point and one other such outing in Week 3 would make Parsons the third participant in NFL historical past to perform that tremendous feat, becoming a member of Corridor of Famer Kevin Greene and Mark Gastineau, who set the single-season sack file that season in 1984, per NFL Analysis. The numbers assist Parsons’ eye-opening emergence as one of many league’s greatest younger abilities, and comparisons with HOF Lawrence Taylor on the MNF broadcast are positive available because the 23-year-old revisits Meadowlands. Getting sacks in opposition to the Giants has been an early battle for Parsons, nevertheless, as New York is the one workforce to carry him to zero sacks in a number of tries. With Giants tackles Andrew Thomas and rookie Evan Neal trying stout to this point, Parsons will probably be challenged as he appears to recover from this large hump and make historical past.
