DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys are looking to put a tough loss in Week 9 behind them, and the next team on their schedule is another rival. This time around it’s the New York Giants who arrive in Dallas for a rematch of the season opener against their NFC East foes.
In the season’s first game, the Cowboys took a healthy Giants team to the woodshed to start the season off on a high note, shutting them out 40-0. Now New York arrives a walking wounded group that has gone 2-7 on the year. They’ll be without their top two quarterbacks, their starting tight end, down an offensive lineman, and a starting cornerback.
It’s been a tough first half of the 2023 campaign for New York, and it doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better, so the Cowboys could be getting them at a good time. The Giants will likely be starting a third-string rookie quarterback, which is not the ideal situation to be in when facing an opportunistic defense like Dallas.
Here are the keys to beating the Giants in Week 10 and getting back to their winning ways:
Confuse the rookie QB
The Cowboys are getting a Giants team on their third quarterback of the season after starter Daniel Jones went down with a torn ACL last week and his backup, Tyrod Taylor, hurt his ribs in the previous game. That means undrafted rookie free agent Tommy DeVito will be getting his first career NFL start.
DeVito has played in the last two games for the Giants, throwing a total of 27 passes, which includes one touchdown, and he’s rushed for a score as well. However, the rookie QB has amassed just 175 yards and two interceptions in this limited action. In his first game, DeVito threw for an unheard-of -1 yard against the New York Jets.
This week will be a different situation for DeVito. He knows he will start and will have a full week of preparation. Unfortunately for him, that also means Dallas’ defense will have a week to get ready for the rookie signal-caller.
That can’t be a comfortable feeling for a quarterback who saw the Cowboys sack his predecessor seven times and force three turnovers in the first meeting. It’s a defense that hasn’t gotten to the quarterback nearly as well as expected this year, but that could change in Week 10.
Expect Dan Quinn to scheme up some things to confuse the rookie QB and force DeVito into mistakes.
Unlock the ground game
The Giants had one of the better defensive lines heading into the season, but that hasn’t translated into success against the run. Allowing over 127 yards rushing a game, their defense ranks 25th in the league at slowing down opposing rushing attacks.
It’s also a unit that was weakened when they traded Leonard Williams before the deadline, and now they don’t have as good a group upfront which should be something that Dallas looks to exploit.
In the first meeting, the Cowboys ran for three scores – two of which came from Tony Pollard – and 122 yards. Since that game, Dallas’ offense only has two rushing touchdowns, and Pollard hasn’t accounted for either one, nor has his backup, Rico Dowdle.
This game should be an opportunity to get the running game on track for a team that has been stuck in the middle of the pack on the ground.
Don’t let Barkley beat you
Without their starting quarterback, and with Darren Waller currently on IR, New York’s offense doesn’t have a lot of firepower. In the first matchup, the Cowboys were able to shut out the Giants, and that was with Jones and Waller. Among the categories where the Giants rank dead last in the league are points, total yards per game, and passing yards.
The only real threat their offense has is running back Saquon Barkley, who has accounted for 33% of their touchdowns, despite missing three games. Since his return from an ankle injury in Week 7, Barkley has led the NFL in rushing yards.
The Giants also don’t have many viable receiving options. Without Waller, their top receiver is Darius Slayton who has just 23 catches and 316 yards, numbers which Cowboys’ top WR CeeDee Lamb has bested in just his last two games.
There isn’t much offensive talent behind Barkley, which makes it essential for the Cowboys to slow him down to avoid giving New York avenues for victory.
Ramp up red zone success
In the Week 1 win over the Giants, the Cowboys had 75% red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns on three of their four trips. Since then, Dallas’ offense has only had over 50% efficiency in one game – in last week’s loss to the Eagles – so the Giants could be the elixir for what ails their red zone troubles.
Playing against a bad offense, with a rookie QB, a winning recipe for the Cowboys would be getting out to a lead and forcing the Giants to play catchup, which has often been their calling card method to blowout wins.
An easy way to do that would be by scoring seven points instead of three in the red zone to put more pressure on a Giants offense that struggles to put points on the scoreboard.
Do you think the Cowboys will once again show their bounce-back ability in Week 10? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.