DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys snapped a losing streak in Week 12, but their next challenge is coming quickly as they prepare to play another NFC East opponent. If the Cowboys want to start a winning streak and earn their first home win of the season, they’ll need to beat a last-place New York Giants team on Thanksgiving.
Nothing says the holidays like playing a rival on a day when family and friends get together to enjoy themselves. The feelings won’t be mutual on the field between the teams, both of whom are playing with backup quarterbacks.
This game will mark the second time in three years that the two NFC East rivals will get together for the annual Turkey Day outing, with the Cowboys getting the better of the Giants 28-20 in 2022. Back then, Dallas was 8-3 and on their way to the second of what would be three 12-win seasons in a row. Sitting at 4-7 in 2024, with 12 wins out of the question, the Cowboys are still hoping to finish strong.
Here are the strengths and weaknesses of the Giants ahead of the Week 13 matchup:
Strength: Pass rush
The Giants don’t do much well on defense, but what they can do is get to the quarterback. Despite being shut out last week, the Giants still rank fifth in the league in sacks with 36 on the year.
Led by defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, New York has a front four that can rival anyone’s group in the trenches. Lawrence is tied for sixth in the NFL in sacks with nine, and he’s one of the best defensive players in the game, regardless of position. Fortunately for the Cowboys, they’ve had Lawrence’s number since entering the league.
Veteran edge rushers Brian Burns and Azeez Ojulari are tied for second on the team with six sacks apiece. Burns has made a career of getting after the QB, he has four seasons with at least eight sacks, but the Cowboys catch a break with Ojulari heading to injured reserve.
Third-year man Kayvon Thibodeaux only has two sacks, but he’s just returning from a stint on injured reserve and is working his way back.
The Cowboys did a nice job protecting quarterback Cooper Rush in the win over the Washington Commanders last week, but the Giants create more pressure and have a better pass rush. Stonewalling another defense would be a positive step in the development of Dallas’ young offensive line.
Weakness: Run defense
While New York does a decent job as a passing defense, they aren’t very good at stopping the run. The Giants rank 30th in the league against the run, allowing close to 148 yards per game on the ground.
The Cowboys – who have been horrendous against the run themselves – are giving up less than three yards more per game which means the game could be won by whichever team gets their ground game going.
The Giants have also given up 12 rushing scores on the year, have seen four running backs top 100-yard rushing in a game, and are allowing a league-worst 5.2 yards per carry.
New York sports a bad run defense that the Cowboys should expose with a heavy number of attempts on Thanksgiving. Dallas only managed just 80 rushing yards the first time that these two teams played back in Dallas’ 20-15 Week 4 win in New York, but they should be able to do more damage the second time around.
Strength: Malik Nabers and Tyrone Tracy
The Giants don’t have much offensive firepower, but they do have one of the best one-two rookie punches in the league at the skill positions. At wide receiver, Malik Nabers leads the team in all categories with 67 receptions, 671 yards, and three touchdowns. The talented WR also ranks second among rookies in catches, and third in receiving yards despite missing two games.
Nabers ranks inside the top 20 in the league for catches, targets, and receiving yards, numbers that would all be higher if the Giants had competent QB play. The lack of a solid signal-caller is the only thing holding him back from being even better.
Tracy, meanwhile, has taken over as the No. 1 running back for the Giants and leads the offense with 587 rushing yards, and is running for 5.1 yards per carry. He didn’t play much in the
first matchup, but since replacing veteran RB Devin Singletary in the lineup, Tracy has three 100-yard rushing games and all three of his scores.
The Cowboys struggle against the run, especially at home, so they’ll need to slow down Tracy to give themselves a better chance at winning in Week 13.
Weakness: Quarterback
The Giants are a mess at quarterback; they demoted and then released starting QB Daniel Jones last week, which led to the team naming backup Tommy DeVito the new starter. DeVito was the team’s third-string QB and is now a long shot to start on Thanksgiving after suffering a forearm injury.
New York made the curious decision for DeVito to leapfrog the better option in veteran QB Drew Lock because the Giants are trying to tank the season for a better draft pick. There’s no other way to spin the move to play a worse QB when you’re in the middle of a season other than to acknowledge you want a better draft pick in next April’s draft.
Well, it now appears that we’ll see Lock under center as DeVito was downgraded to questionable after not participating in Wednesday's walk-through practice for New York. Call it karma.
In his first start last week, DeVito struggled, throwing for 189 yards, while failing to toss a touchdown pass. DeVito has started seven games in his career, has thrown for over 200 yards just once, and has just eight touchdown passes. The Cowboys faced DeVito last year and although he threw for two scores, he only passed for 86 yards in a loss. There’s a reason he’s the third-best option for the Giants, he’s not a very good QB.
Lock, meanwhile, has never faced the Cowboys and has only played in seven games over the last two seasons with his previous two starts coming last season for the Seattle Seahawks.
Do you think the Cowboys will earn a home win over New York on Thanksgiving? Share your predictions with Ben on X (formerly Twitter) @BenGrimaldi.
