CFZ Thoughts about the Giants!

[Flamma]

Fun fact, last time the Cowboys played NY Giants on Thanksgiving Cowboys won 30-3 and would go on to the Super Bowl

This is a very fun fact. This was during my gambling days. I had 300 on the Cowboys giving 16. It was so much easier to bet back then that those points didn't even give me pause.

"I can't believe they were blitzing" were the headlines in the sports page. Forgive me, it has been a long time but I don't remember who from the Giants said that. Kent Graham was the starting QB for NY. In came Dave Brown for garbage time. Dallas, already up by a large margin, with the game well in hand and not much time on the clock, mercilessly blitzed Dave Brown. Which I appreciated given the number of points I was giving. To this day I can't believe they said that.

 

[Flamma]

He’s done that all year
He’s the best runner on their team lol
It’s a division game so it will be tough but I’ve heard all year from the pundits about how good they are and I just don’t see it
Jones has grown as a QB for sure. He took a pounding the last time we played them and he still kept playing
Keep him from hurting you with his legs is really important

Yup. Besides that run from Barkley, Jones kept them in that game almost single handedly. I don't remember how many times he extended drives by scrambling. They had no business being in that game. We want him running, just not downfield for first downs.

 

[tunahelper]

Yes, the Giants are really banged up, but Green Bay was too. Point is, you cannot take any team lightly, especially a divisional opponent at home.

Offense

-Giant's strength within their defense is their DL. Leonard Williams who missed the 1st matchup is back. Dexter Lawrence is one of the best NT's in the entire league. Pass rush is average at best outside of these 2. Their prized rookie flashes, but is developing. Running inside the tackles might be tough sledding, but teams have had some success doing so.

-Their linebackers are average and they have injuries across the board in their secondary. This might be the game to air it out and take advantage of the matchups. However, their DC blitzes more then any other team, they have success on third and distances cause of his exotic pressure packages. Cowboys need to avoid these situations, but Dak has a strong track record when teams come after him.

-Giants offense struggles putting up points, they cannot win many games in the 30's and not winning the turnover battle. Force them to play catch up and they will struggle.

Defense

-Playing the Giants is all about containing both Barkley and Jones on the ground. Detroit play press/man coverage across the board and everyone else inside the box. This was very successful. However, it led to some big QB runs by Jones. He is more athletic then many think and a spy needs to be on him. Expect to see many read options and a heavy dose of their run game.

-Slaton is the only real receiver to worry about, along with Barkley out of the backfield. Slaton has the speed to blow the top off a defense and is Jones most trusted receiver. He is the one player to key on in the passing game.

Special Teams

-They benched their punt returner due to fumbles and now he is back due to injury of Jackson their starting corner.

We have gotten lucky several times in the past with Barkley running wide open wheel routes and the ball was not thrown his way or was off target.
This will be a tight game unless we jump on them early and get turnovers.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

I mean, you're making an argument about why division games are more likely to end in upsets

No, I'm not. What I am saying is that you can't assume, based on prior games, what any particular game will turn out to be, so you need to be aware that records aside, opponents aside, that it's still true "On any given Sunday".

Besides, the Giants winning would not, imho, be an upset, both teams are 7-3. Cowboys lost to the Packers, but the Giants beat the Packers. The Cowboys' impressive blowout win doesn't mean all of a sudden they're the reicnarnation of the 1992-3 Cowboys, it's one game, the history of the NFL is full of teams that for whatever reason just had a complete meltdown, and lost big, only to go on and win more games.

But we'll see what happens Thursday, no one would more like to see another blowout win by our Cowboys. Wishing it won't make it so, they've got to earn it...

 

[conner01]

Yup. Besides that run from Barkley, Jones kept them in that game almost single handedly. I don't remember how many times he extended drives by scrambling. They had no business being in that game. We want him running, just not downfield for first downs.

I think using Sam more in this game because he has speed but I’d consider spying him
I’d limit my blitzes and force him to beat you in the pocket. He probably still has bruises from the last meeting but I have to give it to him, he stood in there and took it. His first year he would have turned it over several timez

 

[JD_KaPow]

No, I'm not. What I am saying is that you can't assume, based on prior games, what any particular game will turn out to be, so you need to be aware that records aside, opponents aside, that it's still true "On any given Sunday".

Besides, the Giants winning would not, imho, be an upset, both teams are 7-3. Cowboys lost to the Packers, but the Giants beat the Packers. The Cowboys' impressive blowout win doesn't mean all of a sudden they're the reicnarnation of the 1992-3 Cowboys, it's one game, the history of the NFL is full of teams that for whatever reason just had a complete meltdown, and lost big, only to go on and win more games.

But we'll see what happens Thursday, no one would more like to see another blowout win by our Cowboys. Wishing it won't make it so, they've got to earn it...

If you're saying that any game can be an upset and no opponent should be taken lightly, we have no debate. But the discussion was in the context of how divisional games are somehow different, about which I'm skeptical (beyond whatever difference familiarity might make).

The Giants winning would clearly be an upset. Despite their record, the Giants have a point differential of 1, vs. the Cowboys 84, which is second-best in the NFL. The Giants are lucky to have their record and have been pretty heavily exposed the last few weeks, getting stomped by the Lions and Seahawks and not exactly dominating the lowly Texans at home. There's a reason the Cowboys are favored by over a touchdown.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

If you're saying that any game can be an upset and no opponent should be taken lightly, we have no debate.

Exactly.