Giants’ season suddenly at peak before Cowboys clash

ARLINGTON, Texas – Here’s a question: do the giants want to reveal who they are or do they want to refute what they’re supposed to be?

A week ago, they were in fantastic shape, projecting forward in the pursuit of the NFC playoffs, sporting a 7-2 record that was far better than anything anyone envisioned for this team over the course of the first year of a rebuild under new general manager Joe Schoen and new head coach Brian Daboll. It didn’t take a math professor to estimate that 10 wins would be enough to place them in the postseason tournament, and to get there, all the Giants had to do was go 3-5 in the second half of the season.

All it took was one miserable performance for clear vision to become blurry. It felt like losing to the Lions 31-18 counted as more than one loss. The injuries that occurred in that game could cost the Giants five starters and it surely dims the outlook for the sequel. At 7-3, the Giants still have a good record, but it remains to be seen how much it improves. They scored 205 points in 10 games and conceded 204. At their best, they were always on the edge.

Next, the Cowboys share an identical record to the Giants but do not share a similar status in the league. The Cowboys’ point differential is plus-84 — they’ve scored 46 points more than the Giants and given up 37 points less than the Giants. On the day the Giants were beaten by the Lions, the Cowboys defeated Minneapolis, 40-3, ending the Vikings’ seven-game winning streak. All of this makes the Giants-Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game at AT&T Stadium a meeting of teams tied for second place in the NFC East behind the Eagles with the arrow seemingly pointing up for one of the teams and down for the other.

« It’s not something we focus on as a team, » Daniel Jones said. “Our goal is to prepare as best we can to play as best we can and that’s what we’re going to do. We are confident in our ability to win games, compete and find a way to make the game last to win the game.

It may not be a crisis point for the Giants, but it sure looks like it. They haven’t lost back-to-back games this season and are nearly a touchdown underdog in Week 12, facing a team that left MetLife Stadium in Week 3 with a 23-16 win » Monday Night Football with Cooper Rush replacing the quarterback for the injured Dak. Precott. Jones was sacked five times and hit 12 times on a night the Giants simply couldn’t block Dallas’ defensive front. All these weeks later, the Giants come in with a battered offensive line and the Cowboys lead the NFL with 42 sacks. As the clashes go on, this one feels strongly tilted in favor of the home team.

Hear how Daboll describes the Cowboys:

« I think they’ve always been a good attack, » Daboll said. “They have a lot of good talented players. It’s a dynamic team, I would say, in all areas. They have great talented players. When I say skillful players, I also include defensive ends, who are skillful players. Explosive – scored a lot of points, obviously, last week. Seven sacks, 40 points against an 8-1 team at home. It will be a huge challenge. »

Dynamic. Explosive. These are not words anyone uses to describe the Giants. That doesn’t mean the Giants can’t compete. This means they must adhere to a rigid storyline, as they don’t have many paths to victory. They turned the ball over against the Lions three times which doomed them.

They also failed to establish Saquon Barkley in the ground game and that is also a doomsday scenario for the Giants. With a receiving corps of Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins, Kenny Golladay and Richie James, Jones can’t throw his way to success. The Giants are 6-0 when Jones throws 30 or fewer passes and 1-3 when he has attempted more than 30 passes. He may have to execute it himself to loosen things up on the inside for Barkley.

On defense, the Giants come in without their best cornerback, Adoree’ Jackson, and have shown little ability to put Prescott uncomfortably in the pocket. Staying close to the numbers is a chore.

« It’s definitely a challenge, but I think it’s also a great opportunity for us to show who we are, to show what we can do, our tenacity, » Jones said. « We can’t wait to get out there and play some really good football. That’s where our focus is. »