3 things to love, 3 things for Cowboys to hate about the Giants in Week 4

If you’re a fan of either team, you already know about Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s dominance over the Giants. Ever since losing to them twice as a rookie, Prescott has 12 straight over New York. Prescott’s also got his most passing touchdowns against the Giants with 27, against just eight interceptions in 14 games.

The only time the Giants have beaten the Cowboys in recent years was when Andy Dalton started a game for the injured Prescott in 2020, and their fan base is begging for the streak to end.

It’s hard to find a player who’s done better against a single team than Prescott against the Giants. It’s the perfect opponent for the Cowboys and Prescott to be playing to get out of their funk.

Part of the lore of the Giants franchise is their defense and this year they have the ability to live up to their reputation. The front seven for the Giants is legit, they lead a defense that’s second in the league in sacks with 14, eight of which came last week in a win over the Cleveland Browns.

The group is led by Dexter Lawrence, an All-Pro defensive tackle who’s among the best defensive players in the league. Lawrence has three sacks on the season, which is on pace to shatter his career high, and few DTs in the NFL are better are creating pressure in the pocket. It’ll be a huge challenge for rookie center Cooper Beebe in the middle to slow down Lawrence.

On the edges, the Giants have bookend pass rushers in Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, who will stress an offensive line that’s struggled in pass protection. Burns was acquired in the offseason via a trade and after a slow start, had his best week against the Browns with his first sack as a Giant, plus a forced fumble. In six seasons, Burns has four years with at least eight sacks, so he knows how to get to the quarterback.

Thibodeaux is coming off an 11.5 sack season in 2023, and with help now on the opposite side, he could be in line for an even better year in 2024.

It hasn’t been a banner start to the running back by committee approach from the Cowboys, but the matchup with the Giants offers a chance to get on track. It’s a defense that allows over 131 yards a game on the ground, 23rd in the league, and that’s after the Browns could muster just 69 yards rushing.

In the first two weeks, the Giants gave up 111 yards to the Minnesota Vikings, and a whopping 215 to the Washington Commanders, respectively. The Commanders do have a QB who can run, but their starting RB Brian Robinson gained 133 yards on just 17 carries in the Week 2 win. The Cowboys don’t use Prescott’s legs much anymore, but they should call for some QB runs to take advantage of an aggressive defense to help boost the running game.

The Cowboys and Mike McCarthy have said they need to get the rushing attack going and that’s proven difficult to do in the first few weeks of the season. The Week 4 matchup gives the offense a chance to settle in and find their groove on the ground.

No matter who carries it in Week 4, the Cowboys have to love the opportunity to run the ball against the Giants.

The Cowboys are only allowing 187 yards through the air, but that’s partly because the defense is so easy to run on. In the matchup with the Giants, Mike Zimmer’s group will have to account for one of the league’s best young wide receivers.

Rookie Malik Nabers has been one of the top WRs in the league through three games and is coming off strong back-to-back weeks. In Week 2, Nabers caught 10 passes for 127 yards and a score, which he backed up with an eight catch, 78 yard, two touchdown performance against the Browns. Nabers has already joined some of the elite company through his first three games, and he’ll look to continue his hot start.

The Giants rely on Nabers to be the biggest part of their passing game, he’s the most targeted WR in the NFL, with 37 passes going his way through three weeks. Nabers is also second in receptions (23), fifth in receiving yards (271) and tied for first in touchdowns (3).

There’s not much to the passing game for the Giants, if the Cowboys slow down Nabers, they can slow the passing attack and force QB Daniel Jones to look elsewhere. That’s easier said than done and the Cowboys won’t like going up against Malik Nabers.

The Cowboys have got to love going up against Jones in Week 4, a QB whose record is 1-7 against Dallas, with the only win coming against a Dalton-led team at the end of the 2020 season. Jones doesn’t like seeing the Cowboys coming, he’s thrown just four touchdowns against five interceptions and has been sacked 24 times, the most against any opponent he’s faced. Jones has also yet to top 229 yards passing against the Cowboys in any of his eight starts against them.

Aside from playing the Cowboys, Jones hasn’t been a very good QB since being drafted as the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft. The veteran QB has just 79 total career touchdowns in 63 games, to along with 49 turnovers, 42 of which have come on interceptions.

Jones lacks pocket awareness and often gives the ball away when pressured, so the Cowboys need to force him into mistakes, something Jones is prone to make. Zimmer’s defense needs to make life uncomfortable for Jones if they want to leave New Jersey victorious.

The biggest issue with the Cowboys on defense is stopping the run, allowing 557 rushing yards through the first three games, the worst for the franchise since 1963. They gave up 274 on the ground last week.

To make things even tougher, Dallas is facing another offense that employs running QB, and on a short week. After giving up 87 yards on the ground to Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, the Cowboys face Jones, whose best attribute is his legs. No one will mistake Jones for Jackson, but he does have almost 2,000 yards rushing in his career and ranks sixth in the NFL in rushing yards for a QB since entering the league. Jones’ mobility can create problems for defense that’s had trouble stopping running QBs.

Starting RB Devin Singeltary won’t be confused with RBs Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints, or Derrick Henry from the Ravens, but he’s rushing for almost five yards a carry and knows Daboll’s system well. No matter who’s running the ball right now it’s an issue for the Cowboys’ run defense and they need to worry about another good QB-RB tandem in Week 4.