Week 5 Game Preview: New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
Why it’s a big game
The return of Jason Garrett, well, not really, he’s been back before. The former Cowboys head coach and now offensive coordinator for the Giants, Garrett isn’t missed much in Dallas, he did well, but with a stacked roster of great players, he simply delivered too many average seasons, and, only 2 playoff wins in 8 years. Not good enough for owner Jerry Jones. They brought in former Packers head coach Mike McCarthy in 2020, and some people questioned this decision, some still do. However, the Cowboys are playing some of their best football, and QB Dak Prescott looks like one of the best QB in the league, he’s definitely improved over the last 2 years, but, some people are still trying to work out if this is due to McCarthy, or offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Time will tell who is the more influential member of the staff, as time goes by Jerry Jones will openly show his favour to one or the other.
The Giants have a head coach who is about as loved as Luis Figo was when he left Barcelona for Real Madrid. He’s not loved because, for the most part, he’s playing the role of Bill Belichick, no nonsense, authoritarian pain in the butt. No one can do that now, expect Belichick. Just like Fabio Capello was seen as England coach, it’s the same for Joe Judge in New York.
For the game itself, the Giants are going to struggle to play to the level of the Cowboys. They don’t have players that can match Dallas across the board, and they don’t have the coaching either. Giants QB Daniel Jones should be able to show just how accurate he can be, and how clumsy too. He’s the prototypical ‘huh’ player! Can do something amazing and then follow it up with tripping himself up with nobody near him. The Cowboys are just glowing with classy players, I have the feeling that this could be a beat down, if the Giants can’t keep up at the start of the game, you’ll be treated to some dominating football.
It’s hard to root for the Cowboys, historically, as they gave themselves the title of ‘America’s Team’. And only because Jerry Jones isn’t sure what’s on the other side of the oceans to the left and right of the USA, he’d start calling the Cowboys ‘Earth’s Team’. Now, however, it’s important for the league to have the Cowboys playing meaningful football, every story needs its villain, and the Cowboys love to play up to it, they’ll gladly take on the siege mindset and think the world is against them and ‘it’s us against them’. I hope the Cowboys can maintain this winning run, because the villains of New England look far off being relevant for some time, it could be the Cowboys time to be public enemy number 1, again.
Who to watch
Saquon Barkley is coming back to his normal self, and it’s great to see. He had a terrible knee injury last year, and he’s slowly playing his way into form. He’s one of the more exciting running backs in the NFL, similar in ways to Christian McCaffery in Carolina, he can catch passes from anywhere on the field and run with power. If Saquon Barkley can keep up his production from last week, he could be the force that keeps the Giants in this game come the 4th quarter.
I believe I mentioned in the last preview of a Cowboys game, that Dak Prescott is an amazing player, he deserves all the praise in the world right now, he’s playing like a mix of Payton Manning and Russell Wilson, but, better than Wilson. He’s got control of what the offence is doing, he can see what the defence is doing, and you can watch him call out what the defence is doing when he gets under centre, watch when he get into position, when he starts pointing and shouting, then getting the ball snapped quickly, he’s seen something that he wants to take advantage off.
Prediction (11-7 through week 4)
I think it’s very hard for the Giants to win this game. They are considered to be a good 1-3 team, but they are still a 1-3 team, that lost to the Falcons and the Washington Football Team. They have the ability to score, but they don’t have the consistency to keep up with a scoring machine in Dallas. The Cowboys have two very good running backs, a bunch of talent in their receiving group, and they have one of the top 3 QBs in the league. They have a defence that can make things hard for you, and their defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, knows how to make the best of his defender’s skills.
Final Score: Giants 24 - 38 Cowboys
Tip
Daniel Jones to score a rushing touchdown is a good price 10/3. Also, the handicap is only -7 for the Cowboys, they should be able to overcome that.
We’re currently up $245/£245 from the tips through week 4. (If you bet £10/$10 on every tip).