NFL Odds: Cowboys vs. Giants

The Dallas Cowboys head to the Meadowlands to battle the New York Giants with a potential playoff spot on the line. It’s pretty simple for both teams: To win the division they need to win this game and have the Washington Football team lose on Sunday Night Football.

The Cowboys are suddenly resurgent after winning three straight games with Andy Dalton under center. What seemed to have been a lost season after Dak Prescott went down can now potentially be a division championship year. They’ll just have to get by one of the stingiest defenses in the NFC.

Four week ago, the Giants looked they were going to win the NFC East handily. Since then, they’ve lost three straight games and have only managed to score 26 points in the process. Daniel Jones is healthy again to start at quarterback, but he’ll have to do it with a lot of his weapons out on Sunday.

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Dallas Cowboys

Offense

The last time the Cowboys faced the Giants, Dak Prescott was getting carted off the field with a season ending injury. The good news is Dallas had a solid backup plan in Dalton, who is looking solid under center. In the last three games, he has the Cowboys offense clicking on all cylinders, as they are gaining 6.2 yards per play.

The Cowboys passing attack has been lighting up the scoreboard over the past three games, as Dalton has thrown for a whopping 8.5 yards per attempt and completed seven touchdown passes. With all of his weapons in the passing game healthy, he should be able to continue that trend on Sunday.

The rushing attack has been average over the past few weeks, but the emergence of Tony Pollard gives Dallas a boost. The good news is both Zeke Elliott and Pollard are healthy to play on Sunday, so Dallas also has all of its weapons on the ground at its disposal.

Defense

The biggest problem with the Cowboys’ defense is they are giving up way too many explosive plays. They are in the bottom 10 of the NFL in both explosive rushing and passing plays allowed, per Sharp Football Stats. That is the main reason why they are allowing 5.9 yards per play and 30 points per game.

The Cowboys are actually pretty solid against the pass, ranking in the top 10 in defensive passing success while allowing 7.4 yards per attempt. However, they really struggle against the run, as they are allowing a whopping 5.0 yards per carry, which is dead last in the NFL.

The good news is the Giants don’t have a potent rushing attack with Saquon Barkley on the sidelines, so the Cowboys may not get exposed on Sunday.

Rob Leiter/Getty Images. Pictured: DeMarcus Lawrence

New York Giants

Offense

To say the Giants offense has been anemic the last three games would be an understatement.

New York is only gaining 4.4 yards per play, which is the lowest average in the NFL over the past three weeks. Their passing attack has flat-out stunk. Jones, over the past two weeks, is throwing for only 6.0 yards per attempt and has just one touchdown pass.

To make matters worse, he is going to be missing a lot of his weapons on Sunday, as tight end Evan Engram and wide receiver Golden Tate are out, while wide receiver Sterling Shepard is questionable.

What’s kept the Giants offense afloat this season is their rushing attack, which hasn’t been that bad, even with Barkley out for the year. The Giants are gaining 4.4 yards per carry, but rank 23rd in rushing success rate, per Sharp Football Stats. How you beat the Cowboys defense is running the football, so the Giants will need to lean on their ground game.

Defense

The reason the Giants even have a shot at making the playoffs is because of their defense. New York has been steadily improving over the second half of the season and is allowing only 5.5 yards play, which is 11th in the NFL.

Their secondary has been terrible from a success rate standpoint, ranking 29th in defensive success. However, this defense does not get beat deep, as they are sixth in explosive passing plays allowed. They are going to need to keep that trend going on Sunday against this potent Cowboys passing attack.

The strength of this Giants defense is stopping the run. They rank ninth in rushing success allowed and only allow 4.1 yards per attempt. If they are going to win this game they’re going to have to do it with their defense, because the offense isn’t giving them much help at the moment.

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Cowboys-Giants Pick

With all of the weapons missing on the offensive side of the ball for the Giants, they’re going to have a tough time moving the ball, as they are the least explosive offense in the NFL.

Dalton has looked fantastic the last three weeks and has all of his weapons ready to go on Sunday, so the Cowboys should cruise to a victory.

I have the Cowboys projected as -2.73 favorites, so there’s value on them at -1.

Pick: Dallas -1 (up to -1.5)