Giants vs Cowboys Week 5: History, player to watch, gut prediction

The Dallas Cowboys come into Week 5 with a 3-1 record and an early-season grip on first place in the NFC East. After an incredibly strong showing against the previously unbeaten Carolina Panthers last week, the Cowboys are looking like they might just be legit. This week’s game is one that a true contender doesn’t trip up on.

The Cowboys welcome an NFC East rival, the New York Giants, to AT&T Stadium to close out a three-game homestand where they look for the clean sweep. The Giants are coming off of a surprising overtime upset against the New Orleans Saints. I’ll admit it, even with that win, I am not sold on the Giants performing some sort of stellar turnaround.

Let’s not waste any more time getting into the fun stuff. Like we do each game, let’s take a look at a few things in this matchup. We will look into the history of this rivalry, a potential key player, and my gut prediction.  Let’s get into it!

New York Giants vs Dallas Cowboys History

All-Time Record: 69-47-2 in favor of the Cowboys (1-0 playoff record in favor of the Giants)

Most Recent Result: New York 23, Dallas 19 on January 3, 2021

In a rivalry, usually, things are a little closer than this matchup has been for a while, but it is the NFC East and no matter the records, there’s still bad blood. The Cowboys not only have 22 more wins than the Giants but have won 14 of the last 22 dating back to 2010 which include streaks of five and seven straight victories.

Where do we begin with some of the moments in this rivalry? Cowboys fans recall the game in 1993 where Emmitt Smith totaled 229 yards from scrimmage with a separated shoulder to lead the Cowboys to the win and NFC East title. It could be the 2006 season when Cowboys’ former head coach, Bill Parcells, made the decision to give Tony Romo his shot at halftime. Romo led the Cowboys to the playoffs that year, took hold of the starting job, and rest is history from that moment on.

There have also been not as favorable moments for the Cowboys. The Giants came to Texas in 2007 and upset the top-seeded Cowboys in the playoffs on their way to an improbable Super Win against the New England Patriots. Arguably the most painful loss I have ever witnessed in person. The Giants also played spoiler in the first game in AT&T stadium when they took down the Cowboys 33-31.

Let’s not ignore the two elephants in the room, either. First, former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is the Giants offensive coordinator. He knows a lot of guys on this Cowboys team very well. Secondly, the Giants are the team that the Cowboys were playing when Dak Prescott’s ankle injury occurred. It was in Dallas, just like this game will be, last season, nearly a year to the date that this week’s matchup will occur.

Dak has answered every single thing asked of him in his return and this appears to be the final hurdle to complete his road to recovery. I can’t imagine the thoughts racing through his mind. The team you were playing, same stadium, same week of the season. But I think he answers the bell and puts this angle fully to rest.

The Giants come into this game with a shocking win over the Saints last week in overtime. That said, this isn’t the same Saints team we are accustomed to seeing when they had Drew Brees, rather Jameis Winston is manning the quarterback position. Simply put, the Giants are a struggling and overmatched football team. They have a lot of question marks across the board.