3 things the Cowboys need to do to beat the Giants

The Dallas Cowboys are in a good spot in the NFC. For starters, they have a three-game lead in the NFC East and could wrap it up this weekend.

All Dallas needs to do is beat the New York Giants on Sunday and have the Philadelphia Eagles beat Washington (or tie) in their delayed game, whenever it’s played. If all this happens, America’s Team will win the NFC East for the first time since 2018 and just the fourth time since 2010.

The numbers are surely on the Cowboys’ side going into this weekend. Dallas remains a significant favorite against the Giants while the Eagles are strong favorites against a depleted Washington, with a line that might move even more with Washington missing their top two quarterbacks. However, both of these games are divisional matchups and anything can happen.

As for the NFC as a whole, the Dallas Cowboys remain fourth in the current standings but are only one game out of first place. The interesting thing to note is that Dallas currently holds the tiebreakers over every team except the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of their 7-1 conference record.

However, the Cowboys have to take it one game at a time. They can’t look onto Washington or to the Arizona Cardinals before taking care of business against the Giants, who will be without quarterback Daniel Jones.

Here’s how the Cowboys continue their winning ways, which will set them up down the stretch.

3. Rush for 150+ yards

At the beginning of the season, rushing for over 150 yards in a game seemed fairly easy for America’s Team. From Weeks 2 to 5, they hit this mark in four consecutive games, including twice over 200 rush yards. As a result, they went 4-0 in those games.

Now, they have failed to hit that mark in eight straight games and haven’t rushed for over 100 yards in four of those games.

A big reason for this is running back Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott hasn’t rushed for over 100 yards since Week 5 against the Giants. Also, from Weeks 2-5, the former Ohio State star averaged 104.8 yards per game. However, in the past eight weeks, he’s averaged just 44.8 yards on the ground.

It’s evident that the run game moves with this offense. In games that Dallas has failed to rush for over 100 yards as a team, they are just 1-4 compared to 8-0 when they rush for 100+.

Consequently, the Dallas Cowboys’ offense has to get back to its running ways. It’s been a difficult couple of weeks for the running attack, but now is the time to get it right. The New York Giants have been one of the worst teams against the run this season. They currently rank 25th in the league, giving up 125 rush yards per game.

If running back Tony Pollard, who is dealing with a foot injury, can’t suit up, running back Corey Clement will once again be the backup to Elliott.