Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants: Know Thy Enemy

2 of 3

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 21: Daniel Jones #8 of the New York Giants lead the offense onto the field during the first half of a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals at MetLife Stadium on August 21, 2022, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

What We Think The Giants Offensive Gameplan Will Be

The Giants, to the surprise of many, have been winning games earlier than most expected this season. That’s thanks to a new offensive-minded head coach in Brian Daboll and a healthy Saquon Barkley in the backfield.

It’s quite apparent that Daboll is looking to lean heavily on Barkley, the Giants currently rank fourth in the league in rushing attempts and fiftth in both rushing yards (341) and yards per attempt (5.2). Barkley is the engine for this offense along with new running back addition Matt Breida who makes a nice tandem in the backfield.

NFL rushing leaders through Week 2:
- Saquon Barkley, 236
- Nick Chubb, 228
- Jonathan Taylor, 215
- D'Andre Swift, 200
- Leonard Fournette, 192
- Aaron Jones, 181
- Miles Sanders, 176
- Cordarrelle Patterson, 161
- David Montgomery, 148
- Jalen Hurts, 147
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) September 20, 2022

The strong running game will be leaned on in order to keep the dominant Cowboys pass rush away from their fumble-prone quarterback Daniel Jones. It won’t be easy for this Giants offensive line though, so look for Daboll to dial up more passes in the screen game to slow down Micah Parsons, Dorance Armstrong, and DeMarcus Lawrence.

If New York is able to slow down the Dallas’s pass rush then that will give Jones time to find his two favorite targets so far this season in Sterling Shepard and Richie James. They will also be more likely to target Leighton Vander Esch thanks to his inability to cover out of the backfield and over the middle of the field so far this season.

But the Giants don’t want to be forced to have Jones win the game for them, so controlling the clock will be key and it’s something the Cowboys should be expecting based on the Giants’ two previous games this season. So stopping Barkley and Breida and forcing Jones to win the game with his arm seems like the best way to beat this NFC East rivalry. Thankfully, the ‘Boys have the defensive personnel to make that happen.

Home/Cowboys News