5 reasons the Cowboys will beat the Giants in Week 3
By Randy Gurzi
4. Offensive line has excelled
Before Week 1, it seemed as though all hope would be lost for Dallas since their offensive line was a mess. They lost Tyron Smith and had no true replacements. That led to them moving Tyler Smith to left tackle after having the rookie learn guard all offseason.
They’ve also had to use Matt Farinok after Connor McGovern suffered an ankle injury. Despite all this, they’ve actually played pretty well in the first two games. Dallas has seen their quarterbacks sacked just five times, with only one coming against the Bengals, showing they made improvements from Week 1 to Week 2.
A rookie completely deleted Vita Vea on this play. I’ve seen veterans get MAULED by Vea on this type of rush.
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) September 14, 2022
Tyler Smith stands him up and then holds an entire conversation about curly fries with him. #Cowboys https://t.co/JfHd0hyPc6
Not only are the Cowboys linemen playing better than expected but they’re about to face a team that really hasn’t been able to get after the quarterback. In their Week 1 win over the Titans, the Giants had just one sack on Ryan Tannehill. Then in Week 2, Baker Mayfield was sacked two times. For some measure, Dallas already has eight sacks in two weeks compared to three for the Giants.
New York is hopeful that both Azeez Ojulari and Kayvon Thibodeaux will return to the field on Monday, and if they do, it will be much tougher on this line. However, they’ve proven they can give their signal-caller time and should be able to continue doing so even if the young pass-rushers return.