Can they keep up?
Judging by what has happened in the past five weeks and, in fact, for much longer than that, the answer is no.
For the Giants to keep their strange-but-true reality of aspiring to the playoff alive, the answer may have to be yes.
“Obviously, this is a great game for us as it is a rivalry game, a division game and obviously there is a lot at stake,” said coach Joe Judge on Wednesday.
The Cowboys, in the midst of a season of ups and downs, have demonstrated a proven ability to score, early, often and in groups, especially lately. Unless the Giants’ defense, which is not exactly flying to the finish line, can slow this move, its highly unproductive attack will be involved in something similar to a Sunday shootout at MetLife Stadium. Again, the question: can they keep up?
“We are confident as an attack,” said quarterback Daniel Jones, who revealed that his persistent hamstring problem prevents him from running. “We have to take advantage of opportunities to score points, especially when we put the ball in the red zone and move the ball there. We are certainly confident in our ability to do this and score points. ”
Where does this confidence come from? The Giants in their current streak of three straight losses have averaged 8.7 points.
“Well, sometimes we’ve done that,” said Jones. “We need to be more consistent with this, we need to end these opportunities. We have the guys capable of doing that. We did it in spurts this year and it will take our best game on Sunday and that is certainly what we are preparing for. ”
The Giants, briefly, found a formula for success in a four-game winning streak centered on limiting the opponent to 20 or less points and scoring a little more than that. As the points lost in defense tended upward, the Giants’ attack faltered and defeat returned.
The Giants are unlikely to be able to rely on their old way of winning at the end of the regular season.
The reason? The Cowboys (6-9) are on the rise – offensively, that is. Scoring 30, 41 and 37 points in his current three-game winning streak means that the Giants (5-10) may have to get involved in some sort of high-scoring case to stay close and have a chance of making it to the playoffs. The Giants beat NFC East if they beat the Cowboys and the Eagles beat Washington on Sunday night.
The only time the Giants were involved in a wave of goals this season was in the October 11 game at AT&T Stadium, won by the Cowboys 37-34 in Greg Zuerlein’s late goal. The Giants were not exactly able to hold out as long as production, as they needed points from their defense – a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Kyler Fackrell – to help build a 17-3 lead that it didn’t last very long.
If the need for points increases to 30 – the Giants have reached that total only once this season and an average of 17.1 points – it can be difficult.
The good news for the Giants in defense is that, after two of the past three weeks trying to corner Kyler Murray and Lamar Jackson, they don’t have to deal with a whirling dervish in the quarterback this time. Andy Dalton can move, but he is not a runner. There is no need for it to take off, as it has so many better options as a ball carrier.
“We have faced all the forms and fashions of quarterbacks this year and this is definitely a more traditional quarterback in Andy Dalton,” said safety Logan Ryan. “We are not going to discredit [running back] Ezekiel Elliott, I think the attack goes through him, but they have weapons in the receiver, they have a quarterback who takes the ball fast, a quarterback who is extremely intelligent, he is taking care of the ball.
“We’re not playing Lamar Jackson’s triple option football that we played last week with the big game, the scheme, so we can also burn that tape, throw it out the window, it’s not going to help us this week. ”
Elliott is now healthy, reaching another 1,000-yard running season (he is 937 yards). He had 91 yards and two touchdowns against the Giants in the first encounter, and his reserve, Tony Pollard, is more than capable. Dalton has by far the best group of recipients in the category, with Amari Cooper, newcomer DeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup. All three targets have five touchdown receptions this season. The leader of the Giants in this department, Darius Slayton, has three touchdown receptions. If too many points are needed, the Giants are in trouble.