This article is part of our NFL Game Previews series.
THURSDAY NIGHT
Dallas at N.Y. Giants (+5.5), o/u 45.0 – Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EDT
Woof. Has a team ever crashed that hard, and that quickly? After humbling the Browns in Cleveland in their season opener, the Cowboys were themselves humbled in consecutive home games, and last week's loss to the Ravens wasn't as close as the final score made it seem — Dak Prescott just piled up some points and yards in the fourth quarter after the game was out of hand. The Dallas passing game is a little off, but the main issues for the team are that they can't run the ball and can't stop the run. Having Jerry Jones say he couldn't afford Derrick Henry after the dude rang up 151 yards and two TDs was fairly hilarious, considering that's only true because he mismanaged negotiations will both Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, and their deals didn't get done until Henry was long off the market. Neither Rico Dowdle nor Ezekiel Elliott should be heading a backfield in 2024, and I'm not even sure they are quality RB2s. (I was also willing to give Dalvin Cook another chance, but if he doesn't look better than those two in practice, he must truly be washed.) Henry's rampage comes one week after Alvin Kamara's four-score stunner, and now DC Mike Zimmer's crew has a short week to try to figure out what's gone wrong. There's too much talent on the roster to keep playing this badly, and lost
THURSDAY NIGHT
Dallas at N.Y. Giants (+5.5), o/u 45.0 – Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EDT
Woof. Has a team ever crashed that hard, and that quickly? After humbling the Browns in Cleveland in their season opener, the Cowboys were themselves humbled in consecutive home games, and last week's loss to the Ravens wasn't as close as the final score made it seem — Dak Prescott just piled up some points and yards in the fourth quarter after the game was out of hand. The Dallas passing game is a little off, but the main issues for the team are that they can't run the ball and can't stop the run. Having Jerry Jones say he couldn't afford Derrick Henry after the dude rang up 151 yards and two TDs was fairly hilarious, considering that's only true because he mismanaged negotiations will both Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, and their deals didn't get done until Henry was long off the market. Neither Rico Dowdle nor Ezekiel Elliott should be heading a backfield in 2024, and I'm not even sure they are quality RB2s. (I was also willing to give Dalvin Cook another chance, but if he doesn't look better than those two in practice, he must truly be washed.) Henry's rampage comes one week after Alvin Kamara's four-score stunner, and now DC Mike Zimmer's crew has a short week to try to figure out what's gone wrong. There's too much talent on the roster to keep playing this badly, and lost in the noise of those back-to-back train wrecks has been some intriguing developments — Jalen Tolbert seems like he's about to become the new No. 2 wideout behind Lamb, for instance — but it's also possible that the Cowboys, as currently constructed, simply aren't a real contender.
Fortunately for them, Devin Singletary isn't Derrick Henry or Alvin Kamara, and the Giants definitely aren't contenders. Yeah, they beat the Browns too last week, as Daniel Jones began to realize it was dumb to throw the ball to anyone but Malik Nabers, but that result owed a lot more to Cleveland's own offensive struggles than it did anything Big Blue accomplished on its own. Here are the results of the Giants' seven full second-half possessions last week while trying to protect a lead: fumble, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, missed field goal after starting the drive on the Cleveland 29-yard line. Five of those drives took less than 70 seconds off the game clock. They were basically begging the Browns to come back and win the game, and Deshaun Watson refused. DC Shane Bowen's unit hasn't been completely terrible — the Giants are tied for second in sacks with 14 — but even with that pressure, the secondary's given up a combined 70 percent completion rate to Sam Darnold, Jayden Daniels and Watson. Then there's the little matter of the fact that the Cowboys just own them. Since the 2017 season, Dallas has gone 13-1 in this rivalry, including three straight season sweeps.
Key Info
DAL injuries: no fantasy-relevant injuries
NYG injuries: WR Darius Slayton (questionable, thumb), K Graham Gano (IR, hamstring)
DFS Lineup Optimizer
DAL DFS targets: Jake Ferguson
NYG DFS targets: Devin Singletary
DAL DFS fades: none
NYG DFS fades: Wan'Dale Robinson
Weather notes: 40-50 percent chance of rain
The Scoop
Elliott leads the DAL backfield with 60 yards, but Dowdle catches a touchdown pass. Prescott throws for 310 yards and two more TDs, hitting Ferguson and Lamb. Singletary churns out 80 scrimmage yards and a score. Jones throws for 220 yards and a touchdown to Nabers. Cowboys 27-20
