Following their tough loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, the Giants enter a shortened week tasked with taking on the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. This will be one of the toughest games of the season for the Giants, as outside of the multitude of injuries, this Cowboys squad is extremely talented.
The Giants have dealt with adversity all season and right now it seems as if things couldn’t get much worse. So many key players are dealing with injuries and will need their replacements to step up big time if the team wants to win.
Even for the players that were healthy in the Giants loss to the Lions, many disappointents really let the team down. These players will need to step it up and lead the Giants if they want a chance to defeat the Cowboys on Thursday.
4. LB Jaylon Smith
Watching Jaylon Smith’s performance against the Lions was extremely painful, as not only did he show a lack of proper read and react ability, but he couldn’t get off of a block to save his life. While he has had many solid moments with the Giants since his return, this problem has haunted Smith all season.
As much as Smith’s speed can make up for a lack of an ability to read and react, he still must be better. The position of linebacker has been a massive problem for the Giants all season, and when you look at all the injuries the secondary racked up last week, they need any non-defensive linemen to step up in coverage.
Smith has struggled mightily in coverage all season, allowing 10 receptions on 11 targets for 106 yards. The Cowboys may not have an elite TE, but with how poor the Giants defense has been against TEs all season, things could go downhill really fast.
Even outside of TEs, the Cowboys have a massive receiving threat at running back in Tony Pollard, who caught six passes for 109 yards and two TDs last week against the Vikings. Honestly, we are much more worried about Pollard than any other non-receiver on the Cowboys.
With how good the Cowboys offensive line is, it will likely be up to the linebacker core of the Giants to stop the run, meaning Smith must play at a very high level if the Giants want a chance to slow down Dallas’s offense.
3. EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux
While Kayvon Thibodeaux certainly hasn’t been bad this season, he has not been close to what the Giants wanted him to be. Don’t get us wrong, we still think Thibodeaux has all the potential in the world, and we have seen legendary Giants pass-rushers, like Michael Strahan, have disappointing rookie seasons in the past.
Through eight games, Thibodeaux has racked up 17 combined tackles, one sack, 15 QB hurries, and three QB hits. Despite the lack of sacks, Thibodeaux has certainly made his presence known in games. Despite this, Thibodeaux definitely needs to be doing more for the Giants defense, especially with no Azeez Ojulari. Entering this week against the Cowboys, the Giants need Thibodeaux to be an absolute menace.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott needs to be under constant pressure if the Giants want to win. It will be very difficult for the Giants beat up secondary to guard players like Ceedee Lamb and Michael Gallup, so the Giants pass-rush must make it difficult for Prescott to get the ball out.
Thibodeaux has shown elite speed, strength, and athleticism this fall. What has really been holding him back is a lack of a reliable secondary pass-rush move, which was known to be a problem when the Giants drafted him.
The good thing about this problem? It can be so easily fixed, meaning that once Thibodeaux puts it all together, it is going to be a tough time for anyone matched up across from him.
2. WR Kenny Golladay
After the season-ending injury rookie receiver Wan’Dale Robinson suffered in the Giants loss to the Lions, the teams receiving core looks weak as ever. This means that there are quite literally zero excuses for Kenny Golladay not to step up against the Cowboys.
Golladay had his best game of the season against Detroit, catching two passes for 29 yards – as hilarious as that sounds, it is better than nothing.
There are no doubts that Golladay has been a liability for the Giants this season, and with it being expected that he will be cut in the offseason, this may be one of his last chances to prove he can play at a high level again.
After the disappointing fumble by newcomer Isaiah Hodgins, there is a very good chance Brian Daboll holds him accountable for this and brings down his snap count. This should open up the door for a potential big game for not only Golladay, but Darius Slayton as well.
The only thing that could make this difficult is just how good the Cowboys defense is. Considering how poor Golladay performed in the Giants last matchup against the Cowboys, this could all be for nothing.
At the end of the day, Golladay will likely be forced back into the spotlight on the Giants offense at least in terms of a snap count. Last week, Golladay saw his most snaps since Week 1, so considering the Giants will be without Robinson, he will likely receive even more.
1. RB Saquon Barkley
After running the ball 15 times for 22 yards against the Lions last week, Saquon Barkley must step it up and dominate against the Cowboys. While this disappointing performance is not entirely on Barkley, as the Giants offensive line looked absolutely putrid, he still looked a little slow.
Barkley is likely still dealing with the shoulder injury he suffered against the Packers in Week 5, which could explain how slow he was, but regardless he must perform at a higher level. As elite as the Cowboys pass defense is, their run defense does not necessarily share the same dominance. So, while the Cowboys allow a high volume of yards, they’ve only given up five rushing TDs on the season.
The good thing about this is that Barkley had a relatively dominant performance last time he faced the Cowboys, running the ball 14 times for 81 yards and a TD while also catching four passes for 41 yards. We all know how much the Giants rely on Barkley to carry their offense against tough opponents. While the offensive line very clearly holds him back at times, we can only hope that they play much better than they did last week.
While Jon Feliciano is listed as questionable, Nick Gates has proven to be a better player this season when he has played. In addition to this, the Giants could be getting Evan Neal back, who has had some very good run-blocking snaps this season.
Odell Beckham Jr. would be foolish to choose the Cowboys over the NY Giants
Odell Beckham Jr. has only one correct decision to make — joining the NY Giants over the Dallas Cowboys for the foreseeable future.