Cowboys vs Giants: A fast facts and stats game preview for Week 10

Last week was a tough loss to take for the Dallas Cowboys. To the rest of the NFL world, it was one of the more entertaining games of the year. To the Eagles and their fanbase, it’s a feeling of joy to beat their rival and hold on to the NFC East for now. For the Cowboys and their fanbase, it was a heart-breaker mixed in with some optimism, but still a tough loss because for a moment, it felt like Dallas would surely win.

Now it is time for the Cowboys to re-group, put the disappointment behind them and start the second half of the season with a win. As luck would have it, the Cowboys play the New York Giants. No NFL win is ever assured (re: Cardinals), but Dallas and their fans must feel very confident heading into this game.

The Giants’ season has turned into a dumpster fire. The quarterback injuries are just the most prominent symbol of a 2-7 season. The Giants lead the NFL in negative point differential at -116. The Cowboys contributed -40 points to that number in the first game of the year. New York has scored the fewest number of points in the NFL at 101, and now they are relying on undrafted rooked Tommy DeVito at quarterback.

For these reasons, and many more, DraftKings Sportsbook has the Cowboys as 17-point favorites over the Giants. That is simply an enormous number in NFL circles.

The Giants and the Cowboys have met 123 times, one of those being in the post-season. The Cowboys have won 74 of those to 47 for the Giants, with two ties. New York memorably won the playoff game back in the 2007 season. We already mentioned the Cowboys won the last game, by 40 points, in a shutout to start the year.

In fact, Dallas has won 12 of the last 13 games and currently has a five-game winning streak in the series. Dak Prescott hasn’t lost to the Giants since his rookie season and has won 11 straight times versus New York. Speaking of 11 straight wins, that’s the Cowboys current win streak at AT&T Stadium where this game will be played.

Since the time the Cowboys first played the Giants this year, the Dallas offense has improved. The decision to let Prescott pushed the ball downfield more has paid off.

CeeDee Lamb is leading the NFL with 19 receptions of 20+ yards, with nine coming in the last two games. Lamb has three career games with 10+ receptions and 150+ yards including the one he had in Week 9. That is tied with Michael Irvin for most in Cowboys history. He also has three 10+ catch games this year, one more in double digits sets the franchise record for a season.

The list of Lamb’s achievements this season is long. One more: He has 150+ yards receiving in his last two games, if he does that again this week he will be the sixth NFL receiver to ever have three consecutive games of 150+ receiving yards.

Lamb’s running mate this year appears to be Jake Ferguson, The Cowboys tight end has 51 career receptions in the first year and a half of his career. Cowboys legend Billy Joe Dupree had 58 in his first two years, a number Ferguson is sure to surpass before the season is out. That would be second most by a tight end in Cowboys history, behind only Jason Witten (122).

Of course, both Lamb’s and Ferguson’s success is driven by the recent play of quarterback Dak Prescott. Prescott’s overall completion percentage this year is third in the NFL at 70.2%. He leads the NFL on third down with a 118.7 passer rating and a completion percentage of 75.4%.

As we mentioned above, letting Prescott throw downfield is paying off. In the first five games his air yards per attempt was 6.6, the fourth fewest number in the league. The past three games that number is 9.1 yards, fourth best in the NFL. In Weeks 6-9, he is fourth in the league with 15 passes completed of over 20+ yards.

Fast stats:

• Micah Parsons is the league leader when it comes to pas rush win rate at 33.3%
• DeMarcus Lawrence has had success versus the Giants. In his 16 games against them he has 11 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and 46 tackles.
• And if you are hoping for a Tony Pollard revival, he averages 4.8 ypc against New York in his career, with 14 carries for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the last game.

Team comparison stats:

Scoring Avg. (NFL rank): Dallas 27.5 (3) - New York 11.2 (32)

Opp. Scoring Avg. (NFL rank): Dallas 18.5 (6) - New York 24.1 (24)

Total Off. (NFL rank): Dallas 346.5 (10) - New York 268.9 (32)

Rushing Off. (NFL rank): Dallas 111.6 (15) - New York 113.9 (13)

Passing Off. (NFL rank): Dallas 234.9 (12) - New York 155.0 (32)

Total Def. (NFL rank): Dallas 288.0 (3) - New York 338.3 (21)

Rushing Def. (NFL rank): Dallas 108.9 (15) - New York 127.1 (25)

Passing Def. (NFL rank): Dallas 179.1 (6) - New York 211.2 (11)