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The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants are no strangers when it comes to the gridiron. Both teams ply their trade in the NFC East, and are a frequent Week 1 matchup over the last decade or so. We’ve noted many times how the Cowboys have come to dominate this series recently, with the last time Dak Prescott lost a game in this series being all the way back in 2016, his rookie year.
But the Giants seemed to have turned a corner with their 2022 season, their first under head coach Brian Daboll. Quarterback Daniel Jones had his best year and they made it all the way to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook currently have the Cowboys as 3.5 point favorites, a line that hasn’t moved very much this week. First, let’s check out what some football sites have to say about the game, then we’ll reveal some BTB staff picks for Week 1.
Our panel comfortably backed the Cowboys, but O’Donnell can feel the tide turn in this NFC East rivalry.
“Let’s get some numbers into the mix here,” he said. “The Giants have beaten the Cowboys just once, once, since the start of the 2017 season. That’s a 1-11 record in the past six years. Bad. Awful. Atrocious. Typing that hurts my brain and heart.
“New York was also last year’s NFL leader in covering the spread with an ATS record of 14-5. However, one of those five losses came against Dallas even without Dak Prescott under center.
“DraftKings set the Cowboys’ over/under win total at 10.5 (they won 12 games a year ago) and the Giants at 7.5 (they won nine games a year ago). The narrative points to a Giants’ regression this season as they can’t get nearly as lucky as they did in 2022 winning eight of those nine games by one score.
“The Cowboys are three-point road favorites for solid, understandable and backable reasons. I’m throwing all that out the window, though. I would gladly take the points if forced to but will be riding with Big Blue straight up anyway. It’s time to change the narrative in this rivalry.”
ATS Consensus: Cowboys
SU Consensus: Cowboys
Score Prediction: Cowboys 30, Giants 21
The overall take here is that the Cowboys will cover.
Why Tom is taking the Cowboys: I want to take the Giants, who should be plenty motivated to make a statement at home in prime time. And all the optimistic quotes that have been coming out of Dallas over the past few months make me a bit wary, frankly, of a Week 1 faceplant by the Cowboys. But I have to go with the more talented roster and quarterback. New York makes it interesting, but Dak Prescott avoids turnovers and Dallas’ offense actually clicks.
Four out of five of the pickers here had the Cowboys as the winners.
This is a tough way to open the season for Dallas on the road on Sunday night against a division foe. But this Dallas team will be better than the one that made the postseason in 2022. I am not sure the Giants will be. Look for Dak Prescott to outplay Daniel Jones as the Cowboys get off to a 1-0 start.
Pick: Cowboys 31, Giants 24
Once again, a pick for the Cowboys to cover.
Sunday 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC
The Cowboys are going back to trying to play better complementary and more efficient football to support their defense. They are doing their best to mesh a run-oriented approach with Dak Prescott returning his passing zip with Brandin Cooks joining CeeDee Lamb. The Giants are in a similar methodical mode with Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. Dallas’ execution is better here, with a timely defensive play to save the night.
Pick: Cowboys win 23-20 but fail to cover the spread.
Here we have a Cowboys win, but the margin is too small to cover.
Most of the picks have the Cowboys winning, and the majority feel they will also cover the spread.
The BTB staff unanimously backs the Cowboys to win, and we have also dropped out picks for the rest of the games in Week 1.
Who ya got for the Cowboys at Giants, and will they cover the spread?
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