What must Dallas do to get a victory in Week 1 against the Giants?
The Dallas Cowboys are finally going to play football that counts towards their record, opening night is now officially less than a week away. Things will start against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. The Cowboys haven’t been great in opening-season games under quarterback Dak Prescott. They are 4-6 overall, but three of those four wins are against the Giants. The last time they matched under these circumstances was a 40-0 Cowboys blowout, and Prescott hasn’t lost to New York since his rookie season.
Prescott is 140 of 221 for 1,340 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions in his six season openers against teams other than New York. In his four games against the Giants, he is throwing at similar percentages, 87 for 140, but his yards per game are up almost 40, and he has thrown five touchdowns to zero interceptions.
The quarterback is likely to play well, but here are the other things the Cowboys must do to get a victory in Week 1.
Dallas has to dominate the rushing game
The Cowboys built their team to win by running the ball to set up play action, and by stopping the run to force opposing offenses into third-and-long. They used two first-round picks on their guards, though Tyler Smith will miss the game, and a top-100 pick on their center to get movement in the run game and punish defenders. The matchup calls for this style, especially given that the Giants were 31st in rush yards allowed per game and lost Dexter Lawrence. With how good the New York edge rushers are, Dallas has to avoid third-and-long at all costs.
On the other side, the Cowboys traded for Kenny Clark, Quinnen Williams, and Rashan Gary to be run stoppers. They added Otitto Ogbonnia and Jonathan Bullard in free agency to help, and drafted LT Overton to do the same. The entire defensive rebuild is to shut down opposing run games and then mess with quarterbacks in favorable pass situations.
The defense can’t look like last season
Dallas allowed Russell Wilson to throw for 450 yards and three touchdowns in the early-season matchup, and a week later he was benched. Bryce Young threw for three touchdowns and a QB rating of 114.8. Jacoby Brissett and J.J. McCarthy each threw for over 250 yards and two touchdowns, and Jaxson Dart finished the season throwing for 230 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
The defensive coaching staff and roster were purged, and this new team can’t start the season allowing Dart to look like an All-Pro. Dart started 12 games, threw for just over 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns with a QBR of 57.5. If the Dallas defense can’t keep him from carving them up, then the team could be in for a long season.
Cowboys offensive tackles must survive
The offense’s one major issue is their tackles. Tyler Guyton has had a terrific camp, but he has been a poor starting tackle in his first two seasons. Terence Steele has been a good run blocker, but both struggle in pass protection. Pro Football Focus has Guyton rated with a 55 pass-blocking grade the last two seasons, and Steele was graded 56.2.
Those two have to survive the pass-rush duo of Brian Burns and Abdul Carter, plus two other first-round picks with rush upside in Kayvon Thibodeaux and rookie Arvell Reese. Dallas has no chance of winning this matchup. The New York pass rush will cause issues, but if the Cowboys can keep the Giants from destroying the game, the rest of the team should be able to overwhelm New York with their advantages.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or on YouTube at Across the Cowboys podcast
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: What must Dallas do to get a victory in Week 1 against the Giants?
