Giants vs. Cowboys Week 17 preview: Everything you need to know for gameday
John Mara said Daniel Jones "will have a better team around him this year than in previous years." Credit: Getty Images/Patrick Smith
COWBOYS (6-9) AT GIANTS (5-10), METLIFE STADIUM, 1 p.m.
VITALS
Line: Cowboys by 1; O/U 44.5
TV: Ch. 5 (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman)
Radio: WFAN-660 AM (Bob Papa, Carl Banks, Howard Cross); Sirius 146; XM 231
INJURY IMPACT
GIANTS: OUT: FB Eli Penny (illness); DOUBTFUL: WR Golden Tate (calf); QUESTIONABLE: LB Cam Brown (illness).
COWBOYS: OUT: LB Leighton Vander Esch (ankle), CB Rashard Robinson (knee), S Darian Thompson (reserve/COVID-19), DT Justin Hamilton (reserve/COVID-19); QUESTIONABLE: S Xavier Woods (ribs).
FEATURED MATCHUP
How honest was Daniel Jones being this week when he discussed how limited and immobile he will be for this game? A lot of folks chalked it up to a Jedi mind trick, especially given that Jones was not so much as limited in practices this week and does not appear on the pregame injury report. He’s certainly not 100 percent healed from the hamstring and ankle injuries that sidelined him in two of the past four games, but if he is able to give anything at all to a Giants’ running attack that has been limited to 78, 74 and 54 yards in their three straight losses, it could be a game-changer.
QUOTABLE
"We’re not playing Lamar Jackson triple-option football that we played last week with the run scheme, so we might as well burn that tape up and throw it out the window. It’s not going to help us this week."
– S Logan Ryan on Dallas’ "more traditional" quarterback and offensive system, as he called them.
INTANGIBLES
Turnovers are usually a good indicator of success, but not recently for the Giants. Despite not committing any on offense or special teams in the past two games against the Browns and Ravens, they lost both. It is the first time since at least 1933 they have lost two consecutive games without committing a turnover in each game, and perhaps the first time ever. Before 1933 the NFL did not keep records on turnovers.
NUMBER, PLEASE
7: Fewest regular season victories for a Giants playoff team. The 1946 Giants went 7-3-1 and lost to the Bears in the NFL Championship Game, 24-14. This year’s team has a chance to win the NFC East at 6-10.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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