Thursday Night Football returns with an NFC East divisional matchup. Two teams that desperately need a win will take the field when the Dallas Cowboys travel to New York to take on the Giants at MetLife Stadium.
In a game in which both teams will pull out all the stops to get the win, who should you back to make a winning NFL pick?
NFL Pick
- Under 43.5 (-110) at Bet365 (check our Bet365 Review)
Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants
September 26, 2024 – 08:15 PM EDT at MetLife Stadium
Dallas Cowboys
After an impressive Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns, the Dallas Cowboys have put forth two poor performances at home. First the Cowboys were shellacked by the New Orleans Saints in Week 2. Then they followed that up by getting blown out against the Baltimore Ravens. And now the Cowboys are in a position that they did not want to be in in Week 4, a must win game.
One of the problems Dallas has had this season is a lack of weapons for quarterback Dak Prescott to use. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is by far the best player on the team and takes the majority of the targets. However, if teams key on him, WR Brandin Cooks and TE Jake Ferguson have not been able to do enough to keep the Cowboys offense moving.
Another issue they have is a weak running back room. The Cowboys are trotting out Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle, neither of whom have been impressive this season. When you combine that with the fact that the Cowboys have had many defections on the offensive line, this is not the same powerhouse team that can control the line of scrimmage like they did earlier in Dak’s career.
The Cowboys have also lost some key players on defense, yet they still have one of the best players in the NFL in Edge rusher Micah Parsons. Parsons will be eager to put forth a good performance and lead this Dallas defense back into respectability after two poor showings.
New York Giants
The sky seemed to be falling for New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll and his quarterback Daniel Jones. After the offense looked anemic in the first two weeks, both of them had questions about their job security swirling around them. This seemed to be compounded going against one of the best defenses in the league in Week 3, the Cleveland Browns. It looks like the Giants would take another big loss, and the NFL odds agreed, making the Giants a six-point underdog. Not only did the Giants cover the spread, they were able to get the outright win over the Cleveland Browns.
Their defensive line looked stronger than the Browns’ heralded defensive line, and Daniel Jones had one of his best performances, on the road, against a defense that we rate highly. This is exactly what the New York Giants needed to instill some confidence in themselves this season. While it is not certain whether Jones will be the answer at quarterback, or if he’ll even be on the team next year, the performance against Cleveland definitely helped Jones and Daboll relieve some pressure from the intense New York media.
While Jones’ great play was the main story for the Giants in Week 3, the Giants defense deserves credit for looking absolutely fantastic against Cleveland. They controlled the line of scrimmage and were able to sack Browns’ QB Deshaun Watson seven times. The Giants will need that fearsome pass rush again if they’re going to get this prime time win.
Keys to the Game
1. Giants Defensive Line
One of the differences in the New York Giants defense this week was their ability to win at the line of scrimmage. The Giants are still struggling at linebacker and in the secondary, but if they can win on the defensive line once again and put pressure on the quarterback, it can alleviate some of the shortcomings of this defense.
Once the Giants put the Browns in a position where they could no longer run the ball because of the score, the Giants pass rush was able to take control of the game. The Giants will need another big game from their defensive line to get a win against the Dallas Cowboys.
2. Dallas Running Game
The Dallas passing attack is too dependent on CeeDee Lamb, and to become more balanced, they’re going to need to be able to rush the ball. That means that the Cowboys offensive line is going to have to win the battle at the line of scrimmage against the strongest part of the Giants defense. The Cowboys offensive line has not been able to get big holes for their running backs this season, and when they have, the running backs haven’t shown enough burst to turn these openings into big plays.
Dallas needs to create some explosive plays on the ground and keep the sticks moving forward if they’re going to win this game.
The Pick
This is a tough game to call on the side with two teams coming in that have shown inconsistent performances so far.
Where I think it’s an easy call is to bet the under. For this game to go over, both teams are going to have impressive offensive performances, and it’s quite plausible that one team will be completely shut down. I think that’s most likely the New York Giants. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Giants defensive line was able to have another stout day and shut down the Cowboys as well.
Most likely Dallas will win and cover but I think betting the under is a much safer bet. In a game that both teams need to win to stay relevant in their divisional race, stay away from the side and bet that there will be a low scoring outcome.
NFL Pick: Under 43.5 (-110) at Bet365
*The line and/or odds referenced in this article might have changed since the content was published. For the latest information on line movements, visit OddsTrader’s free betting odds tool.
