Thanksgiving won't be the only feast Dallas Cowboys devour heading into showdown vs Giants
Regardless of what the scoreboard says at the end of four quarters of football on Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys will get to have a delicious and substantial Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family. But that shouldn't be the only thing they get to feast on tomorrow when they face the New York Giants. Why? The Cowboys […]
Regardless of what the scoreboard says at the end of four quarters of football on Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys will get to have a delicious and substantial Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family.
But that shouldn't be the only thing they get to feast on tomorrow when they face the New York Giants. Why? The Cowboys should be able to devour a weak Giants' offensive line that will be protecting third-string quarterback Drew Lock at AT&T Stadium.
You see, the Giants are coming into this one with the 21st offensive line in pass block win rate. Pro Football Focus ranks them as the 23rd best pass blocking team in the league. Just last weekend, they allowed four sacks against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, looking particularly vulnerable versus the blitz, which they faced in over half of Tommy DeVito's dropbacks.
With Micah Parsons back in the lineup, the Cowboys' pass rush has recovered some of its old form, as the star defensive end has been productive upon his return. Last Sunday, he was responsible for two sacks and stood out from a defensive tackle alignment in obvious passing situations paired with timely linebacker blitzes from Eric Kendricks and DeMarvion Overshown.
Additionally, Zimmer wasn't afraid to send defensive backs after the quarterback, sometimes doing multiple at a time versus the Commanders. Jourdan Lewis and Donovan Wilson combined for six pass rush snaps on Sunday and they should be busy on Sunday as well.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were quite successful with nickel blitzes against the Giants, including the rep below where they sent two defensive backs after the quarterback.
And it wasn't just the blitzes. The Giants got completely dominated by the Bucs upfront, which led to a lopsided game that ended 30-7. I am not sure it's fair to trust the Cowboys to get a blowout against a divisional foe but on Thursday, I expect the Cowboys' defensive front to be quite successful against the Giants OL.
Additionally, it's hard to forget Mazi Smith's best game of his career came against the Giants, particularly when matched up against center John Michael Schmitz Jr., who had a bad time matched up against Bucs DL Vita Vea.
One week after shutting down the Commanders offense for most of the game, I expect Dallas to devour the Giants offensive line. The question will be if a banged up secondary will be able to hold down Malik Nabers, who caught 12 passes for 115 yards in Week 4 against the Cowboys. Or if the Cooper Rush-led offense will be able to be successful.
It should be a close one even if it's not the most exciting matchup of the day for NFL fans. Gobble, gobble!
