New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys: Week 12 Storylines

Here's a look at some of the storylines on a short week for the New York Giants.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Nov 22, 2022 11:27 AM EST

In this story:

New York Giants

Win or lose, all season long, the message from New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll to the team has been to focus on what's in front of them and not what's in the past.

Perhaps there's no better time for the players and staff to take that advice, especially after coming off a disheartening and mentally draining 31-18 home loss to the Detroit Lions.

The Giants, who were their own worst enemy with the turnovers and missed opportunities, also saw as many as six teammates go down with injuries. They included cornerback Adoree' Jackson, who suffered a sprained knee that will shelve him for at least the next four weeks, and promising rookie receiver Wan'Dale Robinson, who was lost for the season with a torn ACL.

With the Dallas Cowboys on deck for Thursday, there's not much time for the Giants to sit and lick their wounds. And therein lies one of their biggest challenges of the week: Can they shake off the heartbreak of the loss against the Lions, get their batteries recharged, and get back to playing their brand of football in time for the start of a five-game stretch against NFC East opponents?

They have no choice but to do that, which is the message head coach Brian Daboll intends to preach to the team this week.

"It wasn’t our first loss. You come in after a loss; you don’t feel great. You feel very disappointed. You put a lot of work into it during the week, and you don’t get the results you want. You should be disappointed, but you can’t let it linger," he said Wednesday.

"In this particular case, it’s such a quick turnaround. You’ve got to move on quickly. That’s something that we’ve stressed since we’ve gotten here: Take it day-by-day. Learn from the things you can learn from. You’re going to hit bumps in the road. Whether that’s a practice or a game, a play, a call, or a decision, those things are going to happen. And you move on from them."

Complicating that challenge is that besides having a bruised ego, the players are likely hurting physically from the street brawl the Lions gave them on Sunday. But with treatment and the right mindset, defensive lineman Leonard Williams thinks the Giants can get themselves focused on the Cowboys.

"Mentally, I think it makes it easier because we have no choice but to quickly move on to the next opponent," Williams said Monday. "Regardless of win or lose, every week we talk about flushing the last game and moving on to the next one. I think physically is where we have to be pros and take care of our body and focus more mentally than physically this week."

Here is a look at some other key storylines ahead of the Giants' Thanksgiving date against the Cowboys.

Day, Slay, and Pray?

The Giants receiver corps has been one of, if not the biggest, disappointments on this team this year. New York, which currently has $25.1 million invested in their receiving corps (at one point earlier in the season, they had the highest amount invested at the position), has gotten very little in return for the dollar.

Those grand expectations of the Giants offense turning into an aerial show went out the window almost from now-former receiver Kadarius Toney proved not to be a fit, when Kenny Golladay couldn't get untracked, and when Sterling Shepard tore his ACL.

If that's not bad enough, the team lost promising rookie Wan'Dale Robinson to a torn ACL. While there is hope that the Giants somehow convince Odell Beckham Jr to come home, it's doubtful one man alone can turbocharge what's been a lackluster group that, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, has held this offense back.

That means it's up to Darius Slayton, Golladay, Richie James (if he plays), David Sills V, Marcus Johnson, and Isaiah Hodgins to provide the firepower. That group has had a spark here and there, but it's been nowhere near the level the Giants' 28th-ranked passing game needs to cross the finish line successfully into the postseason.

A Primary Concern

It's been a rough second half of the season for the Giants' defensive secondary. They lost safety Xavier McKinney for at least four weeks to an off-field accident resulting in a broken hand. And on Sunday, they lost No. 1 cornerback Adoree' Jackson on a punt return to a sprained knee that will reportedly keep him sidelined for at least four weeks.

If that's not bad enough, cornerback Fabian Moreau, their other starting cornerback, is dealing with an oblique issue. With some top receivers on the docket in the coming weeks, the injuries in the secondary are not a promising development, especially when the team relies on the defensive secondary to hold its coverage to allow for the aggressive front to get home to disrupt the quarterback.

Even worse, the Giants have few options and might very well have to pour what little salary cap dollars they have left into the receiver spot and hope that the offense can dominate the time of possession.

Copycats

The Seahawks laid the groundwork to stop the Giants running game, but Detroit finished it, putting forth an effort to cut the Giants off at the knees. New York had no answers for what the Lions did to their running game, but they better come up with a backup plan fast, as other teams are sure to take bits and pieces of what the Lions did into their game plan against the Giants in the coming weeks. And as we all saw, no Saquon, no offense.

But there is a silver lining. If Daniel Jones is healthy enough to run, the Giants need to consider him as the backup to give opposing defenses something to think about. The Giants didn't do that last week against the Lions. They might not have a choice moving forward if other teams stuff Saquon before he has a chance to get going.

Finding the (Pass) Rush

Numbers

Offensive Line Chemistry

Besides the decision to risk starting cornerback Adoree' Jackson at punt return, another questionable decision by the Giants coaching staff was to insert Shane Lemieux, fresh off the injured reserve list, into the starting lineup at left guard.

Although the decision might have been made out of precaution regarding rookie Josh Ezeudu, who came into the week with a neck sprain, it was a disaster. Lemieux, whom Pro Football Focus credited with five total pressures, including a sack, was benched at the half, and the rookie was reinserted.

Daboll wouldn't say why the change was made--again, it's believed to have been due to Ezuedu's neck injury. But if the rookie were that bad off, why even allow him to dress for the game?

If it was a matter of thinking Lemieux was the better option, the coaches ended up messing with the offensive line's chemistry, which, despite what the coaches would have us believe, solidifies when they're in the trenches together.

But that's not all. Center Jon Feliciano, whom we suspect has been banged up all year long, injured his neck, as did offensive tackle Tyre Phillips. That means the Giants could be looking at a significant shakeup on the offensive line just in time to face a Cowboys team that likes to do a lot of crazy things up front to confuse opponents.

"I think what you do is those guys get tons of reps during the week," Daboll said when asked about getting that chemistry up to snuff. "I think (offensive line coach) Bobby (Johnson) has done a good job of mixing those guys throughout practices, too and giving them reps so that different guys are working with different guys."

The problem is the Giants have one practice on Tuesday before they need to jump on a plane to Dallas. Their week has otherwise been walkthroughs. So where exactly are those "ton of reps" going to come from for what is likely to be a different offensive line configuration?