NY Giants Week 2: A Look at the Dallas Cowboys Defense

What will the New York Giants offense see from the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2?

Aug 16, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (7) looks on before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Baltimore Ravens at AT&T Stadium. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The New York Giants offense will face a Dallas Cowboys defense that will be coming off 10 days of rest after playing in Thursday Night Football in Week 1.  

Personnel

Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (97) during training camp at the River Ridge Fields. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Cowboys have a new look defensive front after trading away Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.

The interior of the line now has former Packers defender Kenny Clark manning the middle. Although he hasn’t been as dominant as he was in years past, he could have a big game against the Giants' interior offensive line, which badly struggled last week.

Osa Odighizuwa and Solomon Thomas also frequented the interior of the defensive line against the Eagles, and that should continue this weekend. Odighizuwa fared well against the Eagles last week. 

The stats say he had three pressures, but the film says he might be truly taking that next step toward being a high-level lineman.

The edge room featured a heavy rotation of Sam Williams, Marshawn Kneeland, Dante Fowler Jr, and rookie Donvan Ezeiruaku last week. I could see Ezeiraku eating into Williams’s snaps this week after he outperformed him against the run in Week 1. This would allow Williams to focus on pass-rushing.

Fowler will continue to be one of those guys who’s a designated pass-rusher. He’s good at it, but if he’s on the field and you run at him, you will likely find success.

The Cowboys' linebacker room was absolutely awful in Week 1, just constantly missing assignments and overpursuing. That’s surprising, considering it’s made up of Kenneth Murray, Jack Sanborn, and Damone Clark, Murray and Clark, especially, being known for their great speed and ability to chase down players.

The secondary will probably feature most of the same players as it did in Week 1. Trevon Diggs, who played only 26 snaps against the Eagles, should see an increase in his snaps in Week 2.

Diggs and Kaiir Elam will be the starters on the outside, but the real question is what the Cowboys will do if, as is being reported, slot cornerback DaRon Bland (foot) can’t play. 

Would the Giants consider playing Malik Nabers more in the slot, where he’s been effective in limited snaps, to fully take advantage of Reddy Steward, who is listed behind Bland on the depth chart?

Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker played every snap at safety last week, and that’s something that you rarely see anymore. Both looked very good in the game too, so maybe they found a rhythm by just not coming off the field, as they seriously limited the Eagles' overtop attack.

Scheme

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

There are a few important things to remember when looking at the Cowboys' defense from Week 1 under Matt Eberflus.

First, Eberflus is always going to be a zone coverage guy. It’s in his DNA. As the Colts' defensive coordinator, they lived in zone coverage, and as the Bears' head coach, they did the same.

Now with the Cowboys, Eberflus’s defense didn’t play a single rep of man coverage in Week 1 against the Eagles.

That brings us to the second thing to remember: Week 1 isn’t always the best indicator of what a defense is going to do. The Eagles have an offense that many defenses play against either hyper-aggressively or hyper-conservatively, and the Cowboys chose to play hyper-conservatively.

I would again expect to see a lot of Cover 3 and Cover 4, although I’m not sure that they’ll play as much Cover 2 this week as they did vs the Eagles.

The Cowboys could (and should) respect the Giants' offense less than they respect the Eagles' offense, so playing more aggressively and blitzing more on the interior wouldn’t be a surprising development.  

What this means for the Giants

Sep 7, 2025; Landover, Maryland, USA; New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson (3) runs onto the field prior to the game against the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium. | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

The Giants' offensive line needs to improve in Week 2 compared to Week 1, or this will be another disappointing game.

There should be opportunities to attack the Cowboys' defense by using pre-snap motion and misdirection, whether that’s play-action or counter runs. The Cowboys' linebackers are aggressive, fast, and undisciplined, so they should be the point of attack for the Giants.

The wide run game should be available, especially with pulling linemen coming across the formation.

In pass protection, the Giants should prioritize keeping a running back or tight end in the pass protection to help the offensive line keep Russell Wilson clean for once.  

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