Giants at Cowboys: Players to Watch
It's a must-win game for the Giants and the Cowboys on Sunday, as both teams sit on the brink of an unraveling season.
Yet given the NFC East's state, one win could put either team back in contention for a division title in the week NFC East.
Sunday's critical game at AT&T Stadium will come down to whichever team puts together the best team effort. However, a handful of individual performances will still go a long way in deciding the game's outcome.
Here are some key Giants whose anticipated participation could be difference-makers.
Giants OLB Markus Golden
The Giants are thin at edge rusher this week with the news that Oshane Ximines has been placed on IR with a shoulder issue and that Kyler Fackrell is questionable with a neck issue.
That means veteran Markus Golden will have to step up and hold down a significant role on Sunday with very little time on the sideline during defensive series.
Amazingly, Golden hasn't started a game for the Giants this season and has only played an average of 24.75% of defensive snaps despite being one season removed from starting all 16 games for the Giants and leading the team in sacks with 10.
But now Golden is fresh and will have the chance to prove how much he has left in the tank at 29 years of age after an offseason in which he couldn't get a better deal than the one-year unrestricted free agent tender with the Giants.
Golden has made much of his snaps in a limited role with the Giants this year, racking up six quarterback pressures and one hit, but is still looking for that first sack.
Sunday might be one of the most important starts of Golden's career to that point if he's given the nod. It coincides with the importance of a must-win game for the Giants as a whole.
The Giants Cornerbacks
For the first time this season, the Giants cornerbacks--projected starters James Bradberry, Ryan Lewis, and slot Darnay Holmes--are going to be squaring off against a receiving corps with enough talent to put it among the best-receiving trios in the league.
That trio includes Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and rookie CeeDee Lamb, who have combined for nine of 17 deep-pass (20 or more yards) receptions for 346 yards and two touchdowns through four games this season.
In particular, Lamb has been dangerous with the deep ball, hauling in 80% of those pass targets. This all adds up to James Bradberry, Ryan Lewis, Darnay Holmes, and Logan Ryan having their hands full against these speedsters, making sure that they cover them well to give the big guys up front a fighting chance to bring the heat against quarterback Dak Prescott.
It will be interesting to see if defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has Bradberry travel with any one receiver--the best guess would be he'll draw Cooper if that is indeed the case. As for the rest of the Cowboys passing game targets, there will more than likely be a rotation going on depending on the down and distance
ILB Blake Martinez
Martinez figures to have his hands full this weekend in trying to keep running back Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott from hurting the Giants with their legs.
Since signing with the Giants this off-season, Martinez has been a god-send in the Giants linebacker unit. Not only is he a team captain and the quarterback of that defense, but he's been thriving in his new role as an attacker, a role that has seen him lead all NFL defenders with 16 stops for zero or negative yardage.
Hopefully, Martinez's presence will help limit Elliott's production, which against the Giants, comes to 4.4 yards per carry and which, in the last game these two met in 2019, saw Elliott run for 132 yards, his career-best against the Giants.
WR Darius Slayton
Thus far, Darius Slayton has had a quiet 2020 season in which he's recorded 15 receptions for 236 yards and two touchdowns, both coming in Week 1 against the Steelers.
The targets have certainly been there for Slayton, but the production hasn't. In Weeks 2-4, he's caught 50% or less than his pass targets, his longest reception being 33 yards, that coming last week against the Rams.
This week with the Giants facing a struggling Cowboys defensive secondary, the conditions seem perfect for Slayton, one of the few receivers the Giants have that can test a defense deep, to add on to his 2020 season production.
Giants RB Devonta Freeman
Running back Devonta Freeman hasn't had much of a chance to contribute to the Giants' offense yet this season, racking up just 43 rushing yards on 16 carries since signing back in Week 3.
But that could very well change as this week, head coach Joe Judge said that Freeman is fully integrated into the Giants system to where it would only be logical to assume that he'll see a much more significant role as soon as this week.
And why not? The Cowboys run defense has been struggling big time as the big bodies the Cowboys brought in to shore up their defense haven't always been able to get off blocks to make plays.
Last week against a very good Browns rushing attack, the Cowboys gave up a whopping 307 yards on the ground on 40 rushing attempts, a 7.7 yards per carry average.
One can only wonder what the Giants might have been able to do if they had a healthy Saquon Barkley, but in Freeman, they have an older back who can bring a lot of the same things to the rushing offense as Barkley (though obviously no longer at the same level).
And for what it's worth, the Giants are coming off their best rushing performance of the season, eclipsing the 100-yard mark with 136 yards against the Rams last week.
DT Leonard Williams
Defensive tackle Leonard Williams became the first Giant to rack up multiple sacks this season when he recorded his second in Week 3 against the 49ers.
Williams, who is playing on the one-year franchise tag after racking up just 0.5 sacks in 2019, will be looking to add to his seven total pressures that include the sacks, three quarterback hits, and two hurries, as he plays for a lucrative long-term contract extension in 2021.
This week the Giants defensive front is going up against a banged-up and vastly different looking Cowboys offensive line that is projected to have guard Connor Williams and rookie center Tyler Biadasz along the interior.
Williams could also benefit if Zach Martin is kicked out to left tackle to replace Tyron Smith. Williams has played 55 of his defensive line snaps at the right defensive tackle spot according to PFF, to just 34 on the left side where he would have normally faced Martin.
(Patricia Traina also contributed to this report.)
