New York Giants (2-9) at Dallas (4-7)
Thursday, 4:30 p.m. EST, Fox
BetMGM NFL Odds: Cowboys by 4.
Against the spread: Giants 3-8; Cowboys 3-8.
Series record: Cowboys lead 76-47-2.
Last meeting: Cowboys beat Giants 20-15 on Sept. 26, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Last week: Giants lost to Buccaneers 30-7; Cowboys beat Commanders 34-26.
Giants offense: overall (24), rush (19), pass (28), scoring (32)
Giants defense: overall (19), rush (30), pass (7), scoring (17)
Cowboys offense: overall (21), rush (31), pass (8), scoring (T22)
Cowboys defense: overall (27), rush (31), pass (21), scoring (31)
Turnover differential: Giants minus-6; Cowboys minus-9.
Giants player to watch
WR Malik Nabers. The No. 6 overall pick in the draft had a team-high six receptions for 64 yards despite not being targeted in the first half as the Giants fell behind the Bucs 23-0. Coach Brian Daboll said he is not going to let that happen again. Against Dallas in Week 4, Nabers had a season-high 12 catches for 115 yards, with a long of 39 yards. He was targeted 15 times by Daniel Jones. He sustained a concussion on the last attempt and missed the next two games.
Cowboys player to watch
RB Rico Dowdle just had his second game of at least 85 yards, finishing with 86 on the road against the Commanders. The undrafted fifth-year player who has taken over as the lead back is looking to sustain momentum for the first time. After finishing with 87 yards in a victory at Pittsburgh, Dowdle came home and was held to a season-low 25 yards in a 47-9 loss to Detroit. Dallas' 31st-ranked run game has been marked by that kind of inconsistency, or worse, all season.
Key matchup
Giants DL Dexter Lawrence vs. Cowboys OL. Lawrence is tied for sixth in the NFL with a career-high nine sacks, and the Dallas offensive front has been in flux most of the season. Injuries and youth have kept the Cowboys from establishing a rushing attack in most games. Dallas is coming off an effective showing on the ground and Cooper Rush's best performance in three starts filling in for injured star QB Dak Prescott. Lawrence will test the Cowboys' ability to get the run game going and protect Rush.
Key injuries
Giants QB Tommy DeVito emerged with a sore throwing arm from his first start replacing the benched and subsequently released Jones. Daboll said it was uncertain whether DeVito would play and that Drew Lock would get extra reps in practice just in case. ... OLB Azeez Ojulari, who has six sacks and 10 QB hits, was placed on injured reserve with a toe injury. ... LT Jermaine Eluemunor, who started the first 11 games, was ruled out with a quad injury. ... DL Armon Watts won't play because of a shoulder issue. ... The Cowboys could be without perennial All-Pro RG Zack Martin and CB Trevon Diggs, a 2021 All-Pro, for a second consecutive game. Martin is dealing with ankle and shoulder injuries, while Diggs has groin and knee issues. ... LG Tyler Smith, who injured an ankle about the same time Martin did late in the game against Houston on Nov. 18, says he will play after missing the Washington game. ... TE Jake Ferguson was still in concussion protocol to start the week after being sidelined early against the Texans. ... WR Brandin Cooks is close to a return from a knee issue. He hasn't played since the first meeting with the Giants.
Series notes
The Cowboys have won 14 of the past 15 meetings with the Giants. Matching seven-game winning streaks for Dallas are separated by a New York victory in the 2020 season finale. ... This is the second Thanksgiving meeting in three seasons for the NFC East rivals. There had been just one before that, a 30-3 Dallas victory in 1992. The Cowboys won 28-20 two years ago. The Giants are 0-4 on the holiday since a 13-6 win at Detroit in 1982.
Stats and stuff
The 16 combined losses for New York and Dallas are the most going into a Cowboys Thanksgiving game, according to Sportradar. The previous high was 14 three times, most recently in 2020 when Washington beat Dallas 41-16 in a matchup of seven-loss teams. Washington made the playoffs that season as the NFC East champ at 7-9. ... The first Dallas-New York meeting also was on Thursday. That happened last season with Green Bay and Detroit. The previous — and only other — time was 1923 with the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals. ... The Giants' six-game losing streak is their longest since a nine-game skid, the franchise record, in 2019. … The Cowboys ended a five-game losing streak with the victory at Washington but are 0-5 at home. It’s the worst home start since Dallas lost all eight games at old Texas Stadium while finishing 1-15 in 1989, the year owner Jerry Jones bought the team. The home losing streak is six going back to a wild-card loss to Green Bay in January. Before losing to the Packers, the Cowboys had won 16 in a row at AT&T Stadium. ... DeVito was 21 of 31 for 189 yards in his first action this season against the Buccaneers. He was sacked four times. ... WR Wan’Dale Robinson has 61 catches, surpassing his career high of 60 in 2023. … Nabers has 67 catches, the most by a player in his first nine games. Puka Nacua of the Rams set the record of 64 last season. … WR Darius Slayton had his streak of catching a pass snapped at 26 games against Tampa Bay. … New York has gone 11 consecutive games without a positive turnover differential, extending the longest single-season streak in franchise history. … The Giants have not intercepted a pass in 10 consecutive games, tying the NFL record held by the 1976-77 San Francisco 49ers and the 2017 Oakland Raiders. … New York has one sack in the past three games after getting an NFL-high 35 through the first eight games. … The Giants have the fewest points in the league (163) and they have played seven games without scoring a first-half touchdown. … Rookie S Tyler Nubin has led New York with 12 tackles each of the past two games. ... Rush had his highest passer rating as the Dallas starter at 117.6 against the Commanders. He threw for two touchdowns with no interceptions. Rush beat the Giants for one of his victories when he went 4-1 filling in for Prescott early in 2022. He had a TD with no picks in a 23-16 win. ... WR CeeDee Lamb leads the NFL with 77 catches. He and Jarvis Landry are the only players in league history with at least 70 catches in each of their first five seasons. Lamb led the NFL last season with a career-high 135 grabs. ... Star pass rusher Micah Parsons had two sacks against the Commanders and has a sack in each of his three Thanksgiving games. ... WR/KR KaVontae Turpin, who returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown against Washington, is the fifth player since the 1970 merger to have TDs on punt and kickoff returns along with a scoring catch of at least 60 yards. The most recent was Chicago's Devin Hester in 2007.
Fantasy tip
Lamb has averaged 91 yards receiving per game against the Giants in his career, but without a bunch of touchdowns (four). While the Giants lag in most team statistical categories, they do have the seventh-best pass defense in the NFL.
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The Associated Press
