Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants — Game Preview

Game 2, Week 2
Cowboys Aim to Bounce Back at Home vs. Giants

It is the home opener for the Cowboys, that means it’s their first home game of the year since they played in Philadelphia last week in the first game of the season. You know what that means, there’s a very good chance the Giants are coming to town! These are very familiar foes, and it is hilarious to me how many times they have played against each other in the first game of the season or very early on during the last decade or so. This game doesn’t have the hype and build up a lot of those games had, but it should still be a fun one to watch. Both teams lost their first game. This is the week each year when people repeat the stat about how terrible the odds of making the playoffs become for teams that go 0-2 to start the season. They always say it’s not a must win, but it is, but it’s not literally. What it actually represents is the Cowboys’ chance to get their first win of the year against a team they should beat, and continue to build on what they did well in the first game while improving areas of weakness.

After a tough 24–20 loss to the Eagles in a tight opener, the Cowboys return home looking to get in the win column in Week 2. They’ll host the New York Giants, a team that also struggled in their opener, setting the stage for what some call a must-win divisional clash. The Giants lost to Washington in their first regular season game, 21-6.

Matchup Info

Opponent: New York Giants

Date: Sunday, Week 2 of the 2025 regular season

Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX

Broadcast: Fox, 1pm EST/12pm CST

Team Context & Injuries

Cowboys:

The Cowboys suffered a close loss in Week 1 against Philly. Several close calls and late-game errors made the difference in the game.

Cornerback DaRon Bland, just rewarded with a large contract extension, is now expected to miss multiple weeks with a foot injury.

The defense will need to adjust with his absence—others like Kaiir Elam may see more playing time.

Giants:

QB Russell Wilson is confirmed to be the starter for Week 2 after a rough opener vs. Washington. However, there are already rumblings of other quarterbacks getting the opportunity as early as this game if offensive production doesn’t improve.

Left tackle Andrew Thomas is still recovering, not practicing mid-week, which puts his availability in question.

The Giants running game was nearly nonexistent in their opener (~30 rushing yards), making it hard to establish the offensive rhythm and limiting play action.

Key Storylines to Watch

Opponent Overview

Giants’ offensive line showed weakness in pass protection in Week 1, allowing many pressures. Do the Cowboys have enough pass rushers left on the team now that Micah Parsons is gone to take advantage of it?

Malik Nabers is a bright spot in their receiving corps; others remain unproven under duress.

Giants are likely to be aggressive in run blocking this week, trying to redeem their red zone and early down struggles.

What Needs to Happen for Cowboys to Win

The Cowboys must shore up their secondary coverage and avoid giving up big plays or allowing Wilson time in the pocket.

Offense should try to dominate time of possession with the run game, keeping the Giants’ offense off the field.

Turnovers and special teams will likely be crucial—capitalizing on Giants’ mistakes or turnovers could swing momentum.

Staying disciplined in penalties and clock management—every small mistake costs in division games.

Final Thoughts

This game always feels like more pressure is applied to it than there needs to be. I understand the stats people talk about every year; however, it’s a winnable game against a beatable opponent. Just go do the dang thang! Just translate what you’re working on in practice onto the field, and there should generally be no problems. If Dallas wins, they avoid going into a must-win mindset for Week 3, they build confidence, and they validate offseason roster moves along with their Week 1 performance against the Eagles. If they lose, the pressure mounts fast, especially given injuries and roster question marks. Honestly though, in my opinion, there shouldn’t be pressure. All that noise comes from the outside. They wait all year for this, so they should just be having fun and enjoying it as they continue to build something together. They just have to build a championship caliber team one play at a time. So long as they stay focused on the part they’re responsible for, sowing good seed, and trust God with the outcome and results, they’ll be just fine. There is a time for sowing and a time for reaping, now is the time for sowing, so do not grow weary or tired of doing good, know that at the appropriate time  you will reap a harvest when you do not give up.

Aim for progress, not perfection.
If the game or life ever feels overwhelming, simplify it and remember, like the number on Dak’s jersey, you only need 4 yards to keep the drive going. So, as often as people try to make the big flashy plays, the truth is, all you need is 4 yards and any play that gets at least 4 yards is a success. At the end of the day, if all else fails and you do every single thing wrong, you can still win like that. Look no further than the Eagles as evidence of that, because they approach each possession as if they have 3 plays to get 8 or 9 yards. Then, you know if they are a yard or two away on fourth down they are going for it and most often they convert and keep right on going. Think of how many more points and possessions they’ve gotten with that approach the past few years compared to other teams that are punting. They’ve taken that approach all the way to Super Bowls, and the Cowboys can too.

Jimmy Johnson has often said the past few years that in big, playoff type games it’s not the team that makes the most big plays that wins the game, it’s the team that makes the fewest bad plays. I agree. In the playoffs the past five years, this team has lost to Mr. Irrelevant aka the last pick in the draft aka Brock Purdy. 2 out of their last 5 losses were to rookies, Purdy and Love. When you look at the list of quarterbacks Dallas lost to in the playoffs from 2020 to 2024, in general you would say Dak has had a better overall career than all of them except Brady. At the very least, you would say Dak is equally good or better than every quarterback Dallas has faced in the playoffs for the last 5 years or so. Usually the team with the better quarterback is supposed to have an advantage and win the game. So, why hasn’t that been the case in Dallas?

In all of those playoff games, what they had in common was that at some point in the game, if not the entire game, the team would look incompetent like it couldn’t even do the most basic fundamental things right. Usually the offensive side of the ball is what let the team down, which would eventually wear down the defense that spent too much time on the field. In games like that, it’s like the defense is playing against two offenses, the other team’s and their own, because their own team’s offense can’t stay on the field long enough to let them catch their breath. Additionally, the more experienced quarterback was getting outplayed by quarterbacks with little to no experience who weren’t even having great games themselves, which shouldn’t happen and might have had something to do with the way the Cowboys handled the last coach’s contract in spite of the regular season records. The offense is not totally to blame though, the defense shares responsibility as well. The Cowboys have a great pass rush during the regular season. The problem with that is when the playoffs roll around, the game changes and many teams run the ball. For a decade or more now the Cowboys have not been able to stop the run and have regularly been run over and flattened in the playoffs. On average they gave up 202 rushing yards per game during that time. The fewest amount of rushing yards they allowed was 121 to the 49ers in 2021. The defense only held one opponent under 30 points in their playoff losses over the last 5 years, so it’s not like the offense is totally at fault. The whole team has lacked the correct balance to win in the playoffs regardless of how much they win in the regular season. Dak needed to hit the reset button and take a fresh approach, and through one game it looks like Brian Schottenheimer is helping with that. This team has no business sniffing a Super Bowl until they do the basic things correctly. Have the Super Bowl as a goal sure, but this team needs to crawl before it can walk, walk before it can run, and do the basic things consistently well if it wants to produce a better result in the playoffs. If winning a Super Bowl is equal to running, Dallas first needs to show it can crawl, then it needs to show it can walk, and then we’ll talk about running. Right now, just looking competent like they belong and not getting run off the field in a playoff game, doing basic things well, would be an improvement. So, let’s start there and make that the focus and goal for this team. Master the fundamentals, do the little things consistently well, and go from there. Right now, can you consistently just get 4 yards a play? That’s all you need. Once you show you can do that on a consistent basis, then you can build other things on top of that, but until a strong, dependable foundation is laid, you cannot build a champion.