10 things to watch in Giants vs. Cowboys

The Giants’ pass rush got off to a torrid start this year. For most of the first half of the season, the Giants led the NFL in sacks. Following the Week 8 matchup in Pittsburgh, the Giants had 35 sacks on the season, one more than they had in the entire 2023 campaign. But over the last three games, the pass rush has totaled just one sack, which has led to the Giants dropping to fifth in the league in sacks. In Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers, the Giants recorded a mere four total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Time in the pocket allowed Baker Mayfield to complete 80 percent of his passes for 294 yards and a 107.5 passer rating.

In the three games since taking over at quarterback for the injured Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush has been sacked a total of seven times and has five fumbles during that span. Additionally, Rush has completed just 55.6 percent of his passes for 153 yards, two touchdowns and one interception when being pressured, good for a 73.0 passer rating. When not facing pressure, the veteran has completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 660 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for an 81.0 passer rating.

In the first game between the two teams, the Giants registered nine total pressures and one sack of Prescott. While the Cowboys’ offensive line surrendered a mere two pressures against the Commanders last week, the unit allowed 41 total pressures across the previous three contests.

Heading into Week 13, the Cowboys’ defense ranks 31^st in points and 27^th in yards allowed on the year. However, injuries have played a significant role in those rankings. Dallas lost both Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence in the first meeting against the Giants, and while Parsons has recently returned, Lawrence is still on injured reserve. Meanwhile, All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland just made his season debut last week.

“They’ve got Bland back, Micah is back,” said Lock. “So, if they had injuries, they don’t have them anymore. They’ve got their guys back, played well last week. Flying around. Aggressive defense. It’s a good spot, it’s a good defense. Got to go out there and play our A game. Move the ball, go down there and score points in the red zone. Just be ready for a fight.”

The return of Parsons has already provided the Dallas defense with a big boost. The three-time Pro Bowl linebacker has recorded two sacks in two of the three games he’s played since returning from his ankle injury, while adding a forced fumble. The Cowboys’ defense has forced six turnovers since Parsons returned to the lineup, including three last week against the Commanders.

“Versatility,” Lock said about what makes Parsons so good. “Explosive off the edge. They can move him inside, do a three. When you get a d-lineman that can play multiple positions and produce, that makes it something that you’ve got to look at, you’ve got to be ready for.”

The Giants placed outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari on injured reserve Tuesday. In a corresponding move, the team claimed tight end Greg Dulcich off waivers from the Denver Broncos.

When Kayvon Thibodeaux was put on injured reserve following the team’s Week 5 win in Seattle, Ojulari stepped into the starting lineup and picked up five sacks over the following three games.

The fourth-year outside linebacker has registered six sacks, seven tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, and one fumble recovery to go with his 28 total tackles (12 solo) in 11 games (five starts).

The Broncos selected Dulcich in the third round (No. 80 overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound tight end played in 16 games with 10 starts over the last three seasons.

His career totals include 41 receptions for 464 yards and two touchdowns.

Prior to being drafted, Dulcich enjoyed a successful career at UCLA. He recorded 77 receptions for 1,353 yards and 11 touchdowns in 33 games across his four seasons with the Bruins. Dulcich’s 19.9 yards per reception during the 2020 campaign led the nation, and resulted in him being named second-team All-Pac-12. The following year, he caught 42 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns on his way to being named first-team All-Pac-12.

The NFL continues to honor and commemorate the late John Madden with the third annual John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration. Madden once said, “There’s no place that I would rather be today on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game,” and the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration brings together all the things that were important to him – family, football, food, tradition and fun.

This year’s edition of the John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration will feature the following elements:

Network partners FOX, CBS and NBC will continue to celebrate Madden’s contributions to the game, both on the field and in the broadcast booth, with tributes interspersed throughout each game on Thanksgiving Day. The lineup includes the Chicago Bears versus the Detroit Lions at 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS, the New York Giants versus the Dallas Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the Miami Dolphins versus the Green Bay Packers at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. Live game audio of all three Thanksgiving Day games will be broadcast nationally by Westwood One and SiriusXM.

A special NFL-produced Madden Hallmark will kick off each broadcast, conveying what Thanksgiving meant to him in his own words.

Each network will select a Madden Thanksgiving MVP who will receive a $10,000 donation from the NFL Foundation to be given to a high school or youth football program in their name, as the topic of youth football was important to Madden.

This year for the first time, each Madden Thanksgiving MVP will be awarded with the Madden Thanksgiving MVP trophy, created to honor Madden and celebrate everything the game of football means to the Thanksgiving holiday. The trophy is in the form of a pylon and includes various “Maddenisms” sprinkled throughout, along with visual cues to speak to the holiday theme.

New this year, the NFL will benefit the newly-created John Madden Foundation by auctioning off game-used items from the three Thanksgiving Day games via NFL Auction, with proceeds supporting the new foundation.

A coin featuring a silhouette of Coach Madden on one side (“Heads”) and a six-legged turducken on the reverse side (“Tails) will be used for the coin toss, and a patch featuring a silhouette of Coach Madden will be included on the jersey of each player at all three games.

Special John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration stencils will be placed on the sidelines of Ford Field (Detroit), AT&T Stadium (Dallas) and Lambeau Field (Green Bay), along with stadium wall panels that include an iconic image of Madden from his coaching days.