5 things to watch as Giants face Cowboys in Week 4 of 2024 NFL season

The Giants got their season back on track in Week 3 as they held on for an upset win against the Browns in Cleveland.

They’ll look to keep the momentum going on Thursday night as the Dallas Cowboys come to town.

Here are the biggest stories to watch…

Are the Giants ready for Micah Parsons?

Parsons has had a slow start to the season by his standards with just one sack so far. However, he’s still been generating a lot of pressure and could destroy New York’s game plan if that happens again.

Last season, the Cowboys blew out the Giants by 40 in the opener and then blew them out again in November, and Parsons played a big role in that. The Giants had four offensive holding penalties in the opener as Parsons had a sack and several pressures.

The Giants were determined not to let that happen again in the second meeting between the teams. However, any extra attention they gave him created opportunities for others to produce. Tommy DeVito was still sacked five times even though Parsons was kept relatively quiet.

How will Malik Nabers fare in his first game against the Cowboys?

Nabers is already living up to the hype, with his two touchdowns on Sunday pivotal to their win in Cleveland. As he and Daniel Jones develop their chemistry, a big game for Nabers against Dallas will have Cowboys fans dreading having to face him twice a year for the foreseeable future.

While Nabers’ production in Week 3 wasn’t as good as in Week 2, there are still signs that things are continuing to trend in the right direction. Not only did Nabers catch eight of the 12 passes thrown his way — having caught a less-efficient 10 of 18 the previous week — he did so against a Browns secondary with much better personnel, including a three-time Pro Bowler in Denzel Ward.

Nabers has been making clutch catches, with a high degree of difficulty, and is already having success in the red zone. With all-pro DaRon Bland already on injured reserve, the challenge of slowing Nabers down will be a daunting one for the Cowboys.

Can a banged up Giants secondary slow down Dak Prescott and the passing game?

Injuries to Adoree’ Jackson and rookie Dru Phillips have left the Giants weak at the cornerback position, especially since Nick McCloud was already out. In Sunday’s game, Art Green was called into action on the outside while starter Cor’Dale Flott moved into the slot. It was Green’s NFL debut, having been elevated from the practice squad for the game.

Although McCloud could return from his knee injury this week, the Giants remain shorthanded as they face the Cowboys. Prescott leads the league in passing yards, with CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks and tight end Jake Ferguson posing as pass-catching threats.

While it’s fair to note that Prescott racked up a lot of that yardage in garbage time of their loss to the Ravens, his three fourth quarter touchdowns in that game could mean that Dallas is heading into this game with some momentum.

Will the Giants be able to move the ball on the ground against a struggling Cowboys run defense?

The main reason for the Ravens’ win on Sunday was that they racked up 274 yards on the ground. Is this a weakness that the Giants could also exploit?

Of course, much of that yardage came from quarterback Lamar Jackson. While he’s no Jackson, and is coming off a serious knee injury, Jones has shown in the past that he can make plays with his legs, so that could be a feature of Thursday night’s game.

New York’s best running back is Devin Singletary, who had 95 yards against the Commanders but was kept in check by Cleveland until breaking a 43-yard run that clinched Sunday’s win. Rookie Tyrone Tracy has flashed at times and could be ready for a bigger role.

Can Kayvon Thibodeaux get going?

The Giants have amassed 14 sacks already this season, but Thibodeaux has just a half-sack to his name so far. In fact, he has just 1.5 sacks in his last nine games dating back to last season. Prior to that, he had registered 10.5 sacks in the first 11 games of the 2023 season.

Thibodeaux has at least been playing hard and came up big on a short-yardage stop in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game. New York will be hoping for him to start making more of an impact off the edge, though.