Dallas Cowboys should get back on track vs. New York Giants

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DALLAS COWBOYS (1-2) at NEW YORK GIANTS (1-2)

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LINE: Dallas by 5.5

The Cowboys are coming off their second consecutive loss at AT&T Stadium — where they were 16-1 over the past two seasons — and needed 19 garbage-time points to make a 28-6 fourth-quarter deficit against the Ravens look respectable.

At the same time, the Giants were pulling off a surprising road win in Cleveland.

But that was then and this is now. The kickoff to Week 4 in the NFL is brought to you by the number 12: Dak Prescott has won 12 straight starts against the Giants, against whom he has a career mark of 12-2 with 27 TD passes against eight picks, while Daniel Jones is 1-12 in prime time games.

Jones also is 1-7 in eight career starts versus Dallas, with four TD tosses and five interceptions.

Go figure: Prescott leads the league in passing yards (851) while owning the 20th-best passer rating (85.8).

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The Cowboys have won their past six meetings with the Giants by a combined score of 205-79 (average 34.2-13.2) and the past two by a combined score of 89-17 (44.5-8.5).

Only two of their past 13 victories over the G-Men been by less than 5.5 points, which is the line for this matchup.

In his past two games, Giants rookie Malik Nabers has caught 18 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. He now leads the league in targets (37) and is second in receptions (23) and fifth in yards (271). They may not win a lot, but with the 21-year old Nabers, the Giants will always be a back-door cover threat.

The Cowboys improved to 14th in pass defence last week, but also fell to dead last against the run after being trampled by Derrick Henry for 151 yards a week after allowing Alvin Kamara rush for 115 yards. They currently are looking mighty soft in the middle.

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The thing is, Devin Singletary is no Henry or Kamara and, while Jones has a 4/0 TD-to-interception ratio in the past two games, he’s still Jones. Micah Parsons will do what Myles Garrett and his sore feet couldn’t by forcing Danny Dimes into a costly turnover or two.

It has been a crazy first three weeks. Large Survivor Pools are down to their final few players or already are over because of the seven games in which the spread was -6.5 or bigger, the underdog WON OUTRIGHT six times, while dogs have either covered or pushed in 12 of 13 games with a spread of -6 or greater.

Just remember, at some point, sanity will be restored. Does a Dallas loss here prompt Jerry Jones into giving Mike McCarthy a pink slip and Bill Belichick a phone call? We will never know.

TAKING: DALLAS -5.5

(O/U: 45): Cowboys 27, Giants 20

Dan Bilicki’s pick: Giants +5.5

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