Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants Schedule & Predictions: Cowboys Look to Take NFC East Lead
The Dallas Cowboys, looking to keep pace with the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles, battle the New York Giants this Sunday.
The Giants are trying to recover from last week's 27-0 thrashing they suffered at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on "Sunday Night Football."
The Cowboys are coming off a huge road victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, with Dallas RB DeMarco Murray having a huge day by running all over the Seahawks for 115 yards, including a 15-yard rush play for the game-winning touchdown to defeat the Seahawks 30-23 at CenturyLink Field. Murray currently leads the league in rushing (785 yards -- 243 more yards than Pittsburgh Steelers Le'Veon Bell's second-best total) and touchdowns (6) while averaging 130.8 yards a game.
"I'm just concentrating on doing my job so I can help this team win," said Murray, who has a league high 159 carries this season -- 43 more carries than Philadelphia Eagles RB LeSean McCoy. "Whatever they ask me to do, like I've said, I'm going to do it to the best of my ability."
With Murray carrying the offensive load, it has made Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo's life a lot easier. After a rough start to the season, throwing three interceptions against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, Romo has completed 68.6 percent of his passes for the season and 11 touchdowns for the year.
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"We've had good running games in the past before, probably not as many in a row -- but my job is to obviously get us into good plays and get the ball to DeMarco and run the ball to the right looks," said Romo. "On third down, the running game doesn't help you as much -- you've got to go out and execute it."
The Cowboys defense looked good against the Seahawks, holding Seattle RB Marshawn Lynch to 61 yards and quarterback Russell Wilson to 126 yards and a late pick by Cowboys LB Rolando McClain. Dallas defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli credits the Cowboys secondary in helping the defense shut down Wilson.
"We had a good, solid rush. But the secondary was great," said Marinelli. We did a really good job of covering on the back line. That's a really good offense but we did a great job of being disciplined. That's what we talked about all week."
The Giants are hoping to recover from the thumping they received from Philadelphia in a game that saw WR Victor Cruz go down for the year after suffering a torn right patellar tendon injury. The Giants are hoping that rookie Odell Beckham Jr. and Rueben Randle can step up in Cruz's absence. Beckham has caught six passes for 72 yards and a touchdown this season since missing the start of the season with a hamstring injury.
"Odell, he's had two good weeks and he's done a lot of good things," said Giants QB Eli Manning. "He's made a lot of plays and run good routes and done all of the right things. I've got confidence in him. He has the ability to make some plays for us."
The Giants' offense has struggled since Rashad Jennings, ninth in the the league in rushing, went down with an injury after spraining his MCL two weeks ago; Jennings is out against the Cowboys this week. Jennings ran for 286 of his 396 yards during Weeks 3 through 5, coinciding with the Giants' three-game winning streak.
The Giants offensive line has also been a disaster, allowing six sacks and seven hits on their quarterback.
"I always say football is a humbling game," said Giants offensive tackle Justin Pugh. "You have to be able to bounce back."
Schedule, How to Watch
The Dallas Cowboys take on the New York Giants 4:25 p.m. EST Sunday on FOX. Live stream coverage of the game can be seen here.
Predictions
Manning is 4-1 at AT&T Stadium, but without Jennings to bolster the running the game and move the chains to give the Giants' defense a chance to rest, it is hard to go against the hot team that has won five in a row. Murray is having an MVP year, which gives Romo an opportunity to make less mistakes since he is throwing the ball less while still keeping the offense moving. Expect the Cowboys to win their sixth game in a row, keep up with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East standings.
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