Cowboys at Giants: 3 bold predictions for Thursday’s matchup

The Dallas Cowboys need to get back on track. After two brutal home losses to the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens, the Cowboys have a short week as they prepare for a must-win game against the New York Giants.

Before the two teams square off in what will be a pivotal matchup, here are three bold predictions for Thursday’s contest.

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1) CeeDee Lamb returns to form, recording 10 receptions and scoring two touchdowns
The 2024 season has not gotten off to a great start for CeeDee Lamb. The 25-year-old All-Pro, who signed a four-year contract extension right before the start of the regular season, has been a bit underwhelming in Dallas’ three games so far.

The former first-round pick has recorded 13 catches for 218 yards and a touchdown, which aren’t horrible numbers, but they are a bit underwhelming for how good of a player Lamb is.

Things haven’t just been a bit shaky on the field. Lamb has had some sideline incidents in back-to-back weeks and even acknowledged that letting his emotions get the best of him last week against Baltimore might have hurt the team.

Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb was accountable today in owning that his emotions got the best of him during Sunday’s loss to the Ravens:

“Can’t blame nobody. Got to start with the man in the mirror, and I’m a huge believer in that…I can’t get mad at nobody else. I’ve learned.”…

— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) September 25, 2024

That being said, Lamb is just too good of a player for this to continue. Dallas needs their top offensive weapon to get back on track, and there’s no better time for him to do so than this week against the Giants.

New York will be without two of their top cornerbacks, Dru Phillips and Adoree’ Jackson, this Thursday, giving Lamb the perfect opportunity to have a big bounce-back game. The Giants never seem to contain CeeDee Lamb, which will continue this week. Lamb catches 10 passes and scores two touchdowns, putting the past two weeks in the rearview mirror.

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2) Dallas’ pass rush gets back on track, sacking Daniel Jones six times
In recent history, every time the Cowboys play the Giants their pass rush seems to dominate. For a good portion of those games, the victim of the ferocious Dallas pass rush has been Giants’ signal-caller Daniel Jones.

Jones, who is just 1-7 in his career against the Cowboys, has been sacked by Dallas 24 times in those eight games. Two times, Jones was sacked five or more times in a single game, including Dallas’ seven-sack performance in last year’s season opener.

The Giants’ offensive line has been a bit better this season, but they still have some holes. Pro Football Focus ranks them as the 21st pass-blocking line in football, and in last week’s contest against the Browns three of their starters had a PFF pass block grade below 52.

This bodes well for a Cowboys defense that desperately needs their pass rush to get back on track. On Thursday night Dallas will do just that, as Micah Parsons and company get after Daniel Jones all night long, tying a season-high with six sacks.

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3) Hunter Luepke scores his second NFL touchdown
One positive that came out of last week’s game was the production of Cowboys’ fullback Hunter Luepke. The 24-year-old had the most productive game of his Cowboys’ career, catching two passes for 41 yards.

Luepke ended up playing 30 offensive snaps in the game, by far the highest snap count of his NFL career. It’s clear Mike McCarthy has a plan to use Luepke in the offense, and we’re going to see more of that on Thursday night.

The fullback is once again featured in the passing game, but this time he’ll find the end zone. Luepke scores the second touchdown of his NFL career on a seven-yard pass from Dak Prescott.