Brett's Cowboys Corner

The Dallas Cowboys will have their home opener at AT&T Stadium tomorrow against their division rival, the New York Giants. The Giants and Cowboys will be facing off in Week 2 for the 15th time in matchup history. That makes it the most common Week 2 matchup in the NFL since the Cowboys entered the NFL in 1960.

The Cowboys will look to build off a solid performance 10 days ago against Philadelphia. The game didn’t end how they wanted it to and they will look to have a statement win against New York.

The interesting matchup is Russell Wilson playing against his former coordinator, Cowboys HC Brian Schottenheimer. Schotty coordinated the Seattle Seahawks offense for three seasons.

“Yeah, I think that’s the fun part of the chess match that we love so much as coaches and players, and why you look forward to playing against your friends,” Schottenheimer told the media.

One other familiar friend of Wilson is the Cowboys defensive passing game coordinator, Andre Curtis. His tenure ended the same time as Wilson but he spent 10 seasons coordinating practices to go against the pro bowl QB.

DALLAS	PHILADELPHIA
Tyler Booker: Will have his first test against an NFL All-Pro. Needs to hold up for the Dallas run game.	Dexter Lawrence: A game wrecker in the middle, will try to make it very hard for Dallas offense.
Reddy Steward: Will see a majority of snaps as the nickel corner in place of injured DaRon Bland. Only 18 career defensive snaps	Tyrone Tracy Jr: Needing a bounce back game and needs to show that the Giants offense doesn’t have to be one dimensional.
George Pickens: Looking to have a big performance, first game at AT&T Stadium as a Cowboy.	Russell Wilson: The one true x-factor, Wilson needs to show a veteran QB performance and channel 2015.

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The Keys to Victory-

1 – Generate Pressure.

Russell Wilson was pressured on 48.9% of his dropbacks despite recording an average time to throw of 2.69 seconds in Week 1 against the Commanders. On his pressured snaps, he only threw five completions. Three were short dump-offs. One was a redzone first down to the tightend and the last was a 21-yard prayer to Malik Nabers.

Generating pressure also means keeping the quarterback contained. The Cowboys struggled with this last week, allowing Hurts to scramble and pick up critical yardage. Believe it or not, Wilson can still move around. He scrambled four times against pressure last week and was able to pick up some yards, including a 15-yard run.

This Giants offensive line is a great opportunity to build confidence in your defensive line room. Without starting left tackle Andrew Thomas, they are not something to be worried about.

2 – Open Up The Offense.

This week may be a bit more challenging to run. But luckily, the Giants aren’t fielding anything great at cornerback. This game should allow for the Cowboys offense to get a little more creative and allow Ceedee Lamb a chance of redemption.

In Week 1 against the Eagles, Prescott targeted six different receivers that ran vertical routes but completed just 2 of 8 total attempts for 48 yards. George Pickens had four targets against Philly, this will be an opportunity to get him the ball and maybe downfield. Pickens gained 547 yards on vertical routes last season, the 2nd-most in the NFL, trailing only Justin Jefferson (649).

We have seen this new age offense a little bit, a lot more motion. The Cowboys offense utilized motion at the snap on 41.8% of snaps in Week 1 against the Eagles, their highest rate in a game since Week 12, 2023 (vs Commanders, 44.0%). Hopefully we will see more of it Sunday and see if it can create openness among receivers.

3 – Offensive Line Must Win.

With the likes of Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns and rookie Abdul Carter the Giants defensive line is a legit front to be worried about. The Cowboys will need to see their rookie Tyler Booker have a solid matchup this week against the two-time all-pro Lawrence. Booker avoided the matchup against Jalen Carter last week and only allowed two pressures on 34 pass blocking snaps.

Lawrence is a problem for many teams, he is often doubled teamed but still overcomes that double and generates pressure. Last year, he managed to generate 14 total pressures when facing a double-team, tied for the 5th-most in the NFL.

Giants rookie Abdul Carter generated a team-high 3 pressures (including 2 quick pressures) across 25 pass rushes in his NFL debut against the Commanders in Week 1. Most of Carter’s snaps occurred on third down as he played on 9 of 11 snaps (81.8%) compared to just 26 of 54 snaps on early downs (48.1%).

Carter had a quick sack on Jayden Daniels in week one that felt like it took half a second. I would be worried about the matchup against Tyler Guyton and his problems with giving up those quick sacks as he did a few times last season.

4 – Limit Nabers.

Here’s the sole weapon of the New York offense. He will have a primary matchup against Trevon Diggs Sunday. But we see Nabers move around the field in presnap motion often.

Last season, Nabers gained 415 total scrimmage yards on plays he was used in motion, the 3rd-most in the NFL. The Cowboys defense allowed the 10th-most yards per touch (8.1) while the Eberflus-led Bears defense allowed the 3rd-most yards per touch (9.2) to players used in motion last season.

In Week 4 against the Giants last season, Diggs lined up against up against Malik Nabers on 21 of his 38 routes (55.3%) and pressed him on 11 of 21 routes (52.4%). Diggs managed to limit Nabers as he forced 2 tight windows and allowed 2 receptions for 16 yards across 4 targets faced as the nearest defender.

The easiest way to stunt the Giants offense is to keep Nabers away from the ball. But there will be a lot of contested moments and a lot of designs to get Nabers the ball. This is the only way of victory for the Giants.

I think this game will be very telling for the Cowboys. The home opener, but ultimately a way to separate yourself from the idea that you are a 3rd place in the division 9-win team. A 24-21 win is unacceptable, this needs to be a 2023 style game.