The New York Giants are still in the playoff hunt. With a Giants win over the Dallas Cowboys and an Eagles win over the Washington Football Team, the Giants will make their first playoff appearance since 2016.
First and foremost, the Giants need to beat the Cowboys. A loss against Dallas would officially eliminate the Giants from playoff contention. But if the Giants want to beat Dallas and go to the postseason, they need their defense to step up in a major way.
The Giants’ offense has struggled to put points on the board all season long. New York has only topped 30 points in a game once this season (their Week 5 loss to the Cowboys). The Giants’ offense also averages the least amount of points per game, averaging only 17.1 points.
The Giants’ offense has been particularly bad over the last three weeks. During their current three-game losing streak, the Giants have scored a total of 26 points, an average of 8.6 points per game. Dallas on the other hand has lit up the scoreboard over the last three weeks.
Dallas Cowboys offense
The Dallas Cowboys are on a three-game winning streak in which their offense has exploded and propelled them to consecutive victories. The Andy Dalton-led Dallas Cowboys are putting points on the board with ease. Over their last three games, the Cowboys have topped 30 points in each game. Dallas’s offense is averaging 36 points during this winning streak.
This incredible offensive display by Dallas is not exclusive to this three-game winning streak. The Cowboys have been scoring a high volume of points all season long.
If the New York Giants want to win this game, they absolutely have to contain the Dallas Cowboys’ offense and hold them to under 30 points (ideally under 20, given the state of the Giants’ offense). The Cowboys have scored 30 or more points in every single win this season. They have topped 30 points in eight of their fifteen games this season.
The Cowboys are averaging 25.1 points per game this season. The Giants, though, do have one of the better defenses in the NFL. New York has allowed opposing offenses to average only 22.5 points per game this season (tenth-best in the NFL). The Giants have held opposing teams to 20 or fewer points in eight games this season. Keeping Dallas’s offense under the 20-point threshold will go along way toward winning this crucial Week 17 matchup.