The New York Giants (2-6) and Dallas Cowboys (4-3) will square off on Sunday in a Week 9 matchup.
The Giants opened the week as 7.5-point home underdogs, and the spread hasn’t changed.
With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Cowboys Wire managing editor KD Drummond.
Giants Wire: In Week 1, I called Dak Prescott a “game manager” and was raked over the coals by angry Cowboys fans. Since then however, “game manager” has become a common term thrown around in relation to Dak, and his lack of “aggressive pass plays” would seem to provide that theory some substance. Do you still believe there is more to Prescott than that or have we all settled on the reality that he’s a game manager?
KD Drummond: To quote the legendary rite-of-passage cinematic staple “The Princess Bride,” you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Aggressive pass plays? Prescott ranks 1st in QBR, which is based on Expected Points Added. He’s 2nd, barely, in Completion Percentage Above Expectation (CPOE), which answers if a quarterback performing better or worse than expectations relative to the difficulty of their throws. He’s 7th in the percentage of his passes that are 20 yards or more downfield, 9th in deep attempts and 8th in passer rating on deep passes. If calling Dak a game manager has become commonplace in your circles, you’re living in an I-don’t-watch-football Venn diagram from hell.
(It may be important to note that the lack of Prescott’s aggressive pass plays was an analytic we acquired by reading Cowboys Wire. Seems like the authors may have conflicting views on things.)
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Prior to a Week 7 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, things appeared to be going downhill fast. Rumblings had begun that perhaps Jason Garrett could be shown the door, but all of that was immediately vanquished following that win going into the bye week. Had Dallas lost that game, do you believe major changes would have come down the pipeline?
There was not a single chance that Garrett was going to be fired if they had lost that game. The Joneses do not like firing coaches midseason and furthermore, who would they have turned to? DC Rod Marinelli went 0-16 as a head coach in Detroit. Kris Richard, the de facto DC, hasn’t had the most favorable performance this year. OC Kellen Moore has been calling plays for seven games and a coach in general for just 25. They’ve committed to giving Garrett one last chance; he’s family to them. This is his season, no matter what.
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The last time the Cowboys were in MetLife Stadium, they suffered an ugly defeat at the hands of the New York Jets, who are battling the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals for the title of worst team in the NFL. What in the world went wrong in that game, leading to what may end up being Gang Green’s only win of the entire season?
It’s unexplainable, really. The team wasn’t prepared to play at all. One interesting thing that came out of that game was Prescott, being the great leader that he is, called out his teammates for not preparing during the week as they should have. They took the Jets lightly, the Jets were pumped to get their quarterback back, and they jumped out with an impressive performance. It’s likely going to cost Dallas a shot at a bye in the playoffs. It was unforgivable.
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Recently, Dallas acquired the disgruntled Michael Bennett from the Patriots, who had been suspended him for conduct detrimental to the team. Bennett has a long history of selfish and, at times, erratic behavior. Do you believe his on-field prowess makes him worthy of the headaches? And what can we expect from him during the national anthem given that Jerry Jones (and Jason Garrett) have made it abundantly clear that they want their players to stand?
Bennett played his best under Richard, and that’s really the expectation for what he will be in Dallas. He is among the league leaders in QB hits over the last three seasons and in limited action for the Patriots still had 2.5 sacks. That’s the expectation for what Dallas is getting. The rest is irrelevant noise, including caring about whether or not a grown man decides he wants to stand for the national anthem.
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We “stole” linebacker Jaylon Smith in our weekly “Gimme Him” segment, but made note that he hasn’t been playing up to the standard we all expect in 2019. What can you attribute to some of Smith’s sporadic struggles so far this season, and are they more like an exception to the rule or the new rule for the 24-year-old Notre Dame product?
The team never let on, but Smith was clearly hobbled early in the season and not running at 100%. His pursuit was horrible. Since, he’s been better, but still not up to what he was last year. Both he and Leighton Vander Esch have had flashes of greatness, but both lack the consistency they played with in 2018. It’s a concern, to be sure, even with linebackers being just the third-most important unit of the defense.
Make sure you check out KD Drummond for all of your Cowboys needs over at Cowboys Wire.
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