The New York Giants travel to Big D to face their division rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, in their 2019 regular season opener.
Here are six things to know heading into the game.
The teams have been meeting since 1960
This will be the 114th regular-season game between the teams since the Cowboys came into the league in 1960 with former Giants defensive coordinator Tom Landry as head coach. The Cowboys dominated the Giants for the better part of the next two decades and still lead the series, 66-45-2. The Giants are 20-36-1 in Dallas. This will be the seventh time the Giants will serve as the opponent for the Cowboys’ home opener since AT&T Stadium opened in 2009. Dallas won four of those six games.
Zeke is back. What does that mean?
All-Pro running back Ezekiel Elliott has come back into the fold, ending his contract dispute in time to face the Giants this week. The Cowboys are 28-12 with Elliott in the lineup and 4-4 without him. They are 2-2 with Elliott against the Giants since Elliott came into the league in 2016.
Is this Eli’s swan song versus Dallas?
Eli Manning has been the Giants’ starting quarterback since 2004 and is entering his record 16th season in blue. His Giants’ career could be sunsetting after this season as top draft pick Daniel Jones waits in the wings. Manning has played 29 games versus Dallas in his career and has a 13-16 record. He’s thrown for 7,254 yards with 52 touchdowns and 29 interceptions, completing 62.31% of his passes and has a QB rating of 89.4. He’s won the only playoff game he’s played versus them and also has beaten them in several other big games along the way, including the inaugural game at AT&T in 2009.
The Cowboys are ball hawks
Dallas led the NFL with 11 takeaways in the preseason, the most in the NFL. It is also the most by a Cowboys defense in the preseason since stats started being tracked back in 2000. In the preseason, the Giants threw three interceptions and fumbled eight times, losing four. Two of those lost fumbles were committed by rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, who doesn’t figure to play in this game.
Stopping Saquon
Last season as a rookie, Giants running back Saquon Barkley rushed for 28 yards on 11 attempts in his first action against Dallas in the Giants’ Week 2 20-13 loss to the Cowboys. He obviously gained momentum as the season went on. In the Giants’ season finale versus Dallas, Barkley gained 109 yards on 17 attempts. Barkley will look to build on that success. He’s aiming for his sixth consecutive 100-yard rushing day against an NFC opponent.
FOX made this their featured game of the week
Of course, when you look at the Week 1 slate of games in the NFL, there are several attractive matchups. The Bears and Packers, who have the longest-running rivalry in the league, will play the kickoff game on Thursday night to commemorate the NFL’s 100th anniversary. On Sunday night, the six-time Super Bowl champion Patriots face off against the league’s only other franchise with six Super Bowl wins — the Steelers.
The Giants-Cowboys game is third on the slate and FOX — to the delight of Giant fans — will deploy their top broadcasting team (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews) to cover the action and provide agita to everyone here in the Northeast.
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