Monday Night Football Preview: New York Giants vs Dallas Cowboys

The surprising 2-0 New York Giants host their division rival Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football in Week 3. The Cowboys swept the Giants in 2021, but that was with quarterback Dak Prescott at the helm. If they want to continue the trend in 2022, they'll need to do it with Cooper Rush starting while Prescott recuperates from a thumb injury. The Cowboys are only 1-point underdogs to travel to New York and steal a win.

The New York Giants may be the most surprising undefeated team through two weeks of the NFL regular season. Both games were upsets won by the narrowest of margins. First, they defeated the Tennessee Titans 21-20 in Week 1. Then they topped the Carolina Panthers 19-16 in Week 2. If the Giants have a strength this year, it's the resurgent play of star running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley led the NFL in rushing over the first two games of the season with 236 yards, and his 6.1 yards per attempt were similarly eye-popping. But without question, the Giants have been a middling offense this year: they rank 22nd in yards gained, and their 5.0 net yards per passing attempt ranks 30th. Quarterback Daniel Jones has limited massive mistakes, but he simply isn't chaining positive plays together at the rate the Giants need. If he doesn't improve, 2022 could be his last year as a starter in New York.

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Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys are simply looking to stay afloat while their quarterback Dak Prescott recovers from a hand injury suffered in the team's Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team got off to a wonderful start in Week 2, edging out a close 20-17 win over the favored Cincinnati Bengals, but they'll need a more complete game from backup quarterback Cooper Rush if they want to pull out a win this week: after putting up 17 points in the first half, the Cowboys managed only a single field goal in the final two quarters, allowing the Bengals to come perilously close to snatching a victory. In a perfect world, Rush could be complimented by a strong run game, but the Cowboys have struggled on the ground despite the presence of star running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard: the team ranks 23rd in rushing yards and 24th in yards per attempt heading into Monday's matchup. Perhaps the only thing that has gone to plan for the Cowboys so far this season is the continued ascendence of linebacker Micah Parsons: the second-year player has tallied four sacks and seven quarterback hits in two games.

The New York Giants host the Dallas Cowboys in the final game of Week 3 on Monday Night Football.