What to watch in the Dallas Cowboys matchup against the struggling New York Giants

Everything about Sunday’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants point to another home blowout at AT&T Stadium.

With their top two quarterbacks on injured reserve, the Giants (2-7) are starting undrafted free agent Tommy DeVito.

The Giants and have lost 12 of the last 13 meetings in the series, including five straight with a 40-0 blowout home loss earlier this season.

Dallas has won 11 consecutive games at AT&T Stadium. And the Cowboys seemingly play their best at home, having defeated each of their three previous 2023 opponents at home by 20 or more points.

They are the only team in the NFL the last 15 years to win each of their first three home games by 20-plus points.

And the Cowboys, who lost to 28-25 to the Philadelphia Eagles last week, have a good history of bouncing back.

Since 2021, the Cowboys are 10-1 following a loss.

So don’t assume the Cowboys will overlook the Giants, despite being a 16.5-point favorites.

“We’re definitely mature enough to understand the NFL,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “We understand that those guys prepare and game plan and, to be honest, it’s tough to beat a team twice.”

Edge rusher Micah Parsons said the team has also learned from 28-16 setback to the Arizona Cardinals (1-8) earlier this season.

“Never overlook an opponent,” Parsons said. “We see where that got us this year. We’re staying grounded coming off of a rough loss. This game [now] has a lot more importance to it, and it’s a divisional game.”

The Cowboys also know they have to keep winning to keep up with the Eagles (8-1) in the division.

“For us, it’s about us continuing to grow and for us to get better,” Presscott said. “The only way that happens is for us to go out there and take care of business in the manner that we expect to.”

What to watch in the Cowboys-Giants game (Sunday, 3:25 p.m., FOX):

Will Terence Steele bounce back?

All eyes will be on Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele, who is coming off a horrid outing in the loss to the Eagles.

He gave up 12 pressures and four sacks. The Giants will certainly target Smith to get to quarterback Dak Prescott.

Smith has struggled in his return from a torn ACL that caused him the miss the final four games of last season.

Owner Jerry Jones said the Cowboys remain confident on Steele, but they can give him some help.

“We got a lot of confidence in Steele,” Jones said. “That was a pretty impactful situation we had there with the pressures. But we can do better there. We can do better with help there as well.”

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Steele has a good week of practice. He believes he will play better.

“Like he always does, very consistent,” McCarthy said. “He’s one of our hardest workers. I’ll anticipate he’ll respond Sunday, too. He’s had a good week.”

Steele, who leads the NFL with 28 pressures allowed, admits he is still struggling at times with the knee but he takes full accountability for his play.

But he won’t get down himself.

“It’s just keeping a level head,” Steele said. “Just watching the film, learning from my mistakes. No one is harder on me than myself. It really just came down to me, my fundamentals, just staying true to it. I got a little sloppy there at the end.”

Look for the Cowboys to get Brandin Cooks involved

The Cowboys will continue to feed the ball to receiver CeeDee Lamb, who leads the team with 57 catches for 824 yards, which ranks fifth in the NFL, and is coming back off back-to-back games with than 150 yards.

With 150 receiving yards against the Giants, Lamb would become the sixth player in NFL history and first Cowboys player with 150-plus receiving yards in three consecutive games.

But don’t be the surprised if the Cowboys use the Giants game to get receiver Brandin Cooks more involved in the offense.

Cooks, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the Houston Texans, has been a huge disappointment in terms of numbers and opportunities. He had just one catch on two targets against the Eagles last Sunday.

He is fifth on the team in targets (29), receptions (17) and receiving yards (165).

Cooks is not campaigning for the ball at his point in his career and will continue to trust the process.

“I’m not going down that path,” he said. “Early on in my career, I went down that path and it’s not good for you mentally or the guys that are around you. When I say I trust it, I trust Coach [McCarthy], I trust Dak and I trust the offense. It’s gonna come, and when it comes you’ll know.”

“Being around the game long enough, you get these moments. When I say I’m not frustrated, I’m a veteran and I want to help and contribute, no doubt. But getting frustrated, all that’s going to do is affect your mental and go down a route that you don’t want to go down.”

Cooks plans to stay involved and stay disciplined. The Cowboys will serve themselves well to get Cooks involved early and often against the Giants.

There is also the distinct possibility that the focus on Lamb will open up some opportunities for Cooks on the other side.

“If that happens, best believe three will be ready,” Cooks said with a smile.

Focus on stopping the run and Saquon Barkley

Stopping the run is line one for the Cowboys defense every week as opponents would rather run than face the pass rush led by Parsons.

But that emphasis is more acute on Sunday against the Giants, who will lean heavily on running back Saquon Barkley in hopes of taking the pressure off DeVito, who will start his first game in place of the injured Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor.

The Cowboys want to stuff the run so they can put the game in the hands of a novice quarterback and harass him into mistakes.

The lead the NFL in pressuring opposing quarterbacks at a 45.4% rate, according to NextGen Stats data.

DeVito has played in two games this season has one touchdown pass and two interceptions.