FRISCO, Texas – Wait a minute. Hold on a sec.
Did I hear this right, from somewhere, that Sunday's game against the New York Giants, noon at AT&T Stadium, is being portrayed as a "trap game" for the Dallas Cowboys?
Say what?
A "trap" what? A "trap game!"
Seriously?
Are we talkin' about the same Cowboys team, the one sitting 0-1 after dropping the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles a week ago Thursday night? The same one finishing the 2024 season with a 7-10 record, having lost three of the final five games down the stretch?
That team?
Now look, understand the Giants come in equally 0-1, having lost their opener to the homestanding Commanders, but just 21-6. And don't forget those Giants were on the verge, 11 snaps from the Washington 8-yard line and only coming away with one field goal. That close.
Understand the Cowboys have beaten the Giants 15 of the past 16 games with that one loss coming in the final game of the horrid 6-10 season during COVID-affected 2020, and Dak Prescott didn't play in that game. Understand Dak has beaten the Giants 13 consecutive times, his only two defeats by them occurring back in his rookie season of 2016 when losing just by 20-19 in his NFL debut and 10-7 later in the season.
But this is 2025. This is this team. This team has never beaten the Giants, not even the facsimile of last year when two of the Cowboys' seven wins were over New York. This team has a new head coach, three new coordinators and 11 new starters.
Shame on them if for some unreasonable reason these Cowboys are overlooking an NFC East member that Dallas has beaten by just eight points or less in seven of the aforementioned 15 victories since 2017.
Adding to the game-day intrigue is this sudden problem at cornerback gurgling up. Starter DaRon Bland, arguably the best cornerback on the team, having suffered a foot injury in Monday's practice, now expected to miss multiple games. Here is what that means:
The Cowboys will be without four of their top six cornerbacks, counting Bland, Caelen Carson and Josh Butler, who are both on injured reserve, and rookie Shavon Revel on the non-football injury list. That leaves just Trevon Diggs, and he just ramping up following his knee-surgery rehab, and Kaiir Elam in his first season with the team.
"You're always juggling," head coach Brian Schottemnheimer qualified.
So here comes some juggling. Look for two more newcomers to be active: Reddy Steward and Trikweze Bridges. Steward will likely be the starter in the slot on the nickel defense with Diggs needing to play more, and Elam on the outside, backed up by Bridges. And there's a good chance practice squad corner Zion Childress is elevated on Sunday.
"He'll play some more," Schottenheimer said of Diggs, who played just 27 snaps in the opener, mostly on the nickel. "A full game, we'll see."
Sense any "trap" in any of that?
And let's point this out, too. This year, and at least for now, the Giants come in with veteran Russell Wilson starting at quarterback, not the departed Daniel Jones or Drew Lock of last season against the Cowboys.
Now, Schottenheimer's familiarity with Wilson is a good thing. Schotty was the Seattle offensive coordinator for three years with Wilson (2018-20) when the Seahawks went 33-15, finishing second in the NFC West twice and winning the darn thing at 12-4 in 2020. During those three seasons, Wilson combined for 106 touchdown passes and 25 interceptions under Schottenheimer's guidance, with three 100-plus QB ratings and three top-10 offensive rankings.
Can you at least say R-E-S-P-E-C-T?
From the looks of things, Wilson, on his third team in four seasons, doesn't appear to be playing at that Seattle level of five years ago. But bet stuck in Schottenheimer's brain is those three seasons, not what Wilson did with the Broncos in 2022-23 when finishing with an 11-19 starting record or Pittsburgh last year at 6-5.
"One of the greatest deep-ball throwers I've ever been around," Schottenheimer said of his memories from those three years. "This guy's ability to just drop the ball in the bucket, put the perfect amount of air to the receiver, the ability to extend plays when I was with him was incredible.
"He was a great improvisor, and that's what our game has become. Sitting around watching the game (Sunday night), watching Lamar (Jackson] and Josh (Allen) play, man, if you can't move around and make plays in this league, you're outgunned a little bit."
The Dallas defense in the opener had to have learned a lesson about rush discipline. Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts ran circles around the Cowboys, ending up the game's leading rusher with 14 carries for 62 yards and two rushing touchdowns. The majority of those carries were scrambles out of the pocket when unable to locate an open receiver or while under duress to prevent a sack.
Well, guess who the Giants' leading rusher was in their 21-6 loss to Washington. Yep, Wilson, eight carries for 44 yards, and those were all scrambles while under duress.
"Our first goal must be to stop him from running," newcomer Kenny Clark said. "The defense has got to be more sound in our rush lanes."
I'll say.
Then the Cowboys must respect the threat the Giants can pose with their own pass rush. They arrive with three first-round draft choices on their defensive front: defensive ends Kavon Thibodeaux and most recently Abdul Carter, along with defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. And don't forget Brian Burns, the outside LB/DE now in his second season with the Giants.
While the Cowboys offensive line pitched a sack shutout against the Eagles, this Giants front is a formidable threat.
"Explosiveness, speed, talent, they really got an excellent front," Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said. "Obviously, Dexter Lawrence has been kind of a stabilizing piece in the middle for them for such a long time. They all do a really nice job on first and second down, and when third down comes around, they are impressive as well."
Also complicating prep for this game is realizing the possibility that at any sign of Wilson struggling, the Giants might turn to rookie first-round draft choice Jaxson Dart, who was impressive during the preseason. They reportedly have a package they could have utilized in the opener, so better be prepared for the rookie potentially slinging the ball around.
Nothing comes easy in the NFC East, no matter which of the three you're facing, Eagles, Giants or Commanders, who by the way certainly came back to Earth Thursday night in Green Bay, getting spanked, 27-18, by the Packers (2-0) in a game that never seemed that close. And if watching, the Cowboys should have learned a pass-rush lesson or three about the value of gap integrity when facing a mobile quarterback.
The Packers, with the help of Micah Parsons, held Jayden Daniels to the lowest point output of his young NFL career. Washington also accumulated the fewest total yards (230), yards per play (3.5), rushing yards (51) and first downs (15) in Daniels' career. On top of that, the Commanders only converted five of 15 third downs (31.3 percent).
Unlike the Cowboys against Philly, who allowed the equally mobile Hurts to run for those 62 yards (really 65 if we subtract his three game-ending minus-1 kneel downs), two touchdowns and convert five third downs with his legs, the Packers held Daniels to 17 yards on seven carries, sacked him four times and registered 12 QB hits.
Better not let Wilson out of that pocket jail.
Better not take beating the Giants for granted. Precedents don't matter.
Or as Dak Prescott said when home-field advantage was mentioned, "Hope to keep that going … build on the good we did last week. But we got to finish out with a win."
Meaning, for this young team, there is no cheese in that "trap."
