Add The New York Post on Google An inside look at Sunday’s Giants-Cowboys NFL Week 1 matchup at MetLife Stadium:
Cowboys WRs George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb vs. Giants CBs Greg Newsome II and Deonte Banks
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Pickens is coming off a sensational debut season in Dallas (93 receptions, 1,429 yards, 9 TDs) and Lamb in a “down’’ year had 75 receptions for 1,077 yards and three TDs.
Newsome, a former first-round pick of the Bears, is making his Giants debut.
That Banks — the Giants’ 2023 first-round pick — beat out Paulson Adebo is great for Banks but an indictment of Adebo. It will be some story if Banks actually resurrects his flailing career.
Second time around: Sometimes it almost sounds as if it is some mystical force.
That is how “second-year quarterback’’ anticipation is characterized. Rookie season, begone!
Jaxson Dart USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect A light switch is flicked and the youngster is supposed to be noticeably improved.
Will that be the case with 23-year old Jaxson Dart, a 12-game starter in 2025 as he experiences his first opening day as the No. 1 guy?
“I mean, I feel like I’m not even the same person at all,’’ he said. “Obviously, the growth that you make from the experiences that you have from one year to the next. And I just feel like I’ve grown a ton through this offseason. So, I feel comfortable. I feel like I’m seeing things really well. And this is going to be a really good test for our team.’’
Reversal of fortune: It used to be that the Dallas offensive line was an impenetrable wall that Giants defenders were unable to breach.
The Cowboys lost Pro Bowl left guard Tyler Smith to a thumb injury, and although T.J. Bass is a workable replacement but he is not on Smith’s level.
Right tackle Terence Steele allowed an NFL-high 52 pressures last season. Third-year Tyler Guyton won the left tackle job early in training camp.
This should be an opportunity for pass rushers Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux (with some Arvell Reese sprinkled in) to make their mark.
Dak attack: It rolls off the tongue or fits neatly into a paragraph and yet as an achievement, it is nearly unmatched.
Dak Prescott’s consecutive-game winning streak against the Giants, from 2017-26, rose to 14 games.
That is quite a stretch of dominance and, as it turns out, the second-longest streak for a quarterback against a single opponent.
Dak Prescott Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Bob Griese won 17 straight games over the Bills from 1968-79. Tom Brady (13 consecutive victories over the Bills from 2003-10) and Steve Young (13 straight over the Rams from 1987-89) are right behind Prescott’s streak.
Better to receive: The last time Malik Nabers took the field to face the Cowboys he torched them for nine receptions for 167 yards and two touchdowns.
That was the second game of last season, and two weeks later Nabers went down with a torn ACL.
Nabers is listed as questionable to play in this game.
Another former LSU wideout, 33-year old Odell Beckham Jr., earned his way onto the roster and this comeback with the team that selected him in the first round of the 2014 draft is a storyteller’s dream.
“Not too many people get a chance to have this kind of story written up, and I just want to take advantage of that,’’ Beckham said. “Just live in the moment.’’
The Cowboys last season had a superior offense and an inferior defense, and finished below .500.
Their defense should be markedly better, and that makes them a contender. Jaxson Dart trying to master a brand-new playbook could lead to some early growing pains.
Let’s see how long the Giants can keep the joint jumping.
