6 keys to victory in Week 13

After last week’s horrid showing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, players criticized the team as playing soft. The tune changed to indicate they meant the team had poor technique, not a lack of effort, but it doesn’t matter what the cause is. Don’t play soft. Go after each play like it’s your last, and put forth 100% effort on every play, every down, every drive, both offense and defense.

If they truly believe it’s technique and not effort, they better have been working on their technique this week at practice.

Regardless of what the players and Daboll are telling the media; you can see their true effort on the field isn’t what it should be. The Giants cannot play soft against a division rival and expect to win, even when it’s the Cowboys.

Malik Nabers is, hands down, the best offensive weapon the Giants have on their roster. There is literally zero reason to wait to get him involved. Use him early and use him often, it is counter-productive to run the offense any other way. Let Tyrone Tracy Jr. establish the ground game, but Nabers should be setting the tone for the entire offense as the top guy on the field.

Last week against the Bucs, the Giants missed an astounding 11 tackles. There’s video evidence of several defensive players running around in the vicinity of the ball carrier and they make no real effort to tackle the opposing player. There’s also plenty of evidence showcasing the 11 times they did try to tackle and failed. You absolutely cannot win games when you miss tackles so consistently, and it’s absolutely the reason the Bucs put up 30 points last week. If you miss a tackle on a guy like CeeDee Lamb, it’s going to be a touchdown. The Giants definitely can’t afford that this week.

Cooper Rush is not Dak Prescott. Prescott is actually a good quarterback who just plays for a bad team. Rush might not be terrible — he did lead them to a win over the Washington Commanders last week — but he’s also not on the same level as Dak. If the Giants can force Rush to beat them, if they can get him off the field, Dallas won’t be able to eat the clock. Pressure him, sack him, force him to make mistakes. That’s how the Giants get the Cowboys’ offense off the field.

It doesn’t matter if Tommy DeVito or Drew Lock is under center this week, and we still don’t know which one it will be yet, but whoever it is has got to get the ball out quickly. There are several injuries along the offensive line, and the Giants will most likely start backups at both tackle positions. In response, the Cowboys’ defensive front will come in hot. They’ll look to burn through those reserves and attack the quarterback, so whoever it is needs to be ready to get rid of the ball, even if it’s to throw it away.

The Giants need to have a member of the secondary glued to Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. He’s their most dangerous offensive weapon and can do more damage than any other player. It doesn’t have to be the same player every play, Deonte Banks, Jason Pinnock, Andru Phillips, and Tyler Nubin are all solid options to cover Lamb. Taking away Lamb as an option for Cooper Rush will go a long way toward getting the Cowboys offense off the field and managing time of possession.