Giants embracing chance to make a Cowboys statement in lopsided rivalry

Welcome, Giants, to this week’s episode of “Did you save your NFL season?”

Behind one of these three doors, you will find a victory Thursday against the Cowboys that doubles the momentum gained Sunday by defeating the Browns, evens your record at 2-2, rejuvenates your starving fans, halts talk of a lopsided rivalry and charts a path to a respectable season.

Be careful, though.

Behind a different door you will find a dose of humiliation similar to that ingested during last season’s 40-0 prime-time home loss against the Cowboys and only validates skeptics’ belief that the complementary combination of four 20-plus-yard gains, eight sacks and smart coaching used to beat the Browns was an aberration.

And, of course, behind the final door is the ho-hum possibility of a non-win, non-blowout loss that suggests another long (but potentially not disastrous) season lies ahead.

“To play meaningful football in December, you have to win the division games,” left tackle Andrew Thomas said. “You try not to look too far forward or too far behind in the past. We get a win, then things look different.”

So, which of these three doors is it going to be?

Can the suddenly upstart Giants really clean the slate by beating the spiraling Cowboys for the just second time in the last 15 meetings?

“It’s a new day,” safety Jason Pinnock said. “With that, my analogy goes toward my big brother: We joke about this all the time. Yeah, he probably beat on me for 12 years, but that 13th I’m going to bust your a–.”

Just eight days ago, the Giants widely were left for dead after opening the season with back-to-back losses in tight-spread games against the Vikings — who knew after Week 1 that they would be 3-0 with wins against the high-expectation 49ers and Texans? — and Commanders.

It felt like an impossibility then that the trajectory of their season could quickly change.

But that turnaround is exactly what could happen if the Giants are able to win on a Thursday for the first time since 2015 and pull off the Sunday-Thursday win combination for the first time since Sept. 21-25, 2014.

“I think it’s a boost, honestly,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said of the short week. “I like it because you don’t have to dwell on the win too much. It’s to the next thing, and that’s what we need.”

What the Giants do not need is a reminder of what happened when the Cowboys visited MetLife Stadium in the 2023 season opener.

The Giants suffered their third-worst shutout loss ever (40-0), lost the sack (7-0) and turnover battles (3-0), and allowed touchdowns on defense, offense (pick-six) and special teams (blocked field goal return).

It set the tone for a disastrous 1-5 start.

“That game was definitely embarrassing. Home opener, that’s a tough way to lose,” Thomas said. “It’s a new season, new team. Even if we won that game, it’s the same mentality.”

If the struggling Cowboys are looking at the Giants as their annual get-right game — quarterback Dak Prescott is 12-0 as a starter in the rivalry since 2017 — this is the rare time that the mirror is double-sided.

The Cowboys are coming off back-to-back losses, teammates Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence were sniping at each other on the bench against the Ravens, the rushing defense (5.4 yards per carry and 185.7 yards per game) ranks last in the NFL and the rushing offense (3.6 yards per carry and 73.7 yards per game) isn’t much better.

Anyone who has seen the Cowboys dominate the Giants on both sides of the line of scrimmage over the last seven seasons might find it hard to believe that they are playing “little league football” in DeMarcus Lawrence’s words.

“I think each individual person is motivated by different things,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “And my main focus is getting ready to play this team — 2024, the team that’s just played these first three games. Different players, different schemes, making sure that we’re prepared.”

Here’s where the similarities pick up: The Giants were booed heavily by their fans before the second-half Cowboys Nation takeover during the 40-0 game — just like they were booed heavily by the home crowd two weeks ago.

Beating the Cowboys would restore some equity.

“Truthfully, it’s more about showing ourselves,” Pinnock said. “Not really trying to prove non-believers wrong. Just trying to prove ourselves and this building and all the ones who believe in us that we are right.”