DOWN X DOWN › week 1 › Cowboys at Giants
Updated Nov 2, 5:48 PM ET
2026

Week 1 · Sunday 8:20 PM ET · MetLife Stadium

NYGvsDAL

Giants offensevsCowboys defense

Season numbers through Week 8: 7 games for Giants, 8 for Cowboys. Ranks are out of 32; #1 is the best offense or the stingiest defense.

How it played out · win probability, snap by snapFinal · DAL 20 · NYG 28

The Giants won 28–20; their low point was 38% at Q1 14:54. The Cowboys had been 61% favorites at kickoff. The game turned for good at Q2 0:40: J.Dart pass deep left to M.Nabers ran ob at DAL 38 for 16 yards (45% → 54%). The biggest single swing came at Q2 0:25, 13 points for the Giants.

At kickoffDAL 61%DAL by 3 on the line
NYG low point38%Q1 14:54 · tied 0⁠–⁠0
Swings past 50%9times the favorite changed
Biggest swing13 ptsNYG · Q2 0:25
NYG wins50%DAL wins
Q1Q2Q3Q4

The plays that swung it

  1. 1Q2 0:25NYGJ.Dart pass short right to I.Likely for 15 yards, TOUCHDOWN.56% → 69%+13
  2. 2Q2 9:57DALD.Prescott pass incomplete deep right to G.Pickens (G.Newsome) [B.Burns]. PENALTY on NYG-G.Newsome, Defensive Pass Interference, 38 yards,…34% → 45%+11
  3. 3Q1 9:38NYGJ.Dart left end ran ob at DAL 37 for 22 yards (D.Overshown). PENALTY on DAL-D.Overshown, Unnecessary Roughness, 15 yards, enforced at DAL 37.46% → 56%+11
  4. 4Q2 0:58NYGD.Prescott pass deep right INTERCEPTED by J.Holland at NYG 45. J.Holland ran ob at NYG 45 for no gain.40% → 50%+10
  5. 5Q2 2:00DALT.Tracy left end to DAL 21 for 8 yards (Q.Williams). FUMBLES (Q.Williams), RECOVERED by DAL-S.Revel at DAL 19. S.Revel to DAL 16 for -3 yards…49% → 58%+9
  6. ★Q2 0:40NYGJ.Dart pass deep left to M.Nabers ran ob at DAL 38 for 16 yards.turning point45% → 54%+9

Win probability is nflverse's model, which starts from the betting line and updates before every snap with the score, the clock, down, distance, field position and timeouts. A swing is the change in one team's chance across a play, in percentage points. The turning point is the play after which the winner never fell to 50% again.

Box score · every offensive player who touched the ballWeek 1

D.Prescott led the Cowboys at +11.3 EPA (22 of 34 for 175). J.Dart led the Giants at +25.6 EPA (23 of 29 for 230).

DAL Cowboys

PassingC/AYdsTDINTSkEPA
D.Prescott100%22/3417521+10.4
RushingCarShareYdsTDEPA
J.Williams71%1267%411+1.4
D.Prescott100%211%14+0.9
E.Demercado9%211%7-0.3
C.Lamb81%16%0-0.8
H.Luepke26%16%7-0.1
ReceivingTgtShareRecYdsTDEPA
C.Lamb81%827%5441+5.6
G.Pickens84%620%328+0.6
J.Williams71%517%5311+1.6
R.Flournoy71%413%222+2.5
J.Ferguson76%27%26-0.2
B.Spann-Ford22%27%214+0.5
K.Turpin14%13%18+0.9
L.Schoonmaker22%13%112+0.9
J.Mingo19%13%110+1.0

Defense C.Downs 1 sack, J.Bullard 0.5 sacks, D.Ezeiruaku 0.5 sacks

NYG Giants

PassingC/AYdsTDINTSkEPA
J.Dart100%23/2923032+21.9
RushingCarShareYdsTDEPA
C.Skattebo61%1849%811-0.7
J.Dart100%1130%54+3.7
D.Singletary36%616%16-1.0
T.Jr.3%25%14-2.7
ReceivingTgtShareRecYdsTDEPA
M.Nabers52%931%669+5.0
I.Likely49%828%8782+11.0
D.Singletary36%414%4221+3.5
M.Fields72%414%225+0.5
D.Mooney57%27%227+2.4
P.Ricard54%13%00-0.5
T.Johnson46%13%19+0.9

Defense J.Holland 1 INT

Each player's line for this game from nflverse's weekly stats; the percentage beside his name is his share of the offense's snaps. Share is his part of the team's carries or targets in this game. Defense lists sacks and interceptions; kicking lists field goals.

Keys to the game · from the season numbers, not this game alone4 reads
01
Biggest edge

Third downs favor Giants

Giants convert 43% of third downs (12th). Cowboys allow 53% (31st).

02
Opportunity

Short middle is open

Cowboys are worst against short middle throws, allowing +0.59 EPA per attempt. Giants send 19% of their throws there.

03
Watch out

Checkdowns go nowhere

Cowboys give up 27 yards a game to running backs (10th), against a league average of 32. Giants' running backs produce 27 (21st).

04
Wash

Explosive play rate

Call this one even. Giants create explosive plays on 9% of snaps (20th). Cowboys give them up at 11% (27th).

The series · Cowboys and Giants since 1999, and this season's records56 meetings

The Cowboys lead the series 32–24 since 1999. The Giants have won the last 2. This game is the latest meeting.

Cowboys at home18–10the Cowboys' record
In New York14–14the Cowboys' record
Most pointsCowboys 49 · Giants 412023 · 2010
Biggest winCowboys by 40 · Giants by 302023 · 2002
Playoffs0–1the Cowboys' record

The last 5

2026 · Wk 1DAL 20 at NYG 28
2025 · Wk 18DAL 17 at NYG 34
2025 · Wk 2 · OTNYG 37 at DAL 40
2024 · Wk 13NYG 20 at DAL 27
2024 · Wk 4DAL 20 at NYG 15

2026 records

CowboysGiants
Overall3–54–2–1
Division2–11–0–1
Conference2–42–2–1
Other conference1–12–0
Home1–33–1
Away2–21–1–1
Last 5WLLWLWWTLW
StreakLost 1Won 1
Points a game27.4 – 26.623.3 – 23.0

Every meeting since 1999, regular season and playoffs, from nflverse's game list, which starts in 1999; the all-time series goes back further. Franchises that moved count as one team (the Raiders, Chargers and Rams). Home and away are from the Cowboys' side. Records are this regular season.

Head to head · NYG offense against DAL defense
StatNYG NYG offFavors NYG · Favors DALDAL DAL def allowsNFL avg
Overall
EPA per play
+0.01#16
+0.13#31+0.00
Success rate
42%#20
46%#2844%
Yards per play
5.4#18
6.1#305.4
Explosive play rate
9%#20
11%#279%
Passing
Pass EPA per dropback
+0.05#17
+0.21#30+0.03
Sack rate
8%#25
6%#257%
Running
Run EPA per carry
-0.08#17
-0.01#29-0.08
Yards per carry
4.0#17
5.1#314.1
Money downs
3rd down conversion
43%#12
53%#3141%
Red zone TD rate
67%#11
70%#2661%
Targets by position
WR yards per game
147#16
164#26147
TE yards per game
68#5
53#1655
TE targets per game
10.4#3
7.1#147.6
RB receiving yards per game
27#21
27#1032
Where the ball goes · EPA per throwDeep is 15+ air yds

Giants: EPA per throw

Left
Middle
Right
Deep
+1.118% of throws
-0.276% of throws
+0.199% of throws
Short
-0.0332% of throws
+0.3219% of throws
+0.1827% of throws

Cowboys: EPA allowed per throw

Left
Middle
Right
Deep
+0.2622 throws
+1.248 throws
+0.4325 throws
Short
+0.2072 throws
+0.5941 throws
+0.1689 throws

Green gains more than expected, red loses value. Cells with fewer than 5 throws are grayed out.