Giants vs. Cowboys: Picks, predictions from Big Blue View staff

How will the New York Giants do Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys? Here the predictions from your Big Blue View staff writers.

Chris Pflum

So, what are the Giants going to look like on Sunday? I like to think that with the promotion of Steve Spagnuolo, the return of Odell Beckham Jr to the facilities, and Eli Manning to the starting job (and the subsequent family support) should give the team a boost.

What kind of "tweaks" will we see from the offense as game planned by Sullivan and Eli? And will we see Eli come out and play with a chip on his shoulder to prove that benching him was a mistake?

I tend to think all these question marks will make the Giants hard to game plan for, at least for this week.

I would probably pick the Giants to win even if Monday hadn't happened -- just out of principle. But now I have a spark of excitement and hope for the team.

Final score: Giants 27, Cowboys 24

Dan Pizzuta

There’s a lot of things here that could factor into the Giants having a bounce back game. There’s no more Ben McAdoo as Steve Spagnuolo takes over the interim role. Eli Manning is back at quarterback, which could revitalize a home crowd coming out to support the longtime franchise stalwart. While those things are nice, they don’t really take into account the play on the field -- and for the Giants, that’s been bad.

Even with the rough stretch of three games from Weeks 10-12, the Cowboys still rank 12th in weighted DVOA, which accounts more for how the team is playing at this moment. The run game hasn’t lost much without Ezekiel Elliott and the Giants are 24th against the run by DVOA. On the other side of the ball, the Giants are going to run out an offensive line that struggled against Khalil Mack last week and that same line will be asked to block Demarcus Lawrence, who leads the league in sacks and is third in individual pressures.

It’s good the Giants realized there needs to be change going forward, but it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see more of the same this week and through the end of the season.

Final score: Cowboys 24, Giants 13

Kevin Haswell

This new look New Giants team will play a Cowboys team struggling without Ezekiel Elliott close for three quarters but I think the Cowboys come out on top. Despite the loss, I expect to see improved play from Eli Manning and the Giants offense.

Final score: Cowboys 24, Giants 21

Valentine’s View

Maybe I’m using my heart instead of my head here, but I think a motivated, inspired Eli Manning has a huge game here — or at, at least, as big a game as he can have with the cast of characters he is surrounded with.

The Giants are depleted, barely recognizable from the team that started the season. They have little but pride, and future jobs, to play for. There haven’t been many good days for the Giants in the 2017 season, but I think this turns into one. Then again, maybe I just want it to turn into one.

Final score: Giants 24, Cowboys 17

Season records

Dan Pizzuta 8-4
Chris Pflum 7-5
Ed Valentine 3-9

Kevin Haswell and Mike Gallop have picked some games.

Kevin 4-5
Mike 3-6