Giants at Cowboys 2015, Week 1: Big Blue View staff predictions

Who will win Sunday night when your New York Giants invade Arlington, TX. to face the arch-rival Dallas Cowboys? Here is what your Big Blue View staff members think. These picks have zilch to do with the point spread. Check Jesse's predictions for all the Week 1 games if you are interested in that.

Chris Pflum

Sunday's game? You mean we're not talking about practice anymore? We get to talk about football? For real? For really realz!? Okay, now that that's out of my system, my prediction: The game is not going to be pretty. For either team. The Cowboys lost their best defensive back and have two of their best defensive players suspended. If the Giants' interior offensive line can give Eli something like a pocket to step into and the offensive tackles can give Eli a second or two to step up into it, there will be plays to be made. The last time Steve Spagnuolo took over the Giants defense it was downright fuggly to start out. But after two pretty much disastrous stops in St. Louis and New Orleans, he might have learned as much about what not to do in installing a new system as what to do, and the process might be accelerated.

But when the Giants and Cowboys play it almost always comes down to the last possession or two, and is almost always a high-scoring game. But when it comes to shootout matchup, I like Prince Amukamara and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams more than Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr on Odell Beckham and Rueben Randle.

Final score:
Giants 35, Cowboys 31

Keane Macadaeg

As much as I hate saying it, the Giants just don't look ready. The secondary has looked confused this preseason. The defensive line doesn't have JPP and I'm sure the only ones with confidence in Markhus Kuhn against the best OL in football are the Giants themselves. The offense has a chance to keep the Giants in the game but they've looked flat this preseason and it took some time last year for the offense to heat up. It's a shame that the Giants have to work out the kinks against the division champs but the Giants haven't been lucky in awhile.

Final score:
Cowboys 28, Giants 17

Alex Sinclair

Look, I know I'm getting a bit of a bad rap as a Negative Nellie around here, but I don't think the Giants are going to win this one. They haven't won an opening week game since 2010, and I have no evidence to suggest that they're well prepared to break that streak now. Eli Manning hasn't looked himself in the preseason, the line isn't anywhere it needs to be, and Victor Cruz will be M.I.A. with a lingering calf injury. And that's just the offense!

Man, like I really want to say they're going to win, but I've seen too many of these primetime heartbreakers to put my faith in an unproven Giants team right out of the gate. Can't do it. Not this week. I think it'll be close, I think it'll be competitive, but unfortunately, I also think this will be a loss.

Final score:
Cowboys 27, Giants 24 with a last minute field goal for the win.

Mike Gallop

Though I do fear that our run defense may make McFadden and Randle look like Dorsett and Emmitt, I think we pull this one out on the road. The Cowboys have the same issues that we do on the defensive side of the ball, and I think our fire power can overmatch them in a true primetime shootout. The Cowboys have the home team week 1 pressure, and I think Eli pulls it out with some vintage late fourth-quarter heroics.

Final score:
Giants 28, Cowboys 25

Stephen Milewski

Well, it's all come to this. After this summer, the Giants are definitely feeling the pressure of starting off well, with Prince Amukamara calling this game a "must win." The Giants and Cowboys both have pretty good passing offenses and I think it will be an aerial showdown down in Big D, but the Giants have lost their last four season openers and the Cowboys have more talent. I think Eli Manning and Odell Beckham will have great games, but they just won't be enough.

Final score:
Cowboys 27, Giants 24

Jesse Bartolis

The sky is falling, New York Giants fans. All the story lines are old news The teams blindside protector hurts himself lifting weights, their star defensive end blows his finger off celebrating 'Murica. Their star receiver looks somewhat disinterested or distracted spending more time shooting commercials then catching passes. Markus Kuhn is holding the coach hostage and is the starting defensive tackle, on a team that can't stop the run. They have no safeties, they can't block, their coach is senile. This game should be a disaster, but in true homer fashion, I'm taking the Giants to win outright. I can't start the season on a pessimistic note. This is a game in Eli's stadium and the Cowboys are the Cowboys and they just deserve to lose because they are Satan's cousin. You know if you're taking my betting advice or looking for a logical analysis of this game you should probably ignore everything I just said and stay far away from this game.

Giants win! [No final score provided]

Valentine's View

Maybe I'm just drinking the Coughlin Kool-Aid. Or I like the show "Blue Bloods" so much it has made my blood turn blue. Or I've been listening to Jesse and Chris too much. Or maybe I'm just tired of the daily doomsday chatter that would have you believe any hope for the Giants to be a good team this season ended, oh, maybe back around the Eisenhower Administration. Enough already. I get all the reasons to be negative -- it's the easy thing to do. But, guess what? The preseason means diddly, and I still believe there are lots of reasons to think the Giants will be better in 2015 than they have been the past couple of seasons.

The Giants haven't beaten Dallas in four tries. They haven't had a winning season since 2012. Sooner or later, things have to turn around. Don't they? Why not now? There are talented players, especially on offense, regardless of the negativity.

Defending division champs or not, the Dallas defense is nothing to write home about. I do believe the Giants can score enough to turn this into a shootout. I think the Giants get just enough help from special teams and defense in this one to pull out a surprising, and very welcome, victory.

Final score:
Giants 34, Cowboys 30

Ed	Chris	Alex	Jesse	Mike	Stephen	Keane

Guest prediction

Cowboys will lose by 3 touchdowns on Sunday night. Why? Because I said so.

— Osi Umenyiora (@OsiUmenyiora) September 9, 2015

Overrated O line. Unstable at RB. Good WR. Erratic QB. Keep drinking the Kool aid. But the Cowboys can and will be beat.

— Osi Umenyiora (@OsiUmenyiora) September 9, 2015

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