2022 Week 3: Cowboys 23, Giants 16 (by Ross Jacobs)
Dallas was just the better team here, plain and simple. They controlled this game almost from the start (they did lose the lead once but quickly regained it) with a strong ground game and relentless pressure on Daniel Jones. That's the key to their success this year. They aren't the powerhouse of 2021, not with Tyron Smith out but man that defense is really solid and they are somehow about to get Dak Prescott back from injury much quicker than we initially thought, possibly for week 5 against the Rams.
I don't think Dallas is a real threat to Philly but they can probably make it interesting at the very least. They are 2-0 so far without Dak and favored against Washington this week. If they can get to 3-1 and Dak returns week 5 they will be in great shape moving forward. With Dak they are a top 10-12 team and should make the playoffs.
The Giants are going to have an up and down year it seems. The schedule is stupidly easy and will aid their win-loss record but they still aren't a good team...yet. I do see some signs of improvement and it starts with head coach Brian Daboll. I really love what I'm seeing from his offense so far. It's a spread, modern scheme with lots of nice wrinkles and motion to keep the defense guessing, the same kind of stuff that's been all the rage in college football for years now. It takes a lot of pressure off the QB by simplifying reads and getting playmakers into open space.
And that's the core issue for New York moving forward. They need more talent.
This next off-season they need to aggressively go acquire WRs and a new QB. Daboll is doing the best he can with Daniel Jones but there's only so much you can scheme up. Unless we see some magical switch flipped for Jones I'd expect the Giants to be in the 1st round QB market in the 2023 draft.
Fantasy Player Notes:
– As all the other top name RBs die off to injuries and usage issues, Saquon Barkley looks poised to finish as the #1 guy so long as he can stay healthy. He's getting all the work, the goal line touches, passing game stuff...he is the offense.
– Sterling Shepard was injured yet again, on the Giants final play of the game no less and without any contact, and is out the rest of the year. It's a really tough break for a good player that just hasn't been able to stay on the field and build momentum.
With Shepard out I expect Kenny Golladay to start. Yes, Stiff-Manequin Golladay. He played the 4th most snaps on the team after the starting trio of Shepard, James, and Sills. I don't know that it's going to be worth much but at least he'll be on the field. He still looks like crap but they have to throw it to someone.
Speaking of where the passing game goes from here, Richie James is the likely focal point (whatever that means in this offense), at least for the time being. He's the starting slot receiver and is working the short routes and middle of the field where Daboll likes to attack with quick slants off RPO looks and is just the best receiver they have other than Toney. David Sills is fine but not doing any real damage on the outside. I'd consider James a WR3 in ppr for the moment and a nice value play in DFS.
– Rookie TE Daniel Bellinger finally looked like a legitimate part of the offense here after so much off-season hype. He stands to benefit from the Shepard injury as well because he's just a nice safe throw for Jones underneath. I'm not seeing anything outstanding with him but he's a good player overall and certainly capable in this spot. He reminds me a little of Pat Freiermuth but not as savvy.
– I'm not saying Dallas has a CeeDee Lamb problem per se but man that guy drops a lot of important passes. For fantasy it's going to work fine because he is very good at getting open and Dallas funnels him a ton of targets but at the end of the day it's hard not to argue that he should be doing a lot better than he is.
Getting Dak back will help him score a little more. I don't see why he won't finish as a WR1 even with all the issues but from a team perspective they have to be frustrated with him to some degree. It seems like he's got that diva WR attitude where he doesn't want to get hit and any sign of it makes him jumpy. I noticed the Giants defenders getting more and more physical with him as the game went on, maybe trying to rattle him or get in his head. It's something to watch for.
His counterpart Noah Brown is kind of the opposite. He's not much of a pure athlete but that guy is just a tough-as-nails, physical, professional WR. I've been saying he was undervalued for fantasy going back to the preseason but my respect for him is growing every week. He really is a very solid receiver all around.
Michael Gallup will be back soon which theoretically takes some targets away from Brown, but I actually think it might not affect Brown much because Dak should be back too which means more volume and quite possibly more spreading the ball around. If you remember last year, Dak started going to a full 3-way split between Lamb, Gallup, and Cedric Wilson. With Lamb's drops problem and how much Brown has shown, I wouldn't be surprised if he kept up this targeting or close to it throughout the year.
Jalen Tolbert is certainly no threat. He looks terrible. Skinny, soft, doesn't know where he's going. He may be fine in the long run but he needs more time in the oven. He's nowhere close to making an impact right now.
– We've reached nearly a full split between Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, which is probably frustrating to the Pollard-should-takeover people. I don't see anything wrong with Zeke really. When he's not being run straight ahead into piles as the power back, you can actually see that he's still pretty spry even though age and workload is clearly starting to catch up to him. Pollard is the more explosive player but I don't think he would look quite so good if he was taking the full workload. It helps his efficiency to utilize him the way they do, in a rotation and getting him to the edge. He's fine with the occasional up-the-gut run but it's not his forte.
Both guys have value as RB2-3's that are TD dependent to give you a really solid week. If either goes down then the other one becomes an instant RB1. This is simply the same situation it's been for the last year or two.
– Replacing Dalton Schultz was a mixture of rookies Peyton Hendershot and Jake Ferguson. Ferguson looks like the better player to my eyes and he's on the field more but the coaches seemed to be pushing Hendershot as more of the downfield reception guy while Ferguson was working all the short stuff. Both guys are playing really well for rookies.
IDP Notes:
– Demarcus Lawrence absolutely abused rookie RT Evan Neal this entire game to the tune of 3 sacks and multiple pressures. Neal looks even worse than Carolina's Ikem Ekwonu so far. It's still early but these “franchise” tackles aren't looking so hot.
Julian Love had a huge 14 tackle game but 10 of them were assisted. It was nothing he was doing really, just a bunch of short catches he happened to be near (because he allowed most of them).
I had high hopes for Tae Crowder this year but it is not working so far. He was a Tasmanian devil in the preseason, going sideline to sideline, seemingly in on every tackle. But right now he's constantly getting blocked out of plays. Not sure what's going on there.
Micah Parsons had only 1 tackle here because he played mostly off-the-ball linebacker instead of on the line rushing the QB. I said it before but it's worth repeating, I like him much better rushing the passer than not.
Snap Counts of Interest:
66 = Barkley
58 = Shepard
53 = James
45 = Sills
24 = Golladay
14 = Slayton
0 = Toney
43 = Bellinger
27 = Hudson
61 = Lamb
51 = Brown
23 = Tolbert
41 = Zeke
28 = Pollard
53 = Ferguson
38 = Hendershot
