Cowboys Pregame Three Thoughts: Week 4

Despite owning the Giants for years, the Cowboys head to NY as a desperate team.

Full disclosure: This Sunday-Thursday turnaround is going to make this very rare Thursday morning preview piece pretty short (by my standards). Instead of 2,500 words, this one feels like it will be about half of that.

But, let’s not waste time on that. Let’s get down to business.

I am not sure how many times we have called a September Cowboys game a “must win” in the last several years, but this one feels like it. They have been humbled and humiliated in the last two weeks, and the whole league is having a laugh at Dallas' expense.

Meanwhile, the locker room seems filled with personalities that are getting tired of each other. The culture is in question, and the foundation is on shaky ground. The personal agendas of so many are making everyone question everything. Then, to ask the team to follow a leader who could get fired if they lose this game is quite a stretch of instability.

This Cowboys team is down bad right now, and a win could save everything. But they need a win in the worst way, and despite being 5.5-point favorites, I am sure they would take a win by a single point. They won’t care, and neither should you. When you are this down, you take a win by any means and any margin.

So, who do you handpick if you need a win? How about a team that has zero wins against Dak Prescott since he was a rookie? Dak is 13-0 against the Giants since 2016, and the 2023 matchups were hilarious mismatches.

But, it seems assured that this game will not be an absurd mismatch. The Giants will be thinking that it is time to beat Dallas. It would mean so much and Dallas looks horrid.

Dallas just needs a win – any win. Let’s break it down.

These are my Cowboys PreGame Three Thoughts:

– The interior of the Cowboys OL - LG Tyler Smith, C Cooper Beebe, and RG Zack Martin need to play their best game so far up front to make sure the running game can flourish as well as keep the pocket from collapsing.