EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Brian Daboll began his NFL coaching career with the New England Patriots in 2000, the year he participated in his first Thanksgiving Day game. The Patriots lost in Detroit, 30-9.
New England returned to Michigan on the holiday two years later and defeated the Lions, 20-12. Daboll has since coached in five more Turkey Day games with the Jets, Miami, Buffalo and the Giants, who lost in Dallas in his 2022 debut season as the team's head coach, 28-20. His teams are 3-4 on the fourth Thursday in November.
On Thursday, the Giants will play the 17th Thanksgiving Day game in their history and their fifth in the Super Bowl era when they again face the Cowboys in AT&T Stadium.
"It's a privilege to play on Thanksgiving," Daboll said Tuesday. "I remember sitting there with my grandfather and watching the games on Thanksgiving when there's only a couple of them. But I've participated in this game on Thanksgiving in my career quite a bit. It's always a privilege."
The Giants hope to break several streaks when they tangle with their NFC East rivals. They have lost their last six games, their last seven to the Cowboys, and their last seven in Arlington, Texas. The Giants are also seeking their first Thanksgiving victory since 1982 when Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor returned an interception 97 yards for the only touchdown in a 13-6 victory in Detroit. The Giants have lost their last four Turkey Day games, in 1992, 2009, 2017 and 2022.
Their most recent game was a 30-7 loss last Sunday to Tampa Bay in MetLife Stadium. Since then, they've limited their physical activity while ramping up their mental preparation, followed by a long flight to Dallas.
"Yeah, well, it's the schedule," Daboll said. "So go ahead and do everything we can do to be as prepared as we can be. … It's always a little bit of a different schedule on short weeks. We'll do what we think is best. We've had a lot of walk-throughs. We've had a lot of meeting time. That's really all you can do to get yourself mentally prepared and physically you're not going to do a whole bunch just having played a game on Sunday."
Dallas won the first meeting of the season on Sept. 26 – also a Thursday – 20-15. Greg Joseph kicked five field goals for all the Giants' points. Neither quarterback who started that game will play in the rematch. The Giants benched and then – at his request – released Daniel Jones last week, while Dallas' Dak Prescott is out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn hamstring.
The Giants promoted Tommy DeVito but his first game action of the season left him exceptionally sore, particularly in his right (throwing) forearm. If he can't play, Drew Lock will make his 2024 starting debut.
Cooper Rush has started the last three games for the Cowboys. He was Dallas' starter in Daboll's first defeat as the Giants' coach, 23-16 on Sept. 26, 2022. That was the middle game in a streak in which Rush became the 14th quarterback in NFL history to win his first five starts.
"He's doing a good job of getting the ball out quick," defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said. "They have some quick game in there that helps them. I'm sure they'll have some play action if they can get the run game going, which I fully expect them to try to do. He's good on his progressions. He's been able to find the open guys quickly and he's not holding onto it. It's a big challenge for us."
Dallas wideout CeeDee Lamb leads the NFL with 77 receptions and is second with 841 yards. Lamb has caught four or more passes in a league-record 44 consecutive games. He has 34 more catches than his nearest teammate, tight end Jay Ferguson, who has not practiced this week due to a concussion.
The Giants are the only NFL team that has not allowed an opposing 100-yard receiver this season. Despite his prolific numbers, Lamb has exceeded 100 yards just once; he gained 146 yards on 13 catches in a loss in San Francisco.
"He's a big-time playmaker for them, so they're going to find ways to get the ball in his hands," Bowen said, "whether it's in the passing game, whether it's in the backfield and they toss it to him and let him run or release him from the backfield on a jet sweep. We are going to have to do a good job locating him, knowing where he's at, because it's going to be in different spots throughout the game and the different ways they utilize him."
Linebacker Bobby Okereke said Dallas' offense has stayed largely the same, despite the quarterback change.
"They both like to get the ball out quick," Okereke said. "Maybe they're a little bit more run heavy with Cooper than they were with Dak. Maybe a couple of different wrinkles here and there, but they're both trying to get the ball out quick. They're both trying to get the ball to CeeDee. They have a good run game, they run jet sweeps, so I think they call it decently similar. When Dak's in there, he's got more freedom to take shots down the field. I think Cooper's running that offense efficiently."
The Cowboys are an interesting team. They won in Washington on Sunday, 34-26, to end a five-game losing streak and improve to 4-7. But they've had an extraordinary and miserable turnaround at home since the Giants visited AT&T last Nov. 12. A December victory against Detroit stretched their home winning streak to 16 games. In the 2023 regular season, the Cowboys were 8-0 at home. Since then, Dallas has lost six consecutive home games, including one in the playoffs, by an average of 22.3 points. Their point differential at home this year is a franchise-record minus-118, the third worst in history through a team's first five games. The Cowboys have trailed by 20+ points in each of those games.
At 2-9, the Giants can't worry about anyone else's problems. They're trying to right their own ship.
"Nobody's happy with where we're at," Daboll said. "But look, we've got a positive mindset. We've got to get ready. You control the things you can control, which is this week. But I've said this before, I got a good appreciation for the people in the building."
He'll have much more if they can produce a Thanksgiving Day victory.
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*The Giants are 7-6-3 on Thanksgiving but have played on the holiday just five times since 1938. They are 1-4 in the Super Bowl era on Thanksgiving, including 0-2 in Dallas.
The Giants first played on Thanksgiving in 1926, their second year of existence, when they defeated the Brooklyn Lions, 17-0. After a two-year hiatus, they played a Thanksgiving Day game every season from 1929-38. They did not play again on Thanksgiving until 1982.
*This will be the Giants' 17th Thanksgiving game, the NFL's sixth-highest total. It's also their 17th road game, the most by any team without ever having a home game. Only Green Bay (35) and Chicago (28 tomorrow) have played more Thanksgiving games as visitors.
*Detroit is first in Turkey Day games (85th tomorrow), followed by Dallas (57th tomorrow). Jacksonville is the only current team that has not played on Thanksgiving.
*The Cowboys are 33-22-1 on Thanksgiving (second-most wins behind Detroit, 37) and have won the last two (the Giants in 2022, Washington last year). Dallas' last Thanksgiving win without Dak Prescott as the starting quarterback was in 2013 vs the Raiders with Tony Romo.
*The Giants are playing two Thursday games in the same season for the fourth time in their history; the other seasons were 1936, 1939 and 1937. They have lost their last nine games played on Thursday, when they are 15-16-3 overall, including their loss to the Cowboys in September. Their last Thursday victory was on Sept. 24, 2015, vs. Washington (32-21). The Giants most recently won a Thursday road game on Sept. 25, 2014, a 45-14 triumph in Washington.
*Malik Nabers' 67 receptions are an NFL record for a player in his first nine career games. He also has the fourth-highest total in a player's first 10 games. Should he catch five passes tomorrow, the top two could be former LSU wideouts selected by the Giants in the first round of the NFL Draft 10 years apart:
MOST RECEPTIONS / FIRST 10 CAREER GAMES
Odell Beckham Jr. - 71
Brock Bowers - 70
Puka Nacua - 69
Malik Nabers - 67 (through 9 games)
Saquon Barkley - 64
Nabers is on pace for 112 receptions, which would break the NFL rookie record of 105 set last season by Nacua. Bowers, the Las Vegas Raiders' tight end, is also on pace to break to set the record.
*Nabers' 7.4 receptions per game are the second-most by a rookie since 1970. Only Beckham in 2014 had more (7.6).
*The Giants have not held a lead in their last six games, a franchise single-season record.
*The Giants are one of five teams that has not scored 30 points in a game this season, joining Cleveland, Las Vegas, the Jets and New England.
*Quarterback Tommy DeVito (right forearm) and defensive back Tae Banks (rib) are questionable for tomorrow's game.
Offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor (quad) and defensive lineman Armon Watts (shoulder) have been declared out of the game.
DeVito, Eluemunor and Watts will not accompany the team to Dallas. DeVito is anticipated to arrive in Dallas later.
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