The Cowboys are suddenly winless at home, so a trip to MetLife Stadium and a game against the Giants could be their perfect opportunity to cure their ailments.
Preseason tensions were supposed to ease after quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver CeeDee Lamb signed contract extensions worth a combined $376 million, but instead they only intensified heading into Thursday's turning point game between two teams trying to avoid early-season last-place finishes in the NFC East.
The Cowboys' 16-game regular-season home win streak came after consecutive home losses to the Saints and Ravens in which the defense allowed nearly 500 total rushing yards under new coordinator Mike Zimmer.
Playoff losses meant the previous three seasons were deemed not good enough, but four straight 12-win regular season seasons suddenly doesn't feel so natural to a restless fan base.
“I [as] “At some point, if you're a competitor, you have to have enough pride to say, 'I'm not going to let this happen to me,'” linebacker Micah Parsons said. “But it feels like some of these guys just let themselves continue to get punched in the face. When are they going to stand up?”
Tensions appeared to come to a head when Prescott and Lamb argued on the sidelines of a game against the Ravens, after which Prescott told disgruntled fans to “get off the bandwagon” immediately after the loss.
Adding to the sense of desperation, Thursday marked the Cowboys' quickest return to an away game ever (four days, by NFL standards).
“We understand the urgency,” Lamb said.
The match will be streamed live on Amazon Prime Video on Thursday night.
If the Cowboys' most certain advantage — beating the Giants — disappears, the panic button will truly be sounded on Friday.
The Cowboys have won 13 of the past 14 meetings, including Prescott's 12-game winning streak and six of the past seven in East Rutherford.
“We didn't start the season well. We felt humiliated,” Parsons said. “This is our test. Without the test, there's no testimony. We still have dreams and hopes of going as far as we can this year and of course going to the Super Bowl.”
The Giants expected their opponents to be very motivated.
“It's not going to be an easy game,” running back Devin Singletary said, “They've got a hungry mentality. It's a district game, they're on the road and they just lost two games. They're going to be doing everything they can to get here 1-0 and we're just going to have to play our best and keep up our pace.”
The Cowboys lost back-to-back games but were unable to take the lead either time, trailing 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Trying to keep up minimizes the team's strengths (dynamic pass rush, ball-winning defensive backs) and highlights its weaknesses (a rush defense that ranks last in the NFL and the Lambs' lack of complementary receivers).
The Cowboys also strayed from their identity as a run-heavy team, with the lackluster combination of Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle holding them to just 221 rushing yards through three games, the third-lowest in franchise history.
“I think we have an opportunity to get better on this one, and that's the big thing,” owner Jerry Jones told Dallas' 105.3 The Fan. “We're not at full strength, and if that's the case, that's a real concern.”
