The New York Giants Week 3 opponent is a familiar team, although one with a few new faces. The undefeated Giants take on the Dallas Cowboys in a crucial NFC East matchup on Monday Night Football. Ahead of this Giants-Cowboys game, let’s make some bold Giants Week 3 predictions.

The Giants haven’t started the season 3-0 since 2009. But with Brian Daboll at the helm, Saquon Barley back at full health, and Daniel Jones managing the games, it feels like the storied organization has a real chance to do it in 2022.

The roadblock ahead of them to reach 0-3 is their biggest rival, the Cowboys. Dallas looked like it was done for after Dak Prescott’s Week 1 injury. However, with Cooper Rush playing a very Daniel Jones-like game in Week 2 and a dominating performance from Micah Parsons and the defense, the team upset the Cincinnati Bengals.

It really feels like the winner of this game will have the inside track to duke it out with the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC East crown. With that in mind, here are our Giants Week 3 predictions.

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4. Micah Parsons and the Cowboys defense harass Daniel Jones

The Giants offensive line is still a work in progress heading into this Week 3 Giants-Cowboys matchup. The unit has done a good job run blocking but has been sketchy at best protecting Daniel Jones. 

In Week 1, the O-line gave up five sacks to the Tennessee Titans. Week 2 was better, but the Carolina Panthers still took Jones down three times. 

Now the line faces a Cowboys defense with eight sacks in its two games. Four of those have come from superstar linebacker Micah Parsons. 

Brian Daboll will do his best to run, call screens, and get the ball out of Jones’ hand quickly on passing downs. Still, it will never be enough to completely slow down Parsons. The Giants offense can still have a good game, but it won’t be without Jones going down at least four times. 

3. Saquon Barkley keeps on rolling

Remember when Saquon Barkley was the best running back in the NFL? It seems like so long ago. Now that the RB is healthy, though, he looks more like his old self than ever through two games in 2022. 

In Week 1, Barkley absolutely dominated, rushing for 64 yards and catching six balls for 30 more. Week 2 wasn’t quite the same, but he still put up 88 all-purpose yards. 

While the Dallas D shut down Joe Mixon (19 carries, 57 yards) last week, the unit did give up 127 yards on the ground to Leonard Fournette in the opener. That’s why the bold Giants Week 3 prediction here is that Barkley is the star of the Giants' offensive attack this week and goes for over 100 yards rushing. 

2. The field goal kickers make the difference 

Daniel Jones vs. Cooper Rush isn’t exactly Phil Simms vs. Troy Aikman or Eli Manning vs. Tony Romo. The Cowboys got it done last week by the skin of their teeth vs. a Super Bowl hung-over Bengals, and the Giants have beaten two weak opponents in close games, too. 

If you’re looking for a track meet that looks like Bills-Chiefs, Giants-Cowboys probably isn’t for you. 

This game will come down to who can move the ball best between the 20s-yard lines, and which offense makes the fewest game-changing mistakes. After that, it will come down to two men: Graham Gano and Brett Maher. 

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Maher, the Cowboys kicker, is 2-of-2 on extra points this season and 3-of-3 on field goals, all from 50 yards plus. Gano is 4-of-4 on FGs (2-of-2 from 50-plus) and 2-of-2 on points after. 

This game will ultimately come down to a field goal, for one side or the other, and the bold Giants Week 3 prediction is Gano comes out on top. 

1. Giants 16, Cowboys 13 

This Week 3 Giants-Cowboys game is shaping up to be an old-school NFC East slugfest. The defenses will dominate as Daniel Jones and Cooper Rush struggle to keep their team’s head above water.

It won’t be a pretty 60 minutes, but in the end, Daboll has his team fired up and believing they can win. The Cowboys have the edge on defense, and the Giants have more weapons on the other side. This game will come down to coaching.

And in the battle between Daboll and Mike McCarthy, the former has already proved he’s more competent than the Dallas head coach. So, the boldest Giants Week 3 prediction of all is that the New York Football Giants will leave Week 3 a staggering 3-0 and either tied for first or sitting alone at the top of the division.