The newest Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants match player stats tell a story that almost nobody predicted a few years ago. For most of the last decade this rivalry was one-sided, and Dallas treated MetLife Stadium like a second home. Then the Giants won the January 2026 season finale, followed it up with a Week 1 win on Sunday Night Football, and suddenly the numbers look very different.
This guide covers the freshest player performances, a clean head-to-head comparison, the roster changes that matter, and what to watch when the two teams meet again on January 3, 2027. Every figure below comes from official box scores and major sports outlets, so you can use it for fantasy research, betting prep, or simple fan debates.
Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants Match Player Stats: Week 1, 2026 Update
The most recent meeting took place on Sunday, September 13, 2026, at MetLife Stadium. The Giants beat the Cowboys 28-20 in the season opener, the first game of the John Harbaugh era in New York. Dallas trailed 7-0 after one quarter and never found a way to take control.
Final Score and Team Totals
The box score shows a game the Giants controlled through volume and efficiency. New York finished with 394 total yards against 244 for Dallas, and it owned the clock for 36 minutes and 40 seconds compared with 23:20 for the Cowboys. The Giants also piled up 29 first downs to Dallas’s 21 and averaged 5.8 yards per play to the Cowboys’ 4.7.
Both teams finished with exactly one turnover, so this was not a game decided by giveaways, which is unusual for this rivalry. The difference came from sustained drives. New York converted 9 of 11 third downs and went 4 for 4 in the red zone, while Dallas went 8 of 11 on third down and 3 for 3 inside the 20 but simply ran far fewer plays: 52 against 68.
Quarterback Stats: Dart vs Prescott
Jaxson Dart delivered the best quarterback line of the night. He completed 23 of 29 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, which translated to a 79.3 percent completion rate and a passer rating of 134.2. Those were career highs in both categories for the second-year passer.
Dak Prescott was efficient in spots but never explosive. He finished 22 of 34 for 175 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Dallas averaged only 5.1 yards per pass attempt, compared with 7.4 for New York, and the Cowboys’ offense never generated the chunk plays it needed to climb back. One positive for Dallas: Prescott was not sacked, while the Giants’ offensive line allowed two sacks of Dart.
Rushing and Receiving Leaders
Cam Skattebo led all rushers with 81 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, and the Giants as a group ran for 165 yards on 37 attempts. That ground dominance also showed up in rushing first downs, where New York recorded 11 to Dallas’s four. Javonte Williams paced Dallas with 41 yards and a score on 12 carries, but the Cowboys managed only 69 rushing yards as a team.
In the passing game, tight end Isaiah Likely was the surprise star for the Giants. He caught eight passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns, giving Dart a reliable target on third down. For Dallas, CeeDee Lamb finished with five catches for 44 yards and a touchdown, a quiet statistical night by his standards.
Defensive Standouts
Early in his NFL career, Dallas rookie safety Caleb Downs made an impression by recording the Cowboys’ lone sack. Linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku led the Cowboys with 10 tackles, four of them solo. On the Giants’ side, Tremaine Edmunds led the defense with eight tackles, seven of them solo.
Neither defense generated a defensive or special teams touchdown, and pass rush totals were modest on both sides. The story of this game was Giants offensive balance rather than a dominant defensive performance.
Latest Updates: Injuries and Roster Changes That Affect Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants Match Player Stats
Any article about Cowboys-Giants player numbers needs a warning label, because the personnel on the field has changed dramatically. Older stat pages still credit players who no longer wear these uniforms, so here is what is current as of October 22, 2026.
The Giants Quarterback Situation
Dart’s Week 1 masterpiece was followed by bad news. He suffered a left knee injury in the first quarter of New York’s Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, a 28-6 defeat on Monday Night Football. Multiple reports said he faced season-ending knee surgery, and Jameis Winston took over as the starter. Winston had a rough debut in relief, completing 11 of 27 passes for 111 yards and an interception against the Rams. Separate ESPN coverage also indicates the Giants have since acquired J.J. McCarthy, so check the latest depth chart before you set a fantasy lineup or place any wager.
This matters for the January rematch. The Cowboys will likely face a different Giants quarterback than the one who lit them up in September, which means Dart’s three-touchdown game should be treated as a one-off data point rather than a trend.
Cowboys and Giants Standings Snapshot
According to the most recent ESPN standings, the Giants sit at 3-2-1 and lead the NFC East, while the Cowboys are 2-4 and have scored 151 points while allowing 159. Dallas has the offense to stay in games, but its defense has struggled to get stops, and that is exactly where the Giants exposed them in Week 1.
Players No Longer in This Matchup
Two names that dominated older versions of this rivalry are gone. Saquon Barkley, long the Giants’ best offensive weapon, now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. Micah Parsons, the Cowboys’ most disruptive pass rusher, was traded to the Green Bay Packers in 2025. When you read stat pages that credit those players to Dallas or New York, you are reading outdated information.
Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants Match Player Stats From the January 4, 2026 Season Finale
To understand why the Giants’ Week 1 win was not a fluke, look at the game before it. On January 4, 2026, New York beat Dallas 34-17 at MetLife Stadium and snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Cowboys. It was also the Giants’ first win in the series since the 2020 season finale.
Passing and Rushing Performances
Dart completed 22 of 32 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns in that game, throwing scoring passes to Daniel Bellinger and Tyrone Tracy. Dallas, meanwhile, treated the finale more like an exhibition. Prescott went 7 of 11 for 70 yards and lost a fumble on a botched snap before Joe Milton replaced him at the start of the third quarter. Prescott still finished the 2025 season with 4,552 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, the second-highest yardage total of his career.
On the ground, Tracy ran 18 times for 103 yards, and Devin Singletary added 26 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Dart contributed 32 rushing yards on five attempts. For Dallas, Jaydon Blue rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, and Phil Mafah scored his first NFL touchdown on a short run.
Special Teams Numbers
Special teams quietly helped the Giants. Kicker Ben Sauls made all four of his field goal attempts, while Dallas’s Brandon Aubrey connected on just one of two. Punter Bryan Anger averaged an enormous 55.0 yards on two punts for Dallas, but it was not enough to offset the Giants’ advantage in scoring efficiency.
Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants Head-to-Head Comparison
Here is the direct comparison fans actually search for. The first table looks at the Week 1, 2026 team and player numbers side by side.
Week 1, 2026 Player Comparison
| Category | Dallas Cowboys | New York Giants | Edge |
| Final Score | 20 | 28 | Giants |
| Quarterback Line | Prescott: 22/34, 175 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT | Dart: 23/29, 230 yds, 3 TD, 0 INT | Giants |
| Leading Rusher | Javonte Williams: 12 att, 41 yds, 1 TD | Cam Skattebo: 18 att, 81 yds, 1 TD | Giants |
| Leading Receiver | CeeDee Lamb: 5 rec, 44 yds, 1 TD | Isaiah Likely: 8 rec, 78 yds, 2 TD | Giants |
| Top Tackler | Donovan Ezeiruaku: 10 | Tremaine Edmunds: 8 | Cowboys |
| Sacks by Defense | 1 (Caleb Downs) | 0 | Cowboys |
| Total Yards | 244 | 394 | Giants |
| First Downs | 21 | 29 | Giants |
| Third Down | 8/11 | 9/11 | Giants |
| Red Zone | 3/3 | 4/4 | Even |
| Time of Possession | 23:20 | 36:40 | Giants |
Last Six Meetings
Context matters, and the recent results show how sharply the pendulum has swung.
| Date | Result | Score |
| September 13, 2026 | Giants win | 28-20 |
| January 4, 2026 | Giants win | 34-17 |
| September 14, 2025 | Cowboys win (OT) | 40-37 |
| November 28, 2024 | Cowboys win | 27-20 |
| September 26, 2024 | Cowboys win | 20-15 |
| November 12, 2023 | Cowboys win | 49-17 |
The 2025 overtime game deserves a mention. Dallas erased three separate three-point deficits in the second half before winning in the extra period, a reminder that this rivalry rarely stays quiet for long.
All-Time Series Snapshot
| Series Detail | Record |
| Overall (including playoffs) | Cowboys lead 78-49-2 |
| Regular season | Cowboys lead 78-48-2 |
| Playoffs | Giants lead 1-0 (2007 NFC Divisional, 21-17) |
| First meeting | December 4, 1960 (31-31 tie) |
| Largest Cowboys win | 52-7 (1966) |
| Largest Giants win | 41-10 (1962) |
| Next meeting | January 3, 2027 |
What the Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants Match Player Stats Reveal
Strip away the noise and a few patterns stand out across the two most recent games.
Ball control beats big plays. In Week 1, the Giants ran 16 more plays than Dallas and held the ball for over 36 minutes. When a defense spends that long on the field, it wears down, and Dallas allowed 165 rushing yards because of it.
Rushing first downs signal who is winning the line of scrimmage. New York’s 11 rushing first downs compared with four for Dallas explains the possession gap better than any single player stat.
Quarterback efficiency still decides the margin. Dart’s 7.4 yards per attempt dwarfed Prescott’s 5.1. In the January game, Dallas also saw Prescott average only about 6.4 yards per attempt before leaving at halftime. When the Cowboys passing game stalls, their offense has no reliable second gear.
Penalties are creeping up. The Giants were flagged 10 times for 114 yards in Week 1 and Dallas nine times for 90 yards. Neither team can afford that discipline problem in a game that may decide NFC East seeding.
What to Watch in the Next Cowboys vs Giants Game
The rematch, which will take place at AT&T Stadium on January 3, 2027, during Week 17, may have significant divisional significance. Here are the storylines most likely to shape the Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants match player stats that night.
Who starts at quarterback for New York. With Dart reportedly lost for the season, the Giants will rely on a different passer, and that changes how the offense attacks Dallas’s secondary.
Whether Dallas fixes its run defense. Skattebo’s 81 yards and the Giants’ 11 rushing first downs exposed a weakness. If the Cowboys cannot stop the run on early downs, the same script will repeat.
CeeDee Lamb’s usage. A five-catch, 44-yard night was well below his usual production. Expect Dallas to scheme more targets his way in the rematch.
Home-field flip. The last two games were played at MetLife. Dallas’s passing approach has always benefited from Prescott’s controlled surroundings at AT&T Stadium.
Final Word: Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants Match Player Stats Say the Rivalry Is Wide Open Again
For years, the Cowboys-Giants series read like a one-way street. The latest Dallas Cowboys vs New York Giants match player stats prove that era is over for now. New York has won back-to-back meetings, outgained Dallas by 150 yards in Week 1, and found real playmakers in Skattebo, Likely and Tracy, even as quarterback uncertainty hangs over the roster.
Dallas still holds the commanding all-time edge at 78-49-2, and Prescott and Lamb are more than capable of reversing the trend. But the numbers say the Cowboys can no longer rely on reputation. If you want to understand where this rivalry is heading, track ball control, rushing first downs and quarterback efficiency before you look at anything else.
Bookmark this page, because the stats will be updated as soon as the next chapter is written on January 3, 2027.



