Thursday night's NFC East matchup between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys conjures nightmares for Big Blue.
The Giants have lost six consecutive games to the Cowboys and 12 of the past 13, including two forty-burger blowouts last season -- 40-0 in Week 1, 49-17 in Week 10.
New York has lost 12 consecutive games that Dak Prescott has started, dating back to 2017, tied for the fourth-longest streak versus a single opponent since 1950 (Bob Griese, 17 vs. Bills; Tom Brady, 13 vs. Bills; Steve Young, 13 vs. Rams).
The futility has been so bad for the Giants that a reporter actually asked Daniel Jones on Tuesday, "Have you ever beaten the Cowboys?"
"Yeah, I think we beat them a few years ago," he respectfully responded, via the team's official transcript. "But all these games are different. I think we'll be prepared and ready to go."
Jones beat Dallas once in his career, back in a meaningless season finale in 2020, a 23-19 victory in which Prescott didn't play, and both teams ended the season 6-10. Jones is 1-6 in his career as a starter versus the Cowboys and 0-5 with Prescott in the lineup.
"Yeah, we don't like losing to anybody, especially a divisional game. We understand what this game means, and we'll be ready to go," Jones said when asked if he's sick of losing to Dallas.
The recent lopsided Cowboys-Giants rivalry doesn't just pertain to the offense. Big Blue hasn't even sacked a Dallas quarterback since Week 15, 2021.
Prime time has been a particular bugaboo for New York. The Cowboys have won five straight and nine of the last 10 prime-time games against the Giants. Over the previous five prime-time matchups, the Cowboys have scored 19-plus in each, and the Giants have scored 18 or fewer in each (139-50 scoring margin since 2017).
Jones said he's a better player since he last faced Dallas in the 40-point shellacking in Week 1 last season.
"I've played more, seen more, studied and improved," he said. "Obviously, didn't go great last time, but we're confident, it's a new team. We're a new team, they're a new team, and we're excited for the opportunity."
In the past two weeks, Jones has had consecutive games with two-plus total TDs and zero giveaways for the first time in his career. He's never had such a game against the Cowboys.
Thursday night, the Giants will have a chance at home to erase some of those bad memories. With both clubs sitting at 1-2 entering the tilt, it's a fork-in-the-road game for each squad.