While many suspect the Dallas Cowboys have the upper hand in Sunday night's premiere matchup at MetLife Stadium, consider this: Rookie quarterbacks don't normally play well against Eli Manning.
In Manning's 14 NFL seasons -- 193 regular season games -- only four first-year quarterbacks have beaten the Giants according to NFL Research; a random smattering of players who are still in the league, players who washed out and players who are about to.
The list?
Ben Roethlisberger, Dec. 18, 2004: Roethlisberger, in a matchup against his 2004 draft counterpart, went 18 of 28 for 316 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Had the Giants not pulled off a trade for Manning, they planned to go with Roethlisberger back in 2004. Imagine Philip Rivers in Pittsburgh?
Vince Young, Nov. 26, 2006: In front of 69,143 at LP Field in Nashville, Vince Young torched a pretty good Giants defense for 249 passing yards, two touchdowns through the air and one touchdown on the ground. He accounted for more than 300 total yards. Ah, memories.
Robert Griffin III, Dec. 3, 2012: This was the launching point of Robert Griffin mania. The Redskins rookie would throw a fourth quarter touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon to beat the Giants 17-16 and jump above .500. Griffin went 13 of 21 for 163 yards and a touchdown.
Blake Bortles, Nov. 30, 2014: In a game that many thought would end the Tom Coughlin era, Bortles and the Jaguars came from behind and drilled a last-minute field goal to get the win. Bortles was especially effective on the ground, running for 68 yards on five carries. He threw for 194 yards and a touchdown.
Dak Prescott is trying be the first rookie quarterback in more than two years to beat the Giants. The last four rookie quarterbacks to face the Giants have all lost AND none of them threw a touchdown pass (Carson Wentz, Jameis Winston, Prescott and Zach Mettenberger).
By now, the Cowboys are well aware of this. They are also aware that the Giants are responsible for the worst games of Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott's careers (and their only loss).
Prescott has the chance to become the first Dallas Cowboys rookie quarterback to beat the Giants since ... drum roll ... Quincy Carter!
