A wild day in the NFL’s one o’clock window was the precursor for an NFC East showdown between the rejuvenated Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, a team hoping to keep their recent positive momentum going.
All of the goodwill the Giants earned after their comeback win in New Orleans went flying out the window on Sunday in Big D. The Giants literally got their clocks cleaned by the Cowboys in a game that was difficult to watch for Giant fans.
Dallas opened the game with a crisp drive but were stopped dead when Giants linebacker Lorenzo Carter tipped and then plucked a Dak Prescott pass out of the air on fourth-and-2 at the Giants’ 48.
The Giants could only get down to the Dallas 36 after a six-play drive. Graham Gano, following the trend of the day around the league, pushed the 54-yard field goal attempt wide of the right upright.
Dallas drove down to the Giants’ 12 but tight end Dalton Schultz could not reel in a pass on the goal line on third down and the Cowboys settled for a 31-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein to open the scoring.
On the Giants’ next possession Saquon Barkley left the game after turning his ankle stepping on the foot of defensive back Jordan Lewis. He was carted into the locker room and did not return.
Dallas looked like they were going to run the Giants right out of Texas until Prescott fumbled a snap on the Giants’ ten yard-line. Reggie Ragland recovered the ball on the eight to stop what had been a steamroller of a drive. The Giants could not capitalize as they went three-and-out.
Dallas went up, 10-0, when Prescott found CeeDee Lamb down the right side of the field for a 49-yard touchdown hookup. Lamb had beaten cornerback James Bradberry and Prescott hit him in stride. It was the second consecutive game Bradberry has been beaten long.
The Giants weren’t about to let Dallas have all the fun. They kicked a field goal on their next drive to narrow the core to 10-3 and then went on a 12-play, 83-yard drive that culminated in a one-yard dive by Devontae Booker on fourth down to tie the score at 10.
But the big takeaway from that drive was the loss of quarterback Daniel Jones to a concussion suffered on third and goal as he was trying to score on a keeper around left end. Jones stumbled back to the huddle and had to be carted into the locker room. Mike Glennon relieved Jones.
Dallas scored on a Prescott-to-Amari Cooper 24-yard touchdown connection one play after James Bradberry dropped a sure interception.
The Giants opened the second half with a seven-play, 42-yard drive that ended with a 51-yard field goal from Gano to make the score 17-13.
After the Cowboys pulled ahead, 27-13, after three quarters, the Giants drove down into the red zone in the early fourth quarter only to come away with nothing. Kadarius Toney was practically tackled in the end zone by Dallas cornerback Anthony Brown but no flag was thrown.
The final score was 44-20. The Giants dropped to 1-4 on the season and have to play some of the league’s best teams over the next six weeks. This game was as deflating as loss as the Giants have had in recent years, and that’s saying something.
Notes
- Wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton were both inactive again with hamstring strains. Kenny Golladay injured his knee at some juncture in the first half and was ruled out at halftime. Safety Jabrill Peppers (hamstring) was inactive. Xavier McKinney started in his place.
- With Ben Bredeson (hand) out again and Andrew Thomas questionable (but active) with a foot injury, the Giants’ starting offensive line was — left to right: Nate Solder, Matt Skura, Billy Price, Will Hernandez and Matt Peart. It was the fifth different starting lineup in as many games.
- Rookie cornerback Rodarius Williams hobbled off the field in the third quarter.
- Toney caught 10 of his 13 targets for 189 yards an ran for seven more before getting ejected for throwing a punch in the fourth quarter.
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