Nothing great happened for the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night.
Both teams were unable to get into a rhythm as they continued to commit penalties. Not all of the Cowboys’ problems have been resolved. They couldn’t run the ball. They gave up a lot of yards and long drives. The offense had chances but didn’t kill the Giants. No one could cover New York Giants rookie receiver Malik Nabors. Things took a turn for the worse late in the night when Micah Parsons was sent off with a left foot injury. Dallas won’t be without him for long.
Parsons’ injury is a big concern, but at least the Cowboys won. After a miserable two-game losing streak, the Cowboys just wanted a win, and it didn’t matter how it happened. Dallas was able to get back into the win column with a 20-15 victory over the New York Giants in a memorable game.
But there’s a big difference between 2-2 and 1-3, and the Cowboys avoided the latter.
Dallas hasn’t played well on either side of the ball this season, and I’m not getting excited about how many yards the defense gave up or how many second-half touchdowns the offense threw. But imagine the alarm bells going off if you lose three games in a row.
Cowboys start late but take the lead
The Cowboys wanted to get back on the field quickly to shake off the stink from Sunday’s game and carry the momentum from their fourth-quarter rally into Week 4. Dallas then started with a very quick three-and. Outside. And on the first defensive possession, cornerback Anthony Booth Jr. broke his ankle trying to guard NBA star Anthony Edwards in the lane, and when Neighbors caught a 39-yard pass, the Cowboys The defender wasn’t even on the TV screen. This resulted in a field goal for the Giants, and a penalty for the Cowboys on the ensuing kickoff. It wasn’t the start Dallas was hoping for.
The Cowboys improved after getting off to a slow start. Rico Doodle scored on a screen pass, then CeeDee Lamb passed 55 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. The Giants were moving the ball in the second quarter, including a marathon drive, but only scored a field goal and no touchdown. The Cowboys led 14-9 after a penalty-filled first half.
The second half was somehow even uglier than the first.
Giants, Cowboys don’t score much
The Giants had a similar play in the first half and second half. They’ll move the ball, stall in the Cowboys’ territory, and Greg Joseph will go for a field goal. The Cowboys couldn’t do much, but they kept the Giants out of the end zone and a couple of Joseph field goals made the score 17-15 in favor of Dallas.
When the Giants got the ball back with 6 minutes and 54 seconds remaining, they were still behind by less than a touchdown, although they didn’t score a touchdown. The Giants’ defense allowed Lamb a long touchdown catch but little else, and the Cowboys were unable to pull away from the game. Daniel Jones got the ball back with a chance for a game-clinching drive, but the Giants would ultimately need to score a touchdown to make it happen.
The Giants were immediately faced with four outs on first base, and Brian Daboll decided to go for it. Devin Singletary picked it up on the run up to center. Immediately after, with 4 out and 6th base, he took aim again. Nabors was unable to hang on to the pass with 3:21 remaining and was injured on the play. The Giants announced he suffered a concussion.
The Giants had another chance in the final moments. Brandon Aubrey, who has played almost automatically throughout his NFL career, missed 51 yards with less than a minute left. However, Jones threw an interception on a desperate pass and the game was over.
If there’s one positive for the Cowboys, it’s that the defense has gotten tougher against the run. That was a big problem in the losses to the Saints and Ravens. Dallas shut out the Giants’ run game. Another positive was Lamb’s seven catches for 98 yards.
The rest was not so pretty. Things could get even worse if Parsons’ injury is serious.