Nothing was pretty for the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night.
Neither team could get in a rhythm, mostly because they both kept committing penalties. All of the Cowboys’ issues weren’t fixed. They couldn’t run the ball. They gave up plenty of yards and many long drives. The offense didn’t put away the Giants when it had the opportunity. Nobody could cover New York Giants rookie receiver Malik Nabers. The night took a bad turn late when Micah Parsons was carted off with a left leg injury. Dallas can’t afford to be without him for long.
The Parsons injury is a big concern, but at least the Cowboys won. After two straight miserable losses, the Cowboys just wanted a win and it didn’t matter how it happened. Dallas was able to get back in the win column with a 20-15 victory over the New York Giants in a game they won’t remember fondly.
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 it’s not like they’ll be thrilled with how many yards the defense gave up or zero second-half touchdowns by the offense. But just imagine the alarms that would be going off if they lost three in a row.
Cowboys start slow but take the lead
The Cowboys had to want to get right back on the field, to get the stink of Sunday’s game off of them and maybe carry some of the momentum from their fourth-quarter rally into Week 4. Then Dallas started with a very quick three-and-out, cornerback Anthony Booth Jr. covering. Nabers had his ankles broken like he was trying to guard NBA star Anthony Edwards in the lane, and no Cowboys defender was even on the TV screen when Nabers caught a 39-yard pass. That set up a Giants field goal, and a Cowboys penalty on the ensuing kickoff. Not the start Dallas was hoping for.
The Cowboys got it going after a slow start. Rico Dowdle scored on a screen pass, and then CeeDee Lamb took a pass 55 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. The Giants were moving the ball, including a marathon drive in the second quarter, but were getting only field goals and not touchdowns. The Cowboys led 14-9 at the end of a penalty-filled first half.
The second half, somehow, was even uglier than the first.
Giants, Cowboys don’t get many points
The first half and the second half was similar for the Giants. They would move he ball, stall in Cowboys territory and Greg Joseph would come on for a field goal. The Cowboys weren’t doing much but they were holding the Giants out of the end zone, and a couple more Joseph field goals made the score 17-15 in favor of Dallas.
And even though the Giants didn’t have a touchdown when they got the ball back with 6:54 left, they trailed by less than a touchdown. The Giants defense, which allowed the long touchdown catch to Lamb and not much else, kept the Cowboys from putting the game away. Daniel Jones got the ball back with a chance for a game-winning drive, though the Giants would have to finally score a touchdown to make that happen.
The Giants faced a fourth-and-1 right away and Brian Daboll decided to go for it. Devin Singletary picked it up on a run up the middle. They went for it again on fourth-and-6 right after. Nabers couldn’t hang on to a pass with 3:21 left, and was injured on the play as well. The Giants said he suffered a concussion.
The Giants got yet another chance in the final minute. Brandon Aubrey, who has been nearly automatic in his NFL career, missed a 51-yarder with less than a minute to go. But Jones threw an interception on a desperation pass and the game was over.
If there was one positive for the Cowboys, it’s that the defense was tougher against the run. That was a big problem in losses to the Saints and Ravens. Dallas shut down the Giants’ run game. It was also a positive for Lamb to post 98 yards on seven catches.
The rest wasn’t pretty. It’ll be even worse if Parsons’ injury is serious.