The New York Giants lacked in scoring and consistent defense as they lost to the Dallas Cowboys 21-6 Sunday afternoon at MetLife stadium.
Successful moments of the Giants defense were short lived as they had their 10th loss of the season and the Cowboys moved closer to the NFC East title with 10 wins. New York was without their starting their quarterback (Daniel Jones neck) and some key players as offense made mistakes and the defensive efforts were not enough to stop their division rivals.
“We’ve got to make sure that we eliminate the turnovers,” said second year head coach Joe Judge. “Too many penalties today. Obviously, a lot of things we have to improve on as a team.”
The Giants first drive ended as a pass from quarterback Mike Glennon to wide receiver Sterling Shepard was intercepted. Glennon filled in again for Jones. Dallas quickly scored first with a touchdown run by running back Ezekiel Elliott. The Giants worked down the field on their second drive. Running back Devontae Booker had a successful run with a gain of 28 yards. The Cowboys defense and an incomplete pass by Glennon kept the Giants short of the touchdown, but a 35-yard field goal by Giants Graham Gano provided three points before the end of the quarter.
Dallas managed a field goal in their first possession in the second quarter. New York’s defense made efforts to stops the Cowboys in their second possession. Giants linebackers Azeez Ojulari and Quincy Roche shared a split-sack. The Giants offense had a few mishaps, which brought defense back to the field. Running Back Saquon Barkley fumbled with about 49 seconds remaining and Dallas recovered. Cowboys Greg Zuerlein made a 27-yard field goal before halftime and Giants trailed 15-3. The Giants had one field goal to start the third quarter. The Cowboys scored a touchdown with about 2:03 minutes remaining in the quarter. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter. Glennon was replaced by quarterback Jake Fromm, who made his NFL debut with about 3:41 minutes remaining before the end of the game.
Judge said there are still things to cleanup, but was pleased with the overall effort of the defense. “At the end of the half, off another turnover, I liked the strip-sack at the end of the game in a tough situation, setting our offense up with a chance to have it right there.”
Linebacker Lorenzo Carter was responsible for the strip-sack. He had his first two quarterback sacks this season on Sunday. “It’s just to try and come out and help the team as much as possible and try to get a win at the end of the day,” Carter said about his motivation.
“Obviously, it was a different type of week for us in preparation,” Judge said. “Though the effort of the team was what we needed, but obviously the execution was not. Too many self-inflicted wounds today.”
Both teams were without key players due to COVID-19. The Giants’ team meetings and practice were affected by COVID-19 as well.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott completed 28 of 37 passes for 217 yards. Glennon completed 13 of 24 passes for 99 yards. Fromm completed 6 of 12 passes for 82 yards, one was a pass for 36 yards to wide reciver Kenny Golladay. “When you get close like that, obviously you want to punch it in and definitely get six, especially in that situation we were in,” Fromm said about the end zone excitement.
Giants fell 44-20 in their last meeting with the Cowboys in October.
Giants next head to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles Sunday. Coach Judge said the staff will discuss who will start at quarterback on Sunday.
