Cowboys Turn Giants Into Turkeys

 

By Andrew Rosario

 

 

Arlington, Texas – When the New York “Football” Giants played the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving day, the game had all the feelings of a playoff game. From inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas, the conditions were perfect compared to outside where the rain came down in buckets. Dallas and the Giants had the same record coming into the game at 7-3. Dallas mauled the Minnesota Vikings 40-3 the week before while the Giants were bum rushed by the Detroit Lions at MetLife Stadium 31-18. The winner looked to keep pace with first place Philadelphia Eagles (9-1) as it was the first of four straight division games for Big Blue as they would face the Washington Commanders twice sandwiched by the Eagles. 

 

Dallas won the coin toss and elected to defer to New York as neither team did anything in their first possession. The Giants would draw first blood the second time they got the ball. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones connected with wide receiver Isaiah Hodges for a 24-yard touchdown pass but the play was nullified as the offense was called for an ineligible receiver downfield. Field goal kicker Graham Gano then nailed a 57-yard field goal for the early 3-0 lead.

 

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott committed the first turnover of the day the next time Dallas had the ball. Looking for wide receiver Michael Gallup, Giants cornerback Rodarius Williams steps in front and comes up with the interception. New York could not take advantage as the quarter ended with the Giants up 3-0. The score would not last long as Dallas would get on the board the next time they had the ball. 

 

The Dallas defense stepped up as the Giants went 3 and out to start the second quarter. Prescott composed himself taking the Cowboys 93 yards in 11 plays resulting in a Ezekiel Elliott 6-yard touchdown run giving the Boys a 7-3 lead. Not to be undaunted and trying to calm the raucous crowd, Jones responds by finding wide receiver Darius Slayton 44 yards downfield for a circus catch putting them on the Dallas 1-yard line. Running back Saquon Barkley takes it in two plays later giving them a 10-7 lead. Prescott would throw his second interception of the day which led to another Gano field goal (47 yards) giving New York its last lead of the day at 13-7.

 

Dallas relied on their running game to start the third quarter as they went 75 yards (48 on the ground) in 14 plays ending in a 15-yards Prescott touchdown pass to tight end Dalton Schultz. The Cowboys got the ball 6 plays later and this time they only needed 6 plays to get into the end zone again. Prescott and Schultz hoping up again for a 6-yard touchdown. The Cowboys then put the game away going 80 yards in 10 plays extending the lead to 28-13 after tight end Peyton Henderson ran it in from 2-yards out. New York added a meaningless touchdown in the 28-20 loss.

 

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones finished his day completing 21 of 35 passes for 228 yards and 1 touchdown. The Dallas defense did not allow him to be a factor in running the ball as he only gained 14 yards on 3 carries. Barkley was even less than a factor as he touched the ball a total of 15 times for 52 yards 39 on the ground. 

 

Prescott finished with 261 yards on 21 of 30 completions, 2 touchdowns and 2 picks. The Giants failed to take advantage of his miscues. Elliott ran for 90 yards and running back mate Tony Pollard gained 62 yards.

 

As you can imagine, there was nothing but disappointment coming out of the Giants lockeroom. Jones has now lost 5 of his 6 starts against Dallas. “It’s a tough loss,” he began. It’s a divisional game and a game where we didn’t play our best. That’s always disappointing.” Jones then went on to praise the Cowboys. “You’ve got to give credit to Dallas. They are a  good team, but we didn’t do what we needed to do to win the game. That was the difference and it’s frustrating for all of us.”

 

The Giants have now lost 3 of their last 4 games and host the Washington Commanders (7-5) Sunday who beat the Atlanta Falcons (5-7) 19-13. It was their 5^th win in their last 6 games. New York’s playoff hopes will be determined in the next 3 weeks. After Sunday, they host the Eagles (10-1) who took out Green Bay Sunday night before going to Washington the week after.