Any win is pretty … no matter how ugly it can get at times.
Desperately needing to get the train back on track, the Cowboys traveled to the Meadowlands to take on the Giants in a Thursday night showdown. And seemingly playing with more purpose, Dallas would shake off its doldrums – as well as a host of penalties and a lopsided time of possession – to capture a 20-15 victory over the New York rivals.
In a game that remained close throughout the night, both quarterbacks were efficient with Dallas' Dak Prescott completing 81.5 percent of his passes for 221 yards, two touchdowns and a 125.5 passer rating. Meanwhile, his Giants counterpart, Daniel Jones, totaled 281 yards off a 72.5 completion rate for an 81.4 rating.
Prescott found his connection again with CeeDee Lamb, as the star wideout broke out of a mini-slump with seven catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Jake Ferguson also had seven grabs, earning 49 receiving yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Cowboys allowed only 26 rushing yards on 24 carries, an impressive 1.1 yards per carry average. The Giants tried to pick on a pair of young cornerbacks in the passing game with rookie wide receiver Malik Nabors making 12 catches for 115 yards. Still, the Dallas defense kept New York out of the end zone to help secure the win.
Overall, the Giants outgained the Cowboys in total yards, 303 to 293, and dominated the time of possession, 35:37 to 24:23. Dallas also racked up 11 penalties for 89 yards to New York's four for 35. No matter, the Cowboys came out on top where they needed to – on the scoreboard.
Unfortunately, it wasn't all good for the Cowboys on this night. In the third quarter veteran defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence suffered a right foot injury, and though he remained on the sideline, he didn't return to the game. Then late in the fourth quarter, star edge rusher Micah Parsons was helped off the field and eventually carted to the locker room.
First Quarter
After a quick three-and-out on their opening drive, the Cowboys found themselves down 3-0. The Giants' first possession was stalled thanks to an offensive facemask penalty, but they still got into range for a 52-yard field goal.
Dallas made the most of its next opportunity, though. Prescott and Lamb connected four times for 30 yards with Lamb also lining up in the backfield once and picking up 10 yards on a run around right end. But it would be Rico Dowdle who would get the touchdown, taking in a short pass and darting to the end zone for a 15-yard score and a 7-0 lead.
Second Quarter
The next round of 15 minutes began with the Giants accomplishing what they did on their first possession, a field goal. Back-to-back completions of 11 and then 28 yards got New York down to the Cowboys' 28-yard line, but there the Dallas defense held firm, forcing the home side to settle for a 41-yard field goal.
However, while the Giants were picking up three points at a time, the Cowboys were taking seven-point steps. After Hunter Luepke kept his feet to move the chains on fourth-and-1 at the Dallas 39-yard line, on the very next snap, Prescott avoided the blitz and lofted a pass to Lamb down the left side. The receiver hauled in the pass, cut to the middle and then traveled untouched 55 yards for the touchdown.
New York came back with a 15-play drive that saw Jones and company eat 8:10 off the clock. But the Cowboys held them to only 52 yards gained and kept the Giants from getting no closer than the Dallas 16-yard line. The result was another New York field goal, this one a 38-yarder to narrow the Cowboys' advantage to 14-9 at the half.
Third Quarter
The Giants picked up right where they left off as they again put together another long drive that resulted in a field goal. This time the series went 77 yards in 11 plays and reached the Dallas 3-yard line. But despite getting picked apart throughout the drive, the Cowboys held the line, surrendering only three more points after the 22-yard field goal was good.
Give three, take three. The Cowboys' possession wasn't nearly as long, lasting eight plays but traveling only 28 yards. That got the team into Brandon Aubrey's range, though, as the star kicker came out and split the uprights from 60 yards to bump the score back up to 17-12.
Fourth Quarter
The field goal see-saw continued as New Giants Greg Joseph converted his fifth field-goal attempt of the night less than four minutes into the final frame, a 42-yarder. But Dallas would come right back, Aubrey kicking a 40-yard field goal himself with just under seven minutes to go to keep the point differential at five, 20-15.
Finally, the Cowboys broke the field-goal cycle when Jones' pass attempt to Nabors fell incomplete on fourth-and-6 at New York's 45-yard line. Dallas then ticked some needed time off before Aubrey came on for a 51-yard try. Surprisingly, the sure-footed kicker pushed the ball wide right, the first miss of his career from 50 yards.
That left 28 seconds on the clock, but cornerback Amani Oruwariye, making his first appearance with the Cowboys after being called up from the practice squad, came down with an interception to seal the win.
