EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Somehow, someway, Cowboys 20, Giants 15.
No sarcastic eye roll, please.
Look, the Cowboys began this game without two of their starting cornerbacks. We knew DaRon Bland would miss a fourth game, and good chance will miss the fifth and sixth ones too.
Then his backup who has started the previous three games, rookie Caelen Carson, suffered a shoulder injury this past Sunday, failing to even participate in the three walk-through practices in preparation for this Thursday night game here at MetLife Stadium. Carson went from "doubtful" on the injury report on Wednesday to inactive on Thursday.
And at one point in the second half, down goes Trevon Diggs, limping off immediately into the locker room, dehydrated. And for good reason since the game started at 74 degrees with the humidity falling from two hours before kickoff to 88 percent.
Bad enough?
Gracious no. DeMarcus Lawrence already had departed the game with a foot injury. Never came back.
And Micah Parsons, having left temporarily in the first half after suffering a "stinger," he said, yet returned, then went down with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter with a left ankle injury, limping off, X-rays turning out negative but facing an MRI on Monday.
So if you are keeping track, this means if we count Sam Williams going on IR with his torn ACL in training camp, no Lawrence and no Micah to finish the game, the Cowboys were finishing out the night without their top three defensive ends.
And if that were not bad enough, with Bland AND Carson out, the Cowboys started Andrew Booth opposite Diggs at cornerback, not only his first start with the Cowboys – and possibly his last after struggling in the first half – but the very first game he was active on the 48-man game-day roster.
Thank goodness by the start of the second half the Cowboys had decided to insert Amani Oruwariye in his place. And get this: Oruwariye, a fifth-year veteran, was elevated from the practice squad for depth purposes with Carson out, told he would be playing Thursday morning. Why, he was playing his first snaps with Dallas after being signed on Aug. 29.
Yet the Cowboys, after their inauspicious performances in Games 2 and 3 – losses to the Saints and Ravens, giving up a combined 72 points and 464 yards rushing as well as touchdowns to New Orleans on its first six possessions, and three touchdowns to Baltimore in five full first-half possessions – did this:
They held the Giants to 15 points. No touchdowns. Five Greg Joseph field goals in his first five attempts for New York after being signed off the Detroit practice squad on Sept. 17.
They held the Giants, who came into the game thinking they were going to run all over the Cowboys with Devin Singletary, their replacement for Saquan Barkley, to a grand total of 26 yards on 24 carries. Singletary himself had 24 yards on 14 attempts.
Seriously, after the Saints went for 190 and the Ravens for 274 on the ground, the Cowboys, with guys going down left and right, held the Giants to an average of 1.08 yards per carry. Not making this up since there were 80,425 witnesses here at MetLife Stadium, a Prime streaming audience nationwide watching, too, to verify this being so.
No more "Pony League" run defense.
Now, the Cowboys offense still is not hitting on all cylinders. Scored just 20 points, two touchdowns, two more Brandon Aubrey field goals, one of those another 60-yarder that gives him two this season, only the second NFL kicker with multiple 60-yard field goals in a single season.
And I'm sure there will be those saying, but it was the Giants, a team the Cowboys have now beaten in 14 of the last 15 games and seven consecutively, so what's the big deal?
Well, let me tell you, the Cowboys had lost their past two games, and really were no-shows in the losses save the fourth quarter against the Ravens. And the bickering had begun, especially on the bench this past Sunday at AT&T Stadium, giving new meaning to a sideline camera. So here is the deal:
A win is a win is a win. Book it.
Because no matter the lack of style points, guaran-darn-tee you at this point 2-2 looks a helluva lot better than 1-3, knowing they will be going to Pittsburgh next Sunday and then entertaining Detroit at AT&T the following week.
Just ask Dak Prescott.
"Huge, huge, huge. Huge especially when you compare it to the alternative, what that would have been like. It was huge," said Dak, a man of his word, since walking out of the locker room on Tuesday without addressing the media but promising to talk on Thursday "after we win."
Sure enough, he went on and on, continuing to say of the win, "As you said, a young team, young linemen, just understanding the impact that you guys, what your jobs do have on young players. Got to turn the narrative, got to chase the narrative, and that's what this game did, especially over a long weekend.
"Puts us at 2-2, allows us a couple days to get our bodies right, our minds right. If guys want to read about themselves and this team, it's all positive, hopefully. I ask you guys to make it positive. You know, keep their confidence up and just allow to build momentum. Played on a bunch of different teams, as you said, and some that we know when you got going it just gets hot, and that's what we're looking to do. That's what it's about in this league is getting hot at the right time, building, and that's why I just said it's about the process and trusting the process no matter the results anyway."
Biggest plus in this game: The youngins who were forced to play, played well. Sure, the Cowboys committed 15 penalties, assessed 11. Sure, rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton struggled at times, but darn it if he didn't keep battling. And the rookie center Cooper Beebe, with that 6-4, 340-pound behemoth Dexter Lawrence breathing down his neck, with a little help from his friends, limited the nose tackle to two tackles and just one QB hit. That's a win.
We saw fullback Hunter Luepke contribute once again, this time running and receiving, personally accounting for three first downs, two on third-down plays and one on a fourth, twice keeping eventual scoring drives alive.
Then rookie linebacker – by experience – DeMarvion Overshown making tackles in the open field, totaling nine. Rookie linebacker Marist Liufau too. And how 'bout that Mazi Smith, gaining confidence, and pointing out afterward about the run defense, saying, "Just locked in on the details. Just got to keep going."
Hey, the second-year nose tackle is doing a much better job holding down the fort in the middle, and for a second straight game had three tackles, even another for a loss. And how about backup defensive ends forced into the fray with Lawrence and Parsons going down, Marshawn Kneeland, Chauncey Golston and even veteran Carl Lawson elevated from the practice squad.
And betting Oruwariye will be get another practice squad elevation next week in Pittsburgh. Probably should start if Carson can't go, though told if this was a Sunday game he might have been able to play through the shoulder problem. Why, the cornerback closed out the game intercepting Daniel Jones' Hail Marry pass at the Cowboys 4-yard line, but he also had two passes broken up, three tackles and a tackle for a loss. Not bad for a practice squad player no one had paid any attention to for nearly a month, actually needing to be asked how to pronounce his name.
Here ye, hear ye, it's "Oh-ru-whar-ee-eh" according to him.
Look, at 2-2, the Cowboys aren't out of the woods yet. But maybe, just maybe, not only did this win at least prolong a season for nine days with so many ready to bury them after just four games had they lost this one. But this could be a sign there is room for improvement.
There is talent. You saw Dak throw two touchdown passes and complete 81 percent of his passes. You saw a resurgent CeeDee Lamb haul in seven catches for 98 yards and that 55-yard touchdown reception, teaching the Giants a lesson about trying to cover him in man, badly burning cornerback Deonte Banks.
And running back Rico Dowdle is starting to emerge with 11 carries, 46 yards (4.2 average) and taking a screen pass a nifty 15 yards for a touchdown.
Most of all, the defense being defensive, actually made timely plays to keep the Giants out of the end zone, including on their last possession after Aubrey unlikely missed a 51-yard field goal, breaking his string to start a career with previously 12 consecutive 50-plus yarders
So at least this is a step in the right direction, no matter the injuries suffered.
"No matter who is up, the standard doesn't drop," said middle linebacker Eric Kendricks, leading the team once against with 13 tackles. "Got to play hard, and now we got to keep going."
To me, this is no time to announce the Cowboys' 2024 season arrival. But hey, just don't minimize a win. Not a division one. Not one on the road. Not after what took place over the previous two games.
Let's just let this thing breathe.
