Rank'Em
Rank'Em: Top 12 Cowboys Standouts vs. Giants
For the second straight week, the Cowboys had plenty of standouts from their win. But here were the best players on the field Monday night against the Giants.
12. Brett Maher – If not for the late, great Curtis Hennig, there might be a new Mr. Perfect to rave about, and that's Brett Maher. Yes, the season is still young as the Cowboys enter Week 4, but Maher hasn't missed a single kick and his three successful field goals against the Giants helped create enough distance to allow the defense to tee off on Jones that much more so as the fourth quarter wore on. There were lots of questions about which version of Maher the Cowboys were re-signing, but the answers seem to have arrived.
11. Micah Parsons – In the category of "sometimes stats lie," Parsons was credited with just one tackle in the game Monday night. But he clearly had an impact on the game, providing a steady rush on Daniel Jones that led to over 20 QB pressures and five sacks. Yes, Parsons gets doubled and tripled teamed but it's paving the way for his teammates to get home.
10. Tyler Smith — The 21-year-old left tackle continues to improve. The Cowboys feel so good about Smith's progress that they kept him at left tackle and worked in nine-time Pro Bowler Jason Peters at left guard against the Giants. The offense had a lot of success running left Monday night, including a 27-yard run by Ezekiel Elliott where Smith was knocking down defenders 20 yards up the field.
9. Noah Brown — Brown and quarterback Cooper Rush have built an on-field rapport as backups over the years. It shows. Brown again was a safety blanket for Rush on Monday night, catching five passes for 54 yards, second best on the team.
8. Trevon Diggs — Diggs missed out on a potential pick-six early in the game but made up for it with a game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter. Thanks in part to Diggs' coverage, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones completed only 20 passes for 196 yards and no touchdowns.
7. CeeDee Lamb — Like Trevon Diggs, Lamb had plays to forget in the first half. But the Cowboys' 89-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter was arguably Lamb's best sequence as a Cowboy yet: three catches for 31 yards in four plays, including a fourth-down conversion and the one-handed TD grab. He led all players with eight catches for 87 yards.
6. Ezekiel Elliott — Elliott and Tony Pollard were a productive tandem again Monday, combining for 178 yards while essentially splitting 28 carries. Elliott ran hard and efficiently 15 times for 73 yards, and his 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter tied the game at 13-13. It felt like the momentum shifted in the Cowboys' favor after that.
5. Dorance Armstrong — Armstrong is quickly becoming one of the biggest unsung heroes for the Cowboys, and not simply on defense. If not for a penalty in the secondary that deleted one of his sacks, he would've had his second two-sack game in only three tries - going on to finish with one on the evening along with a blocked field goal against Graham Gano that swung momentum back to Dallas early in the game. He's a force now.
4. Tony Pollard — The mission to defeat the Giants at MetLife Stadium was largely rooted in the ability of the Cowboys to run the ball. Enter Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott, both of whom landed critical punches to New York's defense, but it was Pollard who truly took the top off of the rushing attack on Monday night. He used his explosiveness to deliver his first 100-yard game since Week 2 of the 2021 season, showing a lot of toughness to go along with his speed and quickness.
3. Donovan Wilson — Impact. That's the singular word used by head coach Mike McCarthy to describe what Wilson means to the Cowboys defense, and he couldn't be more correct. It's shaping up to be another breakout season for the young veteran safety, equal or possibly better than his career-best in 2020. Wilson was all over the field making plays and showed resilience in overcoming a couple of mental errors en route to helping to nail the coffin with a late-game sack on Daniel Jones - his team-leading 11th tackle on the day.
2. Cooper Rush — There have only been three quarterbacks in franchise history who have started with a 3-0 record when asked to take on the role of QB1 and Rush is one of them, along with Jason Garrett and NFL legend Roger Staubach. And while no one is claiming Rush is equal to Captain America, he's certainly proving his doubters wrong at every turn, and his clutch gene has also been on full display as well in helping to lead the Cowboys to a two-game win streak in the absence of Dak Prescott. Rush was stellar against the Giants and the only reason his stat line doesn't reflect it is because of drops by his targeted receivers.
1. DeMarcus Lawrence — Only one person performed better than Rush, and it's the air surrounding his entrance into this bout that makes it that much sweeter. Ahead of the matchup was when Lawrence, in his usual jovial fashion toward the Giants, referred to Daniel Jones as "Little Eli" and noted how "excited" he was to see Jones again. The twittersphere went wild with predictions of Lawrence being a non-factor on Monday, but they couldn't have been more wrong as the All-Pro exploded for three sacks … before halftime. It took medical evaluation that stole his third quarter to slow him down, otherwise he might've doubled that number.
