Cowboys pull away from shorthanded Giants for season sweep
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Giants didn’t even get to partake in a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but that didn’t stop them from experiencing the accompanying indigestion.
Their discomfort came from a 28-20 loss to the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Thursday in which they led at halftime and had opportunities to make it competitive in the second half. They eventually allowed the game to slip through their hands as if they had been grease-coated from a huge turkey meal.
“You get that nasty feeling in your stomach, that pain in your stomach, especially when there are a lot of things you can go back and if you change it, you can change the outcome of the game,” Saquon Barkley said. “Every time you lose, it [stinks].”
This one seemed to sting more than the others. Even the King of the Even Keel, coach Brian Daboll, had difficulty hiding his displeasure in his postgame news conference. He delivered a series of terse, testy responses to questions and was so irritated that as he stepped off the podium, he apologized to those in the room for his frustration. “Tough loss,” he said.
Playing without three starting offensive linemen, three starting defensive backs and three of their projected starting wide receivers from the beginning of the season, the Giants simply were unable to keep pace with a Dallas team that looks playoff-bound with a little more than a month left in the regular season.
It was the Giants’ fourth straight loss to Dallas and their 11th in the last 12 meetings. It gave the Giants back-to-back losses for the first time this season and dropped them to 7-4. Dallas is 8-3.
Because the Giants lost their earlier game to the Cowboys and Dallas holds a head-to-head tiebreaker over them, they essentially trail the Cowboys by two games.
Philadelphia sits in first place in the NFC East at 9-1 and plays the Packers on Sunday. An Eagles win would drop the Giants three full games out of first place.
The next three Giants games likely will determine their fate for the season as they host Washington and Philadelphia before traveling to Washington. Washington (6-4) has its bye in Week 14 between those Giants meetings. The Giants also will play Minnesota, Indianapolis and Philadelphia to close the regular-season schedule.
They should be healthier by the time that stretch begins next Sunday.
“We’re definitely still confident,” Barkley said. “These last two games, we played some really good teams. We just have to go back, continue to believe in each other, take a few days off and get our bodies ready and our minds ready and go through the rest of the season.”
Making this loss more difficult was that it hinged on a third-quarter play involving the Giants’ two best players that wound up swinging momentum to the Cowboys.
On fourth-and-1 from their own 45 and trailing 14-13, the Giants decided to attempt to pick up the first down rather than punt. Daniel Jones threw a pass to Barkley that was a little low but certainly was catchable, and the running back dropped it.
“I gotta make that play,” Barkley said. “That’s it. I just gotta make the play. Gotta make the play.”
Adding to the agita of the moment was the Giants having only 10 players on the field.
“That can’t happen,” Daboll said. “Can’t happen.”
The Cowboys took possession in Giants territory, setting up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Dalton Schultz that gave them a 21-13 lead going into the fourth quarter. A 2-yard touchdown run by rookie tight end Peyton Hendershot with 8:53 left gave Dallas a 28-13 lead. Jones threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Richie James with eight seconds left in the game.
The Giants had other chances to make game-changing plays. They forced two turnovers in the first quarter — one on downs with a fourth-and-1 stop and one on an interception by Rodarius Williams — but managed only three points off those stops on a 57-yard field goal by Graham Gano. Julian Love had an interception late in the second quarter that led to a 47-yard field goal as time expired that gave the Giants a 13-7 halftime lead.
The Cowboys took the lead for good on their first possession of the second half, a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Schultz catching a 15-yard touchdown pass over cornerback Nick McCloud on third-and-goal.
The defense missed chances, too. Kayvon Thibodeuax whiffed on a sack opportunity. There were other slipped tackles. “It eats you alive when you miss those plays,” Thibodeaux said.
Now the Giants have some time to collect themselves before this critical stretch. There still is a good chance for them to reach the postseason, but they have to start winning games.
“I ain’t gonna throw my helmet away,” linebacker Jihad Ward said. “We just have to get right for everything . . . It’s adversity right now, but we’ve been winning games like this all season. It’s how we handle it when [stuff] gets real in November and December football. That’s our job. What are we gonna do?”
The answer to that question will wind up determining how this whole season is perceived.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
