Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott’s efficient evening gets the win, the defense comes up big

For the second straight year at MetLife Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys defense held the home team New York Giants without a touchdown in their own stadium. It wasn’t perhaps nearly as impressive as the 40-0 season-opening win on a Sunday night a year ago, an early statement from Dallas that they could be a dangerous team again — and a statement of sorts that this current Cowboys team still is It took four weeks for the Cowboys to do a lot of things right in the game’s crucial moments to earn a 20-15 victory.

Mike Zimmer’s defense found a way by being called up to the practice squad, Amani Oruwariye seeing the field for the first time, newly signed Carlos Watkins already thrown into the defensive tackle rotation, and Trevon Diggs, DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons leaving the field with injuries at different times. For a defense that has been rightly criticized for barely giving this team a chance in the first two home games of the season, being the catalyst for a road win before the 10-day break is something this team can potentially build on .

The defense appeared to be at its best as the Cowboys’ offense found just enough traction to take the lead in a game for the first time since Week 1. The Cowboys forced Daniel Jones and the Giants to consistently take the long road down, with all but one of New York’s scoring streaks lasting ten or more games. The Giants got to the Cowboys’ three-yard line and three more times within their 25 yards, but never put the ball in the end zone.

The Cowboys’ offense never panicked given the fact that the Giants ultimately won time of possession by more than ten minutes by not forcing the ball offside with low-rate throws and instead finding more creative ways for Dak Prescott to pass the ball with a rate of 81.5 to carry seven different receivers completion percentage.

Knowing that in a short week, this game likely hinges on which team stars could impact the game the most, CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson led the way with a combined 14 catches on 15 targets, accounting for 63% of Prescott’s completions and 147 of them his 221 yards. Lamb also had the team’s longest run of the night for 10 yards, but Rico Dowdle was the best option out of the backfield with 11 runs for 46 yards. Dowdle also gave the Cowboys a 7-3 lead with a receiving touchdown in the first quarter on a 15-yard screen pass to paydirt.

Regardless of how the Cowboys got on the winning list Thursday in New Jersey, there was no way for this team to answer all the questions plaguing Mike McCarthy’s squad after two straight lopsided losses. The only important thing is that they actually won and can now continue to answer these questions with a solid 2-2 record, as opposed to a potentially disastrous 1-3 that has the Giants now already two divisional losses long into the year . The Commanders and Eagles will both be in action on the road this Sunday.

Let’s take a look at a few more notes on how the Cowboys emerged victorious in their fifth straight NFC East win and seventh straight against the Giants.

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• On both teams’ first offensive possession, they faced an immediate third down attempt after running the ball on second down. The Cowboys chose a rollout play for Prescott that didn’t give him many options after Lamb was taken away and were quickly forced to punt. The Giants got their best receiver Malik Nabers in a favorable matchup against Andrew Booth, who filled in at CB for Dallas without rookie Caelen Carson, and it led to their longest pass play of the night, with Nabers catching a double play for 39 yards. A Giants penalty would help the Cowboys get into another third, where Zimmer could increase the pressure on safety Donovan Wilson, forcing Jones to throw just in front of the sticks, and the Giants would have to settle for a field goal.

Still early enough in the game to not know that this would be the story of the night, it seemed like the Giants had some early momentum and could have used it to put their defense in a similar situation to last week’s Victory at the Browns, where the pass Rush picked off. The Cowboys responded quickly by establishing their top receivers on the ensuing drive, as Brandin Cooks made his first catch to move the chains on a third-and-short play before Dowdle’s touchdown.

The Cowboys may not have placed the same emphasis as the Giants on making sure their receivers were lined up against the cornerbacks they wanted, but they got creative in other ways to change the picture for the Giants defense and Prescott did that to allow him to do what he does best from the bag. Movement out of the backfield with all of their defenders, including fullback Hunter Luepke, who caught two passes and carried twice for eight yards with a fourth down conversion, as well as key blitz pickups from players like Deuce Vaughn on Lamb’s 55-yard touchdown It was for made the Giants’ pass rush more difficult to have the expected impact. Even though rookie Tyler Guyton had his problems with Kayvon Thibodeaux, who had New York’s only sack, the Cowboys stayed on schedule offensively and only suffered four of ten total downs longer than seven yards.

The goal for the Cowboys’ offense, of course, should be to find more ways to push the ball downfield so as not to need all three downs to advance, with Lamb making his splashes as promised on Thursday, but in a game they had to Definitely making it was good enough in all three phases.

It was crucial for the Cowboys on their last scoring drive to avoid going into the third period. That ensured that the Giants would have to find a way to score a touchdown to win after Dallas had rallied for a score after a second-and-20 run and a third-and-12 completion for just under three yards to Luepke on the previous drive.

Jake Ferguson had two nine-yard receptions on the first and tenth plays, giving the drive a promising start, but when he was finally faced with a third down after consecutive runs to Dowdle and Lamb for just three net yards, Prescott was able to Failing to connect with Lamb on third down attempt, the Cowboys continued to leave the door open and settled for another field goal.

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Second-year play-caller Mike McCarthy running a dynamic offense was supposed to be the biggest game-day advantage the HC coach could get for his job in 2024, but instead it seemed to be Zimmer’s defense that stood out the most losses in Weeks 2 and 3 and they once again positioned themselves to give the defense a chance on every shot.

The offense is having a much harder time accomplishing this on a consistent basis right now, as the pressure will only continue to mount for a unit that lacks game-winning skills at multiple positions.

• Just as the Giants began the game by relying on Andrew Booth, who at that point was a better run support player on the edge than the cover cornerback in Zimmer’s defense, they began the second half by throwing to Booth’s backup, Amani Oruwariye . The practice squad call-up also struggled to find the ball and get into the right position to avoid allowing big plays, but the Cowboys defense still held firm thanks to a third-and-goal open field tackle by DeMarvion Overshown the red zone. Overshown seemed comfortable standing close to the line of scrimmage to hide pressure and get Jones to go to his short assignments, as well as rotating in space and chasing the ball to the boundary. No moment seemed too big for a player who was getting his first regular season experience as a rookie after tearing his ACL in the preseason. The second-year linebacker was an ever-present for Dallas in this game, also making the tackle on the kickoff that started this drive that took up nearly half of the third quarter for the Giants.

Shortening the game itself but still falling behind, and then seeing Brandon Aubrey extend the Cowboys’ lead back to five with an automatic 60-yard field goal was a real turning point for the Giants, the had any hope of emerging victorious.

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The Giants punted, kicked their final field goal, turned the ball over on downs and threw the game-winning interception to Oruwariye, whose remaining possessions required a touchdown to take the lead. Zimmer’s defense was able to sit back and advance throws with help over the top, and also came up with splash plays like Marshawn Kneeland’s tackle for loss on Jones (another young player who also plays well on special teams) and Jourdan Lewis’ middle attack field tackle in space against Robinson.

With so many rotating faces on defense, the Cowboys weren’t fundamentally solid in all four quarters, missed tackles and penalties were obvious points of attack, but they looked more cohesive in their formation than at any point in the last two weeks. They put their most experienced players like Lewis, Malik Hooker and Micah Parsons in position to make plays.

• After a strong fourth-quarter performance against the Ravens, Mazi Smith is making more and more plays each week and showing real potential in a scheme that paints him as the Cowboys’ best option at nose tackle. Smith wins with leverage and does a better job of staying right at the line of scrimmage to reduce how many blockers can attack him. With holding the point of attack one of his responsibilities as a unit technique, Smith has also shed blocks to make solo tackles in recent weeks. This is the most encouraging sign that Dallas will have a chance at better run defense as it continues to improve.

One of the main reasons this rivalry has been so one-sided in recent meetings is not only Prescott’s strong performance against the Giants, but also the Cowboys’ pass rush, which is absolutely imposing its will with the Giants at the helm. For the first time in a long time this didn’t happen as players like Parsons and Odighizuwa struggled to get out of the blocks in time to influence Jones, but this defensive front still had to adequately withstand the onslaught. The Giants couldn’t rely on their running game to create favorable passing situations for Jones, because even when the Cowboys’ front couldn’t get a stop, they spread runs all the way to the second level, where Overshown or leading tackler Eric Kendricks were there to finish plays.