The Giants’ inability to finish drives dogged them with a narrow loss to the Cowboys

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Dak Prescott threw one of his two touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb and the Dallas Cowboys once again taunted the Giants, winning 20-15 on Thursday night for their seventh straight win over New York and 14th in 15 games.

Prescott, who has won his last 13 starts against the Giants, hit running back Rico Dowdle with a 15-yard screen pass for a touchdown to give Dallas the lead in the first quarter. He then found Lamb for a 55-yard catch-and-run TD on a play that ended with a taunt on the receiver.

Lamb slipped past two defenders and trotted into the end zone. He then shot the ball toward them and flexed his muscles, resulting in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Prescott finished 22 of 27 for 221 yards, while Lamb had seven catches for 98 yards.

Brandon Aubrey hit field goals from 60 and 40 yards for Dallas (2-2), which entered the game with major concerns after being soundly beaten at home by New Orleans and Baltimore. A new problem for the Cowboys is an apparent leg injury to star pass rusher Micah Parsons, who was carted off the field in the fourth quarter.

Greg Joseph hit field goals of 52, 41, 38, 22 and 42 for the Giants (1-3), who controlled the ball 35-37 but failed to score a touchdown at home for the second straight game. They scored two field goals in the 28-6 loss to Minnesota in the opening game.

What hurt New York was its inability to compete against the worst rush defense in the league. Dallas gave up an average of 185.7 yards, but it held the Giants to 26 yards on 24 carries, an average of 1.1 yards.

Daniel Jones’ arm held him tight. He completed 29 of 40 passes for 281 yards and hit sensational rookie Malik Nabers 12 times for 115 yards and Wan’Dale Robinson 11 times for 71 yards. But the one thing he couldn’t find was the end zone.

Nabers left late in the game with a concussion. Jones threw an interception on the Giants’ final series after Aubrey missed a 51-yard field goal attempt – his first career miss from over 50 yards – to give New York a narrow final shot.

If there was a bright spot for the Giants, it was that they were at least competitive against a bitter rival. They lost their two games last year 89:17.

INJURIES

Cowboys: DE DeMarcus Lawrence, who had a sack in the first half to increase his career total to 61 1/2, left the second half with a foot injury. … Rookie starting CB Caelen Carson and backup S Markquese Bell (ankle) were inactive after being listed as questionable. Andrew Booth started for Carson and was replaced by Amani Oruwariye early in the second half.

Giants: Nabers, the No. 6 overall draft pick and a breakout star, suffered a concussion on New York’s penultimate series.

NEXT

Cowboys: In Pittsburgh for a Sunday night game on Oct. 6, the second of their five scheduled prime-time appearances.

Giants: October 6th in Seattle.