With six sacks by six different defenders, the Dallas Cowboys took full advantage of the New York Giants struggling offensive line. Dallas picked up their first win of 2018 with the 20-13 victory, leaving their division rivals with the dreaded 0-2 record.
DeMarcus Lawrence got his second sack of the year, keeping last year’s Pro Bowl production rate going. He was joined by Taco Charlton, Tyrone Crawford, Kavon Frazier, Damien Wilson, and Antwaun Woods in taking down Eli Manning.
Along with the pass rush success, Dallas shut down the run game. Giants running backs only had 31 yards on 14 carries. Jaylon Smith led the team with 10 tackles.
Tavon Austin broke the big-play seal on the game’s opening drive, taking one 64 yards to the endzone. Dak Prescott let it loose with Austin streaking up the sideline and the speedster did the rest.
It was a great start for Prescott, whose comfort level was night-and-day from last week. Along with delivering some accurate strikes in tight coverage, Dak made great run-vs-pass decisions and picked up 45 yards rushing. He completed 64% of his throws for 160 yards.
Ezekiel Elliott put the game out of reach with a touchdown run in the 4th quarter, capping an 8-minute drive that broke the Giants’ backs. Zeke had 78 yards on just 17 carries for the day, but he showed his toughness on several run against the Giants stout defensive front.
Other Notes
- After missing his only FG attempt last week, Brett Maher went 2/2 this week from 37 and 29 yards out. Still a ways to go before he’ll make people stop bringing up Dan Bailey, but it was a positive step.
- Allen Hurns caught the first pass of the night but then wasn’t heard from again. That’s just two catches in his first two games with Dallas; not what you want from your highest-paid receiver.
- There were no catches tonight by any Cowboys tight ends. Rico Gathers was targeted twice but both balls were thrown out of range.
- Gathers dressed tonight for the first time in his Cowboys career, having joined the team in 2016.
- Randy Gregory did was not active tonight, having just come off the concussion protocol a couple of days ago. He should be back in the lineup next week.
- With Philadelphia and Washington losing today, Dallas jumps to the top of the NFC East as the only 1-1 team with a division win.
- The Cowboys head to Seattle next Sunday looking for their next win. The Seahawks will be coming off a short week, playing tomorrow night in Chicago.
