Cowboys get defensive in win over Giants

Last week, it was the special teams unit that saved the Cowboys. This week it was a stellar defensive effort that carried the day.

Dallas kept its slim playoff hopes alive on Thanksgiving Day with a 27-20 victory over the New York Giants.

The win was the first for the Cowboys at home this season after five losses. It snapped a six-game home losing streak that dated back to the wild card playoff loss to the Packers in January.

The win improves Dallas to 5-7 on the season and keeps the team’s slim playoff hopes alive. The Giants dropped to 2-10.

Trailing by a point, and with the offense again struggling to find the end zone in the first half, Dallas’ defense took over the game.

Early in the second quarter, DeMarvion Overshown blasted Giants’ running back Devin Singletary in the backfield, disrupting a screen pass. Overshown then tipped the pass up in the air, caught it, and ran 23 yards for the go-ahead score.

The Giants got to within three later in the half. But they could never get any closer than that 13-10 halftime score.

The Cowboys defense finished with six sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery.

Game-sealing Drives

Dallas’ offense finally got into gear as Cooper Rush connected with Brandin Cooks on a short pass on Dallas’ opening drive of the second half to extend the lead to 20-10.

The scoring play came just one play after Rush had appeared to lose the ball while diving toward the end zone. Replay showed Rush’s knee down prior to the ball being punched out of Rush’s grasp.

After a Giants’ three-and-out, the Cowboys put the game away with a nine-play, 70-yard scoring drive.

Rico Dowdle capped the drive with a four-yard plunge and a 27-10 lead with a little over four minutes left in the third quarter.

New York added a 47-yard field goal by Graham Cano just 90 seconds into the fourth quarter to get to within 14 points.

The Giants, with the Cowboys playing more of a prevent defense, rallied for one final scoring drive just to make things interesting at the end.

Drew Lock capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive that took only 2:21 off the clock with an eight-yard touchdown run. That cut Dallas’ lead to 27-20 with 2:18 left in the game.

But Dallas managed to run out the rest of the clock to preserve the victory.

The Cowboys had begun the game in good fashion, with Rush engineering an 11-play, 65-yard drive on the first possession.

However, despite getting a second and four at the five, the Cowboys’ drive stalled. Brandon Aubrey got the team on the board with a 23-yard field goal.

The Giants answered right back, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive.

The Cowboys responded with a field goal, then came Overshown’s Pick Six on the Giants’ first play of the ensuing drive.

Rush finished the game 21-of-36 for 195 yards, one touchdown, and no turnovers. Dowdle had 112 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown.

KaVontae Turpin had four catches for 53 yards while Luke Schoonmaker added five catches for 33 yards in one of his better outings.

Lamb had two catches for 39 yards and dropped some easy passes before retiring to the bench with a shoulder injury.

Hey, at least he couldn’t blame it on the sunlight this time, as the stadium was blanketed by overcast skies. Maybe there was something else getting in his way?

Dallas will look to make it three wins in a row, and two in a row at home, on Dec. 8th against the Bengals at 7:15 p.m.

Just Call Him Snake

Daniel Jones made like Snake Plissken earlier this month and made his escape from New York. And there’s your obscure 1980s movie reference for the year.

Jones landed with the Minnesota Vikings and stands a very good chance of making the playoffs, even if just as a backup quarterback.

The Giants are probably realizing they may have made a terrible mistake.

Tommy DeVito was so battered in his first start that he physically could not play on Thursday. Drew Lock was elevated to starter and probably wished DeVito had been healthy enough to play instead.

By The Numbers

The victory was the Cowboys’ third straight on Thanksgiving Day. Dallas’ last defeat in the classic holiday game was in 2021, a 36-33 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Cowboys are now 34-22-1 all-time on Thanksgiving, 3-0 when the opponent is the Giants.

Dallas is now 12-4 on Thanksgiving against NFC East rivals.

The Cowboys are 41-23 all-time in Week 13 contests, 29-12 when playing those games at home. The win over the Giants was their fourth in a row in Week 13 contests.

Dallas is 5-3 against the Giants in Week 13 games.

Thursday’s victory was the eighth straight win for the Cowboys over the Giants and improved their all-time record to 77-47-2. The Giants’ last win was at the end of the 2020 season.

It was also the eighth straight home win over the Giants by Dallas, raising their all-time home record against New York to 42-21-1.

The last time the Giants won in Dallas was the season-opener in 2016. Eli Manning’s short pass to Victor Cruz with six minutes left gave New York a 20-19 win.

It was Dak Prescott’s first-ever game.