Giants lose to the Cowboys 49-17

"I was hoping that maybe, maybe, the Giants could surprise the Cowboys today, but that didn't happen. It was business as usual as they say. The Cowboys trounced the Giants in the first game, and started off in that same fashion in this one. They had the ball first, and easily moved downfield to have a 1st-and-goal at the Giants 4-yard line. At that point, I was surprised when they were able to stop the Cowboys at the 1-yard line when they went for it on a fourth down play.
Of course that meant that the Giants offense now had the ball in a precarious position, and rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito was making his first start. After two runs from Saquon Barkley for no gains, they let DeVito throw a pass, and Darius Slayton's 4-yard catch got them a little further away from the end zone for the punt.
After giving up everything but a touchdown on the first drive, the Giants defense looked back in order, and got the Cowboys three-and-out. DeVito was up again, and this time he got to start from his own six yard line. Once again the plan was to make Barkley work, but again it didn't as Barkley's two runs lost two yards. Worse yet, Andrew Thomas was hurt and had to leave the field. Then DeVito was lucky to be able to run out of the end zone before being sacked.
The Cowboys again ended up with good field position, and five plays later scored a touchdown. After the kickoff, the Giants had their best starting point, and two passes to Parris Campbell and Slayton got them a first down at the 39-yard line. Three plays later they had to punt, The Giants defense came on the field, and on the Cowboys third down, cornerback Cor'Dale Flott intercepted Dak Prescott's pass, and ran it back 21 yards to their 12-yard line.
That ended the first quarter, and the Giants had a real chance to tie this game up. They got to a 4th-and-2 and went for it by sending Barkley up the middle for no gain. It seemed like a strange call to make the way the Cowboys had been shutting Barkley down up to that point. After that, things went downhill fast. Prescott started connecting with his receivers for big plays, and the Cowboys scored a touchdown on this drive, and their next two as well. The Giants had two possessions, going three-and-out on both, before the half ended with the Cowboys leading 28-0.
The Giants were the first to score in the second half, with DeVito hitting Lawrence Cager with a 10 yard touchdown pass. The Cowboys scored two more touchdowns before the third quarter ended, and holding a 42-7 lead, they pulled Prescott, and Cooper Rush was in for the fourth. Cornerback Darnay Holmes intercepted Rush on his first drive. The Giants didn't get far, but were close enough for Randy Bullock to kick a 40 yard field goal.
Rush did better on his next drive which ended with a touchdown, and the Giants got the ball back with just over two minutes to play. Using all three timeouts, they finished off their final drive, overcoming two fourth down plays, with DeVito throwing a two yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard. The final score was a 49-17 beatdown by the Cowboys, leaving you wondering if the Giants will win any more games before the season ends."

"The Giants didn't get very far today, and it's no secret why. Pass protection and run blocking are just not there. Right tackle Evan Neal was inactive for the third time in four games because of ankle injuries. It didn't help that left tackle Andrew Thomas had to come off the field the second time the Giants had the ball, after Saquon Barkley rolled up on his legs at the end of a run. It was almost a given that first time starting rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito would be scrambling to avoid a safety, and was sacked on the next play. Despite a left knee injury, Thomas did manage to come back in the second quarter, but you had to be concerned about his performance after having already missed a number of games with a hamstring injury.
The Giants offense in the first half was dismal. The Cowboys applied constant pressure, and DeVito had completed just four of his nine passes for 24 yards, and taken 2 sacks. DeVito had also run 3 times for 7 yards, which even topped Barkley's 1 yard on 7 carries. In that first half the Giants had just 1 first down on their 22 total plays. Meanwhile, the Cowboys had 20 first downs on 42 plays.
That brings us to the Giants defense, which allowed the Cowboys touchdown drives of 96, 95, 86, 87, and 75 yards. They were trounced today, and have been lackluster in the past two games, with no pressure on the quarterbacks, and no sacks. Leonard Williams was traded, and you have to think if that plays a part, as the defensive unit had been functioning well. The Bills, Commanders, and Jets had scored no more than 14 on the Giants. With Williams gone the Raiders last week scored 30, and today the Cowboys finished with 49.
Without quarterback pressure, the Giants secondary had no chance against receivers like CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks, who each had touchdowns, and 150 plus receiving yards. Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush combined for 33 completions on 44 passes for 472 total passing yards, and 4 touchdowns. There were 3 rushing touchdowns, one each by Prescott, Lamb, and Rico Dowdle. The Giants gave up a total of 168 rushing yards.
The defense did come up with a nice goal line stand on the Cowboys first drive, and two interceptions, one by cornerback Cor'Dale Flott, and another by Darnay Holmes. Wink Martindale failed to figure out something for his coverage knowing going in that cornerback Adoree' Jackson was inactive, and then later Flott and rookie Deonte Banks were injured during the game. Blitzing and man to man coverage just wasn't working.
The Giants did manage some offense in the second half, some maybe due to the Cowboys easing up near the end. DeVito threw one interception, but also had two touchdowns, and the total 17 points were the second most the Giants have had this season. Barkley during this second half, added 6 more carries for 65 yards. The Giants have Washington coming up next, and though they beat them in the first game not very long ago, it will be interesting to see how the teams are favored the way things are going right now."

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