Giants lose to the Cowboys 20-15

"The Giants got off to a better start this game than last when they were down 7-0 to the Cleveland Browns after only 11 seconds. Six minutes into this game the defense had the Cowboys three-and-out and the Giants had scored on a field goal. That was encouraging but none of it mattered, as the Giants had come back to win against the Browns, but lost this one to the Cowboys. By the end of the half the Cowboys had scored two touchdowns, while the Giants kept working to perfect their field goal game. They added two more of them to trail the Cowboys 14-9.
So far there was no explosiveness from the Giants, actually or from the Cowboys either, except for a play here and there. This felt like a preseason game, where the players on each team tried to not make mistakes to avoid being yelled at by the coaches. That seemed to continue on for the rest of this game, where the Giants and Cowboys each took turns adding field goals, in both the third and fourth quarters. With 5 seconds, left Daniel Jones threw a 55-yard pass that was near the Cowboys endzone, and it was intercepted. The Cowboys had missed on one field goal attempt, or they would have had three more points to add to their 20-15 win.
Our top receiver Malik Nabers was hurt on a play late in the game when he fell hard on his helmet, and suffered a concussion. I hope that it's not serious for the rookie, and the Giants can sure use him on the field. Because this was a Thursday game, the Giants will have some extra time to figure out how to score touchdowns instead of field goals. Now that the replacement kicker situation seems to have settled down a bit, I'd like to see Greg Joseph kicking for one point instead of three. I know it sounds funny when I put it that way, but the way things are going now for the Giants, I felt we could all use a laugh."

"The Giants knew they had to run the ball on the Cowboys tonight, and that didn't happen. It's a pretty important ingredent needed to help tip the scale in favor of touchdowns over field goals, and tonight the Giants didn't weigh in. By the end of the first half that point was driven home as the Cowboys had scored two touchdowns to the Giants three field goals, to take a 14-9 lead. This happened despite the fact that Daniel Jones had completed 13 of his 15 passes for 142 yards. The rushing numbers were a paltry 16 carries for 29 yards. Without a balanced attack, the Giants still got down to the Cowboys 34, 22, and 20 yard lines on their first three possesions, but couldn't extend those drives. Two third down passes had been caught short of the marker, and Jones took a sack on the next.
After the half a third down catch brought them to the Cowboys 3-yard line. Brian Daboll didn't risk things and decided to take the easy field goal points. That had the Giants trailing by two points. That number crept up to five again when Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey kicked a long 60 yard field goal. The next time the Giants marched downfield, from the Cowboys 24-yard line, an incomplete pass to Slayton had them kicking another field goal. The Giants never crossed past midfield after that, and ended up with a 20-15 loss.
The running game was even worse in the last two quarters, as they lost 3 yards on 8 carries. That's not a mistake, and it brings the total final number to 24 carries for 26 yards. The Giants really need to straighten that out if they expect to win football games. They ran more plays than the Cowboys and held the ball longer, but that didn't matter. Jones overall numbers were good despite the one interception at the end of the game on a Hail Mary pass. Despite five drops by his receivers, he completed 29 of 40 passes for 281 yards for a 72.5 completion percentage.
Malik Nabers was the top receiver with 12 catches on 15 targets for 115 yards, and Wan'Dale Robinson caught 11 of 14 for 71 yards. Nabers is off to a great start in his rookie career, and hopefully the concussion he suffered trying to make a tough first down sideline catch won't have any lasting effects. The Giants had lost the last six games to the Cowboys and now it's seven. The only good news is that they play two Sundays from now and have some extra time to prepare for their next mach in Seattle against the Seahawks."

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