Giants keep it close but lose to Cowboys in prime time at MetLife Stadium

The Giants at least made a game of it this time. But the bottom line was a familiar one.

For the seventh time in a row and 14th out of 15, they lost to the Cowboys on Thursday night, a 20-15 defeat at MetLife Stadium.

It was a far cry from the twin embarrassments of last season, when the Cowboys swept two games from the Giants by a combined score of 89-17.

But when it was over the Giants mostly deflected attempts by reporters to get them to admit there was some satisfaction in keeping it close.

“We don’t feel good about losing,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “We didn’t do enough to win. We’re frustrated. We’re not discouraged. I think we’re still confident in our team and what we can do. But no, we don’t feel good about losing.”

The Giants (1-3) were sunk by their repeated inability to score touchdowns after giving themselves opportunities with productive drives.

They settled for five field goals by Greg Joseph – 52, 41, 38, 22 and 42 yards – but remain touchdown-less in two home games.

“Very frustrating, very frustrating,” said Jones, who was 29-for-40 for 281 yards in his third consecutive solid performance. “We’re expected to score touchdowns and put points on the board.”

The Giants punted only once. But they were unable to finish, unable to hit deep passes and unable to run the ball with any success.

As a team, they rushed 24 times for 26 yards against what ranked as the worst run defense in the NFL through three weeks, allowing an average of 187.5 yards.

“I thought a big difference was we kind of controlled the game in the passing game, but we didn’t do enough in the running game,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said.

It was a pivotal victory for the Cowboys (2-2), who had lost their previous two games and were the talk of the league as an early season disappointment.

Adding to the Giants’ misery was that their star rookie receiver, Malik Nabers, suffered a concussion on his final play of a game in which he had 12 receptions for 115 yards.

It happened on a fourth-and-6 from the Giants’ 45-yard line with 3:30 left and the Giants trailing by five.

Jones found Nabers on the left sideline after a scramble. It initially appeared Nabers had made a circus catch as he fell out of bounds, but the ball came loose as he hit the ground.

Reporters are not permitted to interview players who have suffered a concussion, but Nabers was in the locker room after the game interacting with teammates, perhaps a positive sign.

Wan’Dale Robinson finished with 11 receptions for 71 yards.

The Cowboys’ Dak Prescott was 22-for-27 for 221 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yarder to CeeDee Lamb.

The Giants struck first, on a 52-yard field goal by Joseph. The key play on the drive was a 39-yard pass from Jones to Nabers to the Dallas 40.

The drive stalled because of a face mask penalty on the Giants’ Daniel Bellinger, even though it appeared that it was Bellinger who had his face mask grabbed – by the Cowboys’ DeMarvion Overshown.

Dallas answered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard scoring pass from Prescott to Rico Dowdle.

The officials threw a penalty flag on the play, presumably for a hold, but they waved it off.

Then the Giants settled for another Joseph field goal, this one from 41 yards, to make it 7-6.

Prescott found Lamb, who outraced Deonte Banks to the end zone for the 55-yard touchdown, and it was 14-6 with 9:16 left in the first half.

A keeper by Jones for 5 yards on third-and-3 again kept the Giants on the move. They eventually ran out of steam and Joseph made it 14-9 with a 38-yard field goal 1:10 before halftime.

The Giants opened the second half with a brilliant drive.

But once more, they were unable to reach the end zone. After having a first-and-goal at the 10, they got no farther than the 8. Joseph’s 22-yard field goal made it 14-12 with 8:42 remaining in the third.

Brandon Aubrey’s 60-yard field goal for the Cowboys made it 17-12 with 5:06 on the clock in the third quarter.

Joseph’s fifth field goal got the Giants within 17-15 with 11:11 left in the fourth.

The Cowboys then drove for an Aubrey field goal of 40 yards that gave Dallas a 20-15 edge with 6:54 remaining.

After the failed fourth down pass to Nabers, Aubrey’s 51-yard field goal attempt was wide right with 28 seconds left, giving the Giants the ball at their 41-yard line with no timeouts and no Nabers.

Jones’ deep pass for Jalin Hyatt was intercepted by Amani Oruwariye, and that was that.

How frustrating was the lack of touchdowns?

“Extremely,” receiver Darius Slayton said. “We made enough plays to get down there, but we didn’t make enough to score [touchdowns], and ultimately, you have to score to win.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.