Giants staggering through haze of yet another loss in a dreadful season
New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton (86) is unable to catch a pass in front of Dallas Cowboys cornerback Josh Butler (31) during the first half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) Credit: AP/Tony Gutierrez
ARLINGTON, Texas – Dexter Lawrence may have inadvertently found the best way to get through the rest of this dreadful Giants season.
With his left arm wrapped tight in a cast-like bandage and held in place with a big black sling, the team’s top defensive player stood at his locker with a dislocated elbow, big wide eyes, and a bit of a smile on his face. He talked about how the team had showed “fight,” how they even had “killed it” in the first half. How the defense gave “all you can ask for.”
Had the trainers given him something for the pain?
“Yeah,” he said.
Lawrence’s state of mind may have been influenced by eased a bit the medical treatment he received. Even when he suffered the injury in the third quarter he was in a bit of a fog. After he came up from a tackle with linebacker Bobby Okereke and looked down as his misshapen arm he said to his teammate on the field: “I wonder if this is what shock feels like.”
The Giants did at least play well enough to avoid the kind of internal implosion that accompanied their most previous defeat. No one was calling them soft or questioning their effort. They did fight right up until the end and even had a chance late in the game to potentially force a punt and get the ball with a chance to tie or win in the final minutes.
But they still lost. A seventh straight that gave them 10 this season against just two victories.
There is no pill that can fully numb the pain that this Giants season has devolved into. Football Armageddon waits for no one. Not even for a holiday. And so the Giants were devoured by the Cowboys for a 27-20 Thanksgiving loss at AT&T Stadium.
They did, for a while at least, silence some of their harshest critics… including the ones inside their locker room.
“Fought well,” rookie receiver Malik Nabers said. “We had a lot of stuff on offense that we have to do cleaner, but we fought to the end.”
Nabers was even glad to have been such a big part of the game plan after complaining about that aspect in recent days.
“I was happy,” he said of getting 13 targets even though he caught just eight passes for 69 yards.
It helps me get into a rhythm to get hit a few times for the ball.”
It may not have been as dehumanizing as the loss to the Bucs just this past Sunday – hey, the Giants had a lead at one point on Thursday, their first time playing from ahead since Oct. 6 – but it did create a ripple of dismay that could carry through for the remainder of this wretched season.
Lawrence’s status is first and foremost among them. While he insisted he would fight through the pain and try to return quickly, there is a chance he’ll be shut down and potentially even miss the rest of the season.
“I’d be hurt,” he said if his season ended this way. “I’d hate to not be able to go out there.”
He’ll have further tests in the coming days.
The Giants also showed that they don’t have a quarterback on the roster who can make any kind of significant difference to their fate. They had their third different starter in the past three games with Drew Lock taking over for Tommy DeVito who could not come back from his sore right forearm in time for this game. Lock gave them a little bit of a spark, but was under pretty steady duress and committed two turnovers that led to two Cowboys touchdowns.
Head coach Brian Daboll wouldn’t say who he expects to start next Sunday, although he does believe DeVito’s injury is not long-term and that he should be ready if called upon by then.
Perhaps the play that best summed up the kind of luck that the Giants are having this season came in the third quarter when it was still a three-point game. Lock had just fumbled on the opening drive of the second half and the Cowboys were closing in on the Giants’ end zone. On second-and-goal from the 6 Cooper Rush scrambled and linebacker Bobby Okereke punched the ball out of his hands at the 2. The loose orb bounded into the end zone where it was recovered by Micah McFadden for a touchback.
Giants ball?
Nope. The turnover was reviewed and clearly showed that Rush’s knee had hit the turf just a fraction of a blink before Okereke made contact with the ball. Instead of the Giants offense getting first-and-10 at the 20 the Cowboys had it at the 2. And on the next play Rush hit Brandin Cooks for a touchdown to put Dallas ahead 20-10.
“It’s pretty difficult,” Nabers said of the losing. “But you have to try to find a way to stop losing and get some wins. We have a few more games left. We have to find a way to pull some Ws through.”
And if not, maybe Lawrence can share some of his magic helpers.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
