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

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

As usual, the Cowboys won, a 20-15 victory on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, avoiding what would have been a catastrophic loss for the favored visitors.

Dallas now is 2-2 after having lost two games in a row. The Giants are a 1-3 team that has shown plenty of spunk in its past three games but won only one of them.

It was a missed opportunity for the Giants in a game marked by their missed opportunities. They kicked five field goals and did not score a touchdown.

The Cowboys have won seven consecutive games and 14 of 15 against the Giants, including a two-game sweep last season in which Dallas outscored the Giants, 89-17.

The Giants did win at MetLife Stadium on Jan. 3, 2021, but during the crowd-free COVID-19 season. They have not won at MetLife with fans in attendance since Dec. 11, 2016.

The Cowboys led, 17-12, entering the fourth quarter.

Early in the quarter on a fourth-and-3 from the Dallas 45, Daniel Jones hit Malik Nabers for an eight-yard gain and a crucial first down.

But the Giants could do no better on the drive than Greg Joseph’s fifth field goal, this one a 42-yarder that made it 17-15 with 11:11 left.

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

The Giants went for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 39 with under 6:00 left and got the necessary yards on a 2-yard run by Devin Singletary.

Soon the Giants faced another fourth down, this time a fourth-and-6 from their 45 with 3:30 left. Jones threw incomplete on the sideline to Nabers who was injured as he fell to the ground and the ball came loose. He left the game with a concussion.

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.

On third-and-10 Jones’ deep pass for Jalin Hyatt was intercepted.

The Cowboys wore their white color rush uniforms, complete with white helmets.

The Giants struck first, on a 52-yard field goal by Joseph with 9:03 left in the first quarter.

The key play on the drive was a 39-yard pass from Jones to Nabers to the Dallas 40. Nabers made a nifty move to get wide open down the left sideline.

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 Dak Prescott to Rico Dowdle with 2:06 left in the quarter.

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

Star Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb gave the Giants’ injury-depleted secondary fits on the touchdown drive. The key play was a third-and-3 on which Prescott scrambled until he found Hunter Luepke for an 11-yard gain.

Needing an answer of their own, the Giants responded with a nice drive, keyed by a 11-yard completion from Jones to Wan’Dale Robinson on a third-and-9.

Then the Giants settled for another Joseph field goal, this one from 41 yards, to make it 7-6 with 11:11 remaining in the half.

Soon, the Cowboys were taking a bold risk on a fourth-and-1 from their own 39-yard line. Luepke carried six yards for the first down before nearly stumbling.

Then Prescott found Lamb, who outraced Deonte Banks to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown. Lame celebrated by throwing the ball at Banks, which drew a taunting penalty. But it was 14-6 with 9:16 left in the half.

When the Giants went for it on a fourth-and-1 at their own 49, it appeared Singletary would be stopped behind the line of scrimmage.

But he made an excellent move to escape Donovan Wilson and ran three yards to keep the drive alive.

A keeper by Jones for five 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.

Prescott completed 14 passes in a row in the first half and finished 14-for-16 for 164 yards and two touchdowns – and a passer rating 149.0.

The teams combined for 12 penalties in the first half – nine for the Cowboys.

The Giants opened the second half with a brilliant drive that tore up the suspect Dallas defense.

But once more, the Giants were unable to punch it into 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.

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

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.