Giants lose to Cowboys for eighth straight time
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 on Thursday. Credit: AP/Tony Gutierrez
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Giants discovered a new layer of despair Thursday, and if their 27-20 loss to a wholly unremarkable Cowboys team is any indication, they’ll have five more miserable weeks plunging into the depths of their own inadequacy.
Part of a Thanksgiving Day slate that generally is one of the most-watched NFL events of the regular season, the Giants proved to a large national audience that the problem isn’t just the quarterback . . . or the play-calling . . . or the defense.
It’s everything.
And because things apparently can always get worse, they also lost defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence to an elbow injury in the third quarter, an injury significant enough that he was ruled out shortly thereafter.
With Tommy DeVito sidelined with a right forearm injury and Drew Lock under center, the Giants (2-10) managed 247 yards of total offense en route to their seventh straight loss this season, eighth straight loss to Dallas (5-7) and eighth straight loss at AT&T Stadium. The only bright spot was barely that: a first-quarter touchdown granted them their first lead since Week 6, though even that lasted only 6:36. They committed 13 penalties for 98 yards.
The Giants did draw to within a touchdown with 2:12 left in the game on Lock’s 8-yard scoring run, but Cooper Rush’s third-down conversion on a 3-yard pass to Brandin Cooks sealed it.
Lock was 21-for-32 for 178 yards and an interception, plus the rushing touchdown and an earlier 28-yard run. His standout play came on the Giants' first score: on third-and-6 from the Dallas 29, Lock was flushed from the pocket on a blitz, took off in the open field and nearly scored after a massive block by Darius Slayton at the goal line. Though it originally was ruled a touchdown, Lock kicked the pylon and fell out of bounds to put the ball at the 1. Tyrone Tracy Jr. punched it in on the next play to give the Giants a 7-3 lead with 3:06 left in the first quarter.
That, though, was before they gave up two touchdowns in the span of 15 seconds.
A facemask penalty left the Cowboys at second-and-21 on their own 32 with 1:37 left in the first quarter, but Rico Dowdell (112 yards, 22 carries) broke through the middle on a draw for a 22-yard run, the longest by a Cowboys running back this season. They made it as far as the Giants’ 15 before Rush’s pass intended for CeeDee Lamb fell incomplete, and the Cowboys kicked a 33-yard field goal to draw within 7-6. (Rush, also a backup, started in lieu of Dak Prescott, who went down with a hamstring injury in Week 9.)
Despair wasn’t done with the Giants, though — not even close. At first-and-10 at his own 40, Lock attempted a screen pass to Devin Singletary, but DeMarvion Overshown beat Singletary on the blitz, reached up to deflect the throw, caught his own deflection and took it 23 yards for a pick-6 and a 13-7 Cowboys lead. Donovan Wilson then sacked Lock on the next possession to force a punt.
The Giants got to 13-10 with 3:25 left in the half, paced by an acrobatic 22-yard punt return by Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who hurdled over Damone Clark in coverage to put them at the Dallas 29. Short gains from Singletary set up Graham Gano, who converted a 46-yard field goal.
The Giants, though, squandered an opportunity minutes later when, on third-and-15 at the Cowboys' 36, Mike McCarthy called a fullback draw with Hunter Luepke for a gain of just two yards, prompting hefty boos from the crowd and giving the Giants the ball back at the two-minute warning with three of their timeouts remaining. They did nothing with it, though, going three-and-out in just 14 seconds.
It continued to devolve. The Giants went three-and-out to kick off the second half, but looked to finally catch a break on the Cowboys' subsequent drive, when Rush appeared to fumble near the goal line, a play that was ruled a touchback when Micah McFadden recovered the ball in the end zone. A replay, though, showed that Rush went down at the 2-yard line before losing control of the football. The Cowboys retained possession and, on the next play, Rush hit Cooks with a scoring pass to give the Cowboys a 20-10 lead with 11:44 left in the third quarter.
The Cowboys scored again in the third, this time on a nine-play, 70-yard drive capped by Dowdle’s 4-yard run off right guard. Gano kicked a 47-yard field goal with 5:49 left in the game to get the Giants to within 27-13. With 2:18 left, Lock capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to make it a one-score game.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
