Lex of It: Giants Fall Short On MNF – Quick Initial Reaction To A Now 1-10 Standing Losses To
The New York Giants fell to the Dallas Cowboys, 23-16, for their first defeat of the season. The 2-1 Giants were seeking their first 3-0 start since 2009. What did we learn from this primetime performance?
What Did We Learn From Giants During This Matchup?
The Giants emphasized starting faster this week yet were unable to do so during Monday nights game. The Giants scored just three points against the Cowboys and have now been outscored 25-9 in the first half this season.
Daniel Jones completed 20 of 37 passes for 196 yards and was intercepted by Trevon Diggs after David Sills slipped on a route with 1:11 remaining in the game. Jones was sacked five times, including three by DeMarcus Lawrence. Jones has been sacked 13 times in three games.
“I thought he did a good job. I thought made a lot of loose plays. He had about 80 yards rushing. I thought he did a good job keeping his eyes downfield when he couldn’t get out. He made a couple of good plays there at the end that we couldn’t quite convert on. Had some dropped passes,” head coach Brian Daboll said after the game. “He fought and battled. He made some really good plays out there under some duress.”
“There’s no question we got to do a better job of protecting him.”
“All of us, we’ve got to be better,” running back Saquon Barkley said. “We’ve got to make plays for him. Daniel, he’s a hell of a competitor, a heck of player. I know a lot of people say a lot of negative things about him, but like I say, he comes to work every single today and he made some great plays today — one of the best throws I’ve seen I think — that throw to Richie (James) on the sideline. It was a heck of a play, especially when we needed it most.”
Saquon Barkley broke the game’s stalemate in the third quarter with the first touchdown of the game on a 36-yard run, giving the Giants a 13-6 lead. Saquon finished with 81 rushing yards on 14 attempts and now has 317 yards on the season, second in the NFL only to Cleveland’s Nick Chubb through week three.
Kayvon Thibodeaux, the fifth overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, and fellow edge rusher Azeez Ojulari made their much-anticipated season debuts. Both of these players had been listed as questionable for Monday night’s game via Saturday’s final injury report. The injury report also ruled out three cornerbacks: Justin Layne, Nick McCloud, and Aaron Robinson.
Thibodeaux recorded one tackle and broke up a pass in his NFL debut.
Leading up to the game, D.C. Wink Martindale said the Cowboys have two Pro Bowl-caliber running backs in Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. The defense didn’t break in the first half and held Dallas to field goals in two trips to the red zone. In the second half, however, Elliott broke through with a one-yard touchdown run to tie the game 13-13 after Barkley’s score.
The rivalry between the Giants and Cowboys is nothing new to the NFL. Although the beginning is unclear, the Cowboys have been victorious over the Giants in nine games out of the ten past meetings. “[Daboll] was the same and his message was we’ve got to get back to work,” Jones said. “It’s not going to change how we prepare, how we go about this week. It’s a short week coming up. We’ve got Chicago on Sunday, so we don’t have time to hang our heads or feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to get back to work, and that’s what we’re going to do. That was his message.”.
pic.twitter.com/O17NAycvlU — New York Giants (@Giants) September 27, 2022
When there is a #Cowboys and #Giants postgame scrum on the field and you see two of the biggest offensive linemen start strapping their helmets back on 😂 pic.twitter.com/IzTX4vhlGO — Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) September 27, 2022
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