What would you say were the most important plays on Thursday night?
The Cowboys walked into New Jersey and put together some really uninspiring football, but they emerged with a win on Thursday night against the Giants. It was a game filled with penalties, injuries, and two teams playing as if they were allergic to points, but Dallas found a way to win in the end. With a game this close, there’s a long list of plays that shaped the game, but these five are worth pointing out.
Tyler Guyton gets called for holding on free play
Following the Giants’ third field goal of the game, the Cowboys led 14-9 and had scored touchdowns on their last two possessions. They got the ball back with just over a minute left in the first half and hoped to at least get in range for a field goal from Brandon Aubrey.
The offense quickly moved the ball on their first few plays, but a sack dropped them behind schedule. Then, on third down with 12 yards to go and near midfield, Kayvon Thibodeaux jumped offsides before the ball was snapped. Dak Prescott took the snap and rolled out to his left, hitting Jalen Tolbert for a 26-yard gain.
The play ended up not counting, though, as Tyler Guyton had been called for holding. That penalty, coupled with Thibodeaux’s offsides, meant the penalties would offset. Prescott then missed Brandin Cooks on the next try, and Dallas had to punt. Were it not for Guyton’s penalty – which was a hold against Thibodeaux, who was the one that jumped offsides – the Cowboys would have had first down at the Giants’ 29-yard line, easily in field goal range. Instead, they got zero points before the halftime break.
Giants recover their own fumble on kickoff
The Giants got the ball to start the second half, which made it even more impactful that they were able to keep Dallas from scoring right before halftime. However, they came very close to coughing things up right away.
As Tyrone Tracy took the ball on the kick return, Juanyeh Thomas delivered a big hit that popped the ball right out of Tracy’s hands. Through sheer luck, Chris Manhertz just so happened to be standing right where the ball flew, and he easily recovered it.
Had the Cowboys managed to recover the fumble here, they would’ve taken over right around the 20-yard line and had a golden opportunity to stake out a two-score lead early on in the second half. Instead, the Giants kept the ball and went on to kick a field goal on that drive.
Another Tyler Guyton penalty kills promising drive
Following the Giants’ field goal to start the third quarter, the Cowboys’ lead was cut down to 14-12. Dak Prescott and the offense wanted nothing more than to go out and get another touchdown to widen the lead some.
For a moment, it looked like that would happen. Prescott was hitting his receivers left and right, and the run game was getting some push here and there too. Before long, the Cowboys had crossed into New York territory. Facing a third and short, Prescott fired incomplete to Hunter Luepke, but a flag was down on the ground.
Tyler Guyton, who was already having a rough night, was called for another hold. Instead of giving the Cowboys a chance to go for it on fourth and short, where a quarterback sneak would’ve likely worked, they were given third down again but backed up 10 yards. Prescott couldn’t get the ball to Brandin Cooks, who was immediately swarmed at the catch point by his defender, and Dallas had to settle for a field goal, keeping things close.
Dak Prescott misses CeeDee Lamb under pressure on third down
An inability to sustain drives, instead settling for field goals, has been a recurring theme this year for the Cowboys. It struck once again for the Cowboys in this game, and proved to be one of the reasons this win was so narrow in the end.
Leading 17-15, the Cowboys had the ball and had once again driven deep into Giants territory. Facing a third and seven at the New York 22-yard line, Prescott dropped back to pass. That was the moment Terence Steele gave up his first pressure of the night, forcing Prescott to drift to his left as he tried to find CeeDee Lamb, who was coming open on a drag route.
Prescott ended up throwing the ball just barely out of Lamb’s reach and it fell incomplete. Had Prescott hit him in stride, Lamb was assured of a first down and could have potentially scored. Instead, Aubrey came on for another field goal try. He successfully nailed the kick, but the Giants once again remained in striking distance because of the lack of touchdowns.
Trevon Diggs forces incompletion Malik Nabers on fourth down
The box score shows that Malik Nabers had a good game on Thursday night, but his impact outside of one big play against a broken coverage was largely limited. When facing Trevon Diggs in particular, Nabers was limited to just two catches for 16 yards. One incompletion against Diggs came at perhaps the biggest moment of the game.
New York had the ball down five with three and a half minutes left. On fourth and six on their own 45-yard line, the Giants opted to go for it. As he often does, Daniel Jones looked for Nabers, who was being trailed by Diggs towards the sideline. Nabers got to the ball and dragged his feet beautifully, but the contact from Diggs as the two crashed to the ground managed to jar the ball loose, resulting in an incompletion.
Diggs’ tight coverage and ball skills were what ultimately forced this incompletion, and it led to a turnover on downs that nearly sealed the deal for the Cowboys. Nabers sustained a concussion on this play that kept him out for the remainder of the game. That proved to be huge when the Giants took over following Aubrey’s missed field goal, as the team’s top (only?) receiving threat was unavailable for the biggest moment of the game.
