New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys
Final Score: Dallas 49, Giants 17
Writer: Michael James (@MikeoftheFF on Twitter)
The last time the Giants beat the Cowboys in AT&T Stadium, Eli Manning was still throwing balls to Odell Beckham in 2016. New York would come into Dallas today attempting to break that streak and would be doing so without QB Daniel Jones who is out for the rest of the season due to injury. Also missing from the lineup for the Giants is OL Evan Neal. The game would start out rough for both teams as Dallas would turn the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line which would set up the Giants starting from their own end zone. The process would repeat before the Cowboys finally got a scoring drive going on their third possession as Dak Prescott would catch fire for the first half and begin dissecting the Giants’ secondary en route to a 28-0 halftime lead.
New York would finally strike in the second half showing their first signs of life on offense getting their first touchdown. But Dallas would answer back and the game would remain lopsided for the rest of the time with Dallas deciding to keep the pedal down with their backups instead of letting off the gas and running the clock out early. The backups would rotate into the game after halftime which is when the Giants would put some points on the board before time ran out. The Cowboys would break their near 60-year-old franchise record of outscoring their divisional rival across two games by dominating the Giants with 72 points between their two in-season division games.
Three Up
- Brandin Cooks – Finally exploded for what we’ve been looking for when Dallas traded for him. Leading receiver for Dallas with 173 yards
- Dak Prescott – You could tell everything was coming up Dak when he had a scramble to the outside where he just lobbed up a ‘go get it’ ball that found an open Lamb for a deep ball reception. Over 400 yards on the day with 5 total touchdowns.
- CeeDee Lamb – Since the 49ers game, he’s been on a tear with yet another 100+ yard game in addition to two total touchdowns.
Three Down
- Tony Pollard – He was “good enough” by NFL standards, but definitely not by fantasy standards. Kept out of the end zone again bringing the streak up to nine games now.
- The Entire Giants’ Offense – 61 team passing yards, a fat donut for third down conversion rates, infighting on the sidelines, just uninspiring to watch today
- New York D/ST – Two weeks in a row now they’ve been dumpstered. They play WSH next, and while that showing earlier this season was very strong, that game was at home and the dynamics of the two teams have shifted since.
He ain't fair 🤧 @_CeeDeeThree
📺: FOX & NFL+ → https://t.co/yLMhJNTZjs pic.twitter.com/0t9CntGMTZ
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 12, 2023
Giants
Quarterback
Tommy DeVito: 14/27 for 86 yards, 2 Touchdowns, 1 Interception | 7 carries for 41 yards
When your very first snap in the NFL as a starter is backed up on your own goal line against this Dallas D/ST that is holding all opposing QBs this season at home to a 51-passer rating, you’re in for a long day. DeVito would face pressure on a majority of his dropbacks and towards the end of the game the broadcast was surprised there were only five sacks on the day. You would see him trying to go through all of his progressions and pump fake but there just wasn’t time for that. He did learn to adapt and would also attempt to scramble when he had an out picking up 41 yards on the day with his feet. But the internal timer still needs some adjusting, especially against the blind side rush of the Cowboys. He wasn’t done any favors from his receivers for most of the day either as they were not winning their matchups to give him a lot of outs down the field.
His accuracy still needs improving as in addition to his one interception, had a few more slip through the hands of defenders that were closer to the pass than his receivers were. Even a couple of flat throws to Barkley went behind his back for the incompletion. Still, for his very first start, 2 passing touchdowns and 41 rushing yards were an adequate floor in fantasy given expectations. You’re not starting this guy by choice outside of deeper superflex leagues anyway.
Notes
- 5 sacks were from 5 different defenders
- a sad 0% efficiency on third down. 10 of those 12 were third and long
- 16 passing yards in the first half on 4 completions
- Punished Dallas for disrespecting his ability to scramble for chunk yardage with his feet
- All passes over 10 air yards went incomplete
Missed Opportunities
- Had a receiver beat both defenders down the middle of the field. Put way too much air under the ball causing it to become a jump ball for the DaRon Bland interception.
- His only other deep attempt was caught for a big gain but was brought back by penalty
Running Back
Saquon Barkley: 13 carries for 66 yards | 1 reception on 3 targets for -5 yards
Barkley is going to injure his back trying to carry this offense it feels like. He ended the day with a remarkable 5.1 YPC. What makes it so amazing is he went into halftime with 0 YPC on 7 carries. After the first three drives, he was averaging negative yards. His first two carries of the game came at his own goal line and he fought hard including a nasty cut just to get back to the line of scrimmage and avoid the safety. They had two plays where they would send DeVito out wide and snap it directly to Barkley (one hand off to Matt Brieda– his only carry of the game, the other a bad snap he bobbled and ran for a couple of yards). Made me wonder just how much worse it would be to just have Barkley line up at quarterback more and bring in an extra blocker given how this season is going. (Or do you just never go full Taysom?)
Notes
- Finally got some space in the second half. Before halftime, his longest run was for two yards
- Heated discussion with Daboll on the sidelines that the cameras caught
- A third of his total yards came on a huge outside seam down the left for 21 21-yard gain into the red zone.
- All of his 10+ yard gains went outside left
- Zero runs outside right
Missed Opportunities
- Had a fourth down carry in the red zone, stuffed
- Would not be involved in the final drive of the game
Jashaun Corbin: 1 carry for 1 yard | 3 receptions on 3 targets for 12 yards
Wide Receiver/Tight End
DeVito to Cager 🙌
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/ZGEOxtaQ8j
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 12, 2023
Not a whole lot to write about given the third-string QB making his first start against the #1 fantasy D/ST came away with only 86 passing yards for the entire game.
Darius Slayton: 3 receptions on 4 targets for 21 yards
Notes
- The other Giant that got into it with the coaches and players on the sidelines
- Had a red zone reception being tackled short to go along with an end zone target on the day
Sterling Shepard: 1 reception on 4 targets for 2 yards, 1 Touchdown
Notes
- All of his targets came inside the red zone of the final drive of the game
- Was able to draw a PI at the goal line and was targeted on the next play in the back corner of the end zone for the touchdown
Lawrence Cager: 1 reception on 2 targets for 10 yards, 1 Touchdown
Notes
- Both of his targets were in the end zone, both times the 3rd year TE was lined up wide while Bellinger was lined up in stance on the line.
Daniel Bellinger: 2 receptions on 3 targets for 34 yards
- Led the team in yards and the only long run after catch of the team.
Wan’Dale Robinson: 2 receptions on 3 targets for 6 yards
Cowboys
Quarterback
Dak Prescott: 26/35 for 404 yards, 4 Touchdowns, 1 Interception | 2 carries for 17 yards, 1 Touchdown
This was the first game that Dak did not get sacked, snapping a 4 game streak of 3+ sacks. Prescott was feeling it today with two receivers going for over 100 yards. Dak had a look on his face with his tongue sticking out after the aforementioned panic-chuck earlier that Lamb came back to get uncontested knowing that was a wild one he threw scrambling on a one-legged back foot fade away. I didn’t really notice many other “questionable” throws outside of a near-pick targeting Cooks over the middle early on. Interestingly, the one interception he did throw was a dart from inside the pocket with both feet planted. The route was just jumped by the second defender that Prescott did not account for.
Overall the offense was insane today. 32 first downs, 20 of them in the first half. 50% 3rd down conversion rate, 640 total yards overall.
Notes
- 10th career game over 400 yards passing.
- Prescott’s scramble into the end zone had a clear holding on replay that wasn’t flagged
- 240 yards passing in the first half
- Delivered the 37-yard deep ball to Cooks as he got smashed into the ground
- 6 of 8 on the deep ball including a touchdown
.@dak is all of us rn 😁
📺: FOX & NFL+ → https://t.co/yLMhJNTZjs pic.twitter.com/VMVPXxvRaW
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 12, 2023
Cooper Rush: 7/9 for 68 yards, 1 Interception
Notes
- Entered at the start of the fourth quarter to relieve Dak
- Coach McCarthy decided to keep driving with mixed play calling with all of the backups in rather than just attempt to repeatedly run out the clock
Running Back
Tony Pollard: 15 carries for 55 yards
4th and goal at the 2, Prescott checks out of the pass but he’s back up in shotgun which means Pollard isn’t getting the handoff with momentum built. Comes up a yard short for the turnover on downs.
Notes
- Needing 19 yards to get into the end zone, Pollard got 18 of them on two carries setting up 2nd and goal on the one-yard line. The next play would be a passing touchdown to the TE.
- Pollard lined up as a receiver a couple of times, with zero targets however
- 11 carries in the first half for 4.4 YPC
- Kind of looks like Elliott did last season
Missed Opportunities
- Only played for three quarters
- Two red zone carries where he would come up one yard shy of the end zone
- 12-yard gain negated by penalty
- Three carries inside the 5-yard line
Rico Dowdle: 12 carries for 79 yards, 1 Touchdown
Notes
- Last drive of the game for Dallas, Dowdle had a big 12-yard gain up the middle to get them to the one-yard line, would punch it in for the touchdown on the subsequent play
- Half of his carries came after Pollard exited the game.
- Back-to-back double-digit yards on two carries in the second quarter to get them into the red zone.
- Looked an awful lot like Pollard did last season
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Dallas was a couple of yards shy of having two 100-yard receivers in the first half
.@dak dealing. @michael13gallup reeling it in 🚀
📺: FOX & NFL+ → https://t.co/yLMhJNTZjs pic.twitter.com/LXj8ncZIr7
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 12, 2023
CeeDee Lamb: 11 receptions on 14 targets for 151 yards, 1 Touchdown | 1 carry for 15 yards, 1 Touchdown
Notes
- 6 for 98 at halftime
- Reverse rushing play for 14 yards to get a rushing touchdown
- First player in NFL history to have a three-game streak of 11+ catches and 150+ yards in each game.
- Dallas intentionally kept him in the fourth quarter until he got this record
- Tied Terrell Owens for second most consecutive 100+ yard receiving games in franchise history
Missed Opportunities
- tackled short of the goal line on the first drive on a flat-route reception
Brandin Cooks: 9 receptions on 10 targets for 173 yards, 1 Touchdown
Have yourself a day, Brandin Cooks. New York was running man-coverage for most of the day with their heavily banged-up secondary. Cooks took advantage with a monster explosion in production out-running his coverage all day long.
Notes
- Ran a man-beater route to the back pylon for his 10-yard fade touchdown
- Crossing routes causing pure havoc for the Giants to defend
- 7 for 104 in the first half
Michael Gallup: 2 receptions on 2 targets for 70 yards, 1 Touchdown
As soon as I make a note of “Where is Gallup?” he is hit for a 41-yard bomb to the end zone for the touchdown
Notes
- I will be curious to check the snap counts from this game as I suspect the two Jalen’s (Tolbert and Brooks) are creeping into his share of time on the field
Missed Opportunities
- Intended target on Rush interception
Jake Ferguson: 4 receptions on 7 targets for 26 yards, 1 Touchdown
Notes
- 1-yard corner pylon fade for the touchdown
- Was pretty well covered for most of the game (surprising considering the lack of coverage on Lamb and Cooks)
Missed Opportunities
- Intended target on Prescott interception (route jumped)
Jalen Brooks: 4 receptions on 4 targets for 39 yards
This was Brooks’ first game in the NFL. I wanted to mention the broadcast was raving about how surprised they were at the skill level of this rookie leading up to this week. Potential deep sleeper for dynasty?