Giants give Cowboys a fight but fall into NFC East’s basement with 20-15 loss

The Giants had the ball with less than seven minutes remaining Thursday night with a chance to beat the Dallas Cowboys. They even got it back for one futile last gasp with fewer than 30 seconds to play.

Considering this division rivalry’s lopsided history, that’s a much better effort than most had forecasted, even against a Cowboys team reeling off two straight losses coming in.

Still, there are no moral victories in the NFL. Only the bottom line. And this 20-15 Giants primetime loss dropped them to 1-3 on the season and into the NFC East’s basement.

Adding insult to injury, star receiver Malik Nabers left the game late in the fourth quarter with a concussion.

Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll fell to 0-5 all-time against the Cowboys since taking over in 2022. The Giants lost their seventh straight and 14th and in 15 meetings to Jerry Jones’ club.

And the Giants now have a long week to prepare for a difficult road trip to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5.

The Cowboys improved to 2-2, with the Washington Commanders (2-1) and Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) still set to play on Sunday.

Daniel Jones completed 29 of 40 passes for 281 yards in an efficient evening. But his fourth down pass to Nabers fell incomplete out of the rookie’s hands with 3:21 to play, as the receiver hit his helmet hard to the turf and left the game for good.

Then, despite the Cowboys losing pass rusher Micah Parsons late to a left leg injury, Jones’ final prayer deep shot to Jalin Hyatt was intercepted by Cowboys corner and former Giant Amani Oruwariye.

Nabers made 12 catches for 115 yards, including a key fourth down conversion early in the fourth quarter to set up Greg Joseph’s fifth field goal of the night. But the Giants never found the end zone.

It didn’t help that the Giants ran the ball for only 26 yards and 24 carries against the worst rush defense in the NFL. Dallas came in allowing 185.7 rushing yards per game to opponents.

Tight end Chris Manhertz saved the Giants from a special teams disaster for a third straight week. Rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. fumbled the kickoff to start the second half, and Manhertz caught the ball for a recovery in mid-air.

Jones drove the offense on a fourth field goal drive to narrow Dallas’ lead to 14-12. But the crowd grew restless when Daboll turned down a 4th and goal from the 3-yard line to kick a 22-yard chip shot with Joseph.

Dallas responded with a bomb 60-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal for a 17-12 lead with 5:06 to play in the third quarter. And then the teams traded punts, with a nice Ihmir Smith-Marsette punt return to midfield setting the stage for a tight fourth quarter.

The Giants trailed the Cowboys, 14-9, at halftime after Prescott completed 14-of-16 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, while the Giants settled for three Joseph field goals.

The game started well for the Giants.The opening kickoff was uneventful, out of the back of the end zone, which was a nice change from Weeks 2 and 3 against Washington and Cleveland.

The Giants’ defense promptly forced a game-opening Cowboys three-and-out with a Nick McCloud run stop on second down and a double-team of Lamb for a Prescott throwaway on third.

Jones and the Giants’ offense then opened scoring with an 8-play, 51-yard field goal drive paced by a 39-yard completion to Nabers down the left sideline on a busted Dallas coverage.

It is Nabers’ longest reception of his young NFL career so far.

The Giants might have gotten more points on the drive, but the officials incorrectly called tight end Daniel Bellinger for a 15-yard facemask personal foul, when it should have been whistled against Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown grabbing Bellinger’s cage.

Joseph then made a 52-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 9:03 remaining in the first quarter. Daboll elected to take the points rather than go for a 4th and 4 from the Cowboys’ 34.

When Dallas got the ball back, Prescott and the Cowboys answered with a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-3 lead with 2:06 to play in the first quarter.

Prescott completed 9-of-9 passes for 82 yards on the drive, capped by a 15-yard screen pass to running back Rico Dowdle for a touchdown.

The officials threw two flags on the field for Dowdle’s touchdown but picked them up and announced no penalty. Daboll got in an official’s ear at length on the sideline.

The Giants’ offense responded with another 11-play, 55-yard field goal drive — capped by a Joseph 41-yarder — to narrow Dallas’ lead to 7-6 with 11:11 to play in the first half.

Jones hit a 28-yard completion to Darius Slayton, who played Thursday night through a right thumb injury, to overcome an early Nabers drop.

That helped the Giants put more points on the board. The problem was Dallas kept scoring touchdowns.

Cowboys fullback Hunter Luepke beat Kayvon Thibodeaux on the edge for a six-yard gain on 4th and 1 from the Cowboys’ 39-yard line. And then Prescott hit Lamb for a 55-yard touchdown pass to beat Banks in man-to-man coverage.

Lamb threw the ball back at Banks after he entered the end zone, drawing a taunting penalty. And the Cowboys took a 14-6 lead with 9:16 remaining in the second quarter.

Daboll’s offense then was able to bleed the clock down the rest of the first half for a third Joseph field goal from 38 yards with 1:06 to play. The Giants nearly turned the ball over on back-to-back plays early in the eight-minute drive.

Devin Singletary fumbled, but he was ruled down, and the decision was upheld after the Cowboys challenged the initial call. Then Jones lofted a throwback deep into double coverage for Nabers that luckily fell incomplete near two Cowboys defenders.

Nevertheless, Singletary converted a 4th and 1 at midfield with a beautiful backfield spin move past Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson. And Joseph converted before Thibodeaux sacked Prescott to send the Giants into halftime down five.