Post by Matt Meyer | @Bluto51 on X
The Dallas Cowboys’ season of blowouts continued on Sunday as the Cowboys dismantled the New York Giants 49-17. Dallas has won 13 of the last 14 against New York, with the only loss coming in the last game of the 2020 season, a game in which Dak Prescott didn’t play due to injury. Cowboys are now 6-3 on the season and while they’re two games behind Philadelphia for the NFC East lead, they’re also two games ahead of the first team out of the playoffs in the NFC.
All kinds of history in this one. With 40-0 and 49-17 wins over the Giants this season, the Cowboys’ combined 72 point margin of victory is their biggest ever in a sweep of an NFC East opponent, topping a combined 66 point margin of victory over the Eagles in 1969. Dallas’ 640 yards of total offense came just 12 shy of a team record and is the second highest total that the Giants have ever allowed. CeeDee Lamb caught 11 passes for 151 yards and had a TD rushing and receiving. Lamb became the first receiver in NFL history to have three straight games of at least 10 catches and at least 150 yards. I wasn’t crazy about how that went down, as Mike McCarthy left Lamb in after the game was decided just to set the record. It means a lot to players for coaches to allow them to stay in games to set records, but coaches would never forgive themselves if the player got injured after the game is in hand. Dak Prescott completed 26-35 for 404 yards with 4 TD’s and 1 INT, and Prescott now holds the team record with three games of at least 400 yards passing and 4 TD’s. Cowboys have won 12 in a row inside AT&T Stadium, the second longest home winning streak in team history.
Several other bright spots on offense for the Cowboys. The running game got going as Rico Dowdle carried 12 times for 79 yards and a TD while Tony Pollard had 15 carries for 55 yards. As great of a game as Prescott and the receivers had, it’s still important for this offense to have as much balance as possible. In addition to Lamb’s fantastic game, Brandin Cooks had by far his best day as a Cowboy, catching 9 passes for 173 yards and a score. Cooks was brought in to be a deep threat, and while Dallas hasn’t asked Prescott to throw the ball down the field as much, Cooks has the speed to either get past the secondary or catch passes on crossing routes and run away from people. The tenor of this offense has shifted more and more to the passing game, and while Prescott is playing great lately, I still think it will be important to not ask him to do too much. The Giants are simply not at the level of the opponents that the Cowboys will see down the road and potentially in the playoffs.
New York started undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito at QB due to Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor being injured, and the lifelong Giants fan from New Jersey didn’t have a chance. DeVito finished 14-27 for only 86 yards with 2 TD’s and an INT. Saquon Barkley was held in check as he rushed 13 times for 66 yards, 21 of those coming on one carry. Cowboys racked up 5 sacks and 7 tackles for loss, and that’s with Micah Parsons not appearing on the stat sheet. Again, the Giants are struggling and didn’t have their top two QB’s, but this is the type of performance you should have against an overmatched team.
Up next for the Cowboys is a game in Charlotte against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at 12:00 Central. Panthers are 1-8 and clearly in rebuilding mode after moving up in the draft to take Bryce Young number one overall out of Alabama. Young has completed 63% of his passes for 1,560 yards and has thrown 8 TD’s and 7 INT’s. Former OSU Cowboy Chuba Hubbard leads the Panthers with 351 rushing yards, and former Viking WR Adam Thielen is Young’s leading target with 652 yards and 4 scores. Carolina has struggled on offense, as the Panthers are 30th in total offense, 27th in passing, 27th in rushing, and 29th in scoring. It’s been a mixed bag for Carolina on defense, as they rank 7th in yards allowed and 6th against the pass, but are 26th against the run and 30th in points allowed. Hopefully the Cowboys’ running game can pick up where it left off against the Giants. LB Frankie Luvu leads the team with 73 tackles and LB Brian Burns has 5 sacks and 8 TFL to lead the team.
I don’t feel quite as confident this week as I did last week, but it’s still a game that Dallas should win and needs to win, as the schedule turns tougher in the coming weeks.
Cowboys 27 Panthers 17
