Dallas Cowboys limit tepid New York Giants to five field goals in 20-15 win
Dak Prescott threw one of his two touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb and the Dallas Cowboys mocked the Giants again, winning 20-15 on Thursday night for their seventh straight victory over New York and 14th in 15 games.
Prescott, who has won his last 13 starts against the Giants, hit running back Rico Dowdle on a 15-yard screen pass for a touchdown to give Dallas the lead in the first quarter. He then found Lamb for a 55-yard catch-and-run TD on a play that ended with the receiver being called for taunting.
Lamb slipped past two defenders and trotted into the end zone. He then shot the ball in their direction and flexed his muscles, earning an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Prescott finished 22 of 27 for 221 yards, while Lamb had seven catches for 98 yards.
Brandon Aubrey made field goals from 60 and 40 yards for Dallas (2-2), which came into the game with major concerns after being soundly defeated at home by New Orleans and Baltimore. A new problem for the Cowboys is an apparent leg injury to star pass rusher Micah Parsons, who was carted off the field in the fourth quarter.
Greg Joseph made field goals of 52, 41, 38, 22 and 42 for the Giants (1-3), who controlled the ball in 35:37 but failed to score a touchdown at home for the second straight game. They had two field goals in a 28-6 loss to Minnesota in their opener.
What hurt New York was its inability to go against the league’s worst rush defense. Dallas gave up an average of 185.7 yards, but it held the Giants to 26 yards on 24 carries, an average of 1.1 yards.
Daniel Jones’ arm kept this one close. He completed 29 of 40 passes for 281 yards, finding sensational rookie Malik Nabers 12 times for 115 yards and Wan’Dale Robinson 11 times for 71 yards. But the one thing he couldn’t find was the end zone.
Nabers left late in the game with a concussion. Jones threw an interception on the Giants’ final series after Aubrey missed a 51-yard field goal attempt — his first career miss from more than 50 yards — to give New York one final shot.
If there was a bright spot for the Giants, at least they were competitive against a bitter rival. Last year they lost the two games by a margin of 89-17.