Instant Analysis: Dak dominant in Cowboys’ 49-17 destruction of doomed Giants
The Dallas Cowboys entered the game feeling good despite coming off a loss in their last contest. Over the last several weeks, the Mike McCarthy offense had started to come into their own. After starting the season with a ton of yards but an inability to score once they got into the red zone, the club had slowly started to improve. McCarthy took over play calling from Kellen Moore over the offseason, and with that, some growing pains were experienced in making some changes to how the offense flowed.
But over the last two weeks, even in the Week 9 loss to Philadelphia, the offense had shown signs of their prior dominance. QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb were playing at All-Pro levels. Second-year TE Jake Ferguson was morphing into a threat, as well. On Sunday, they were joined by free-agent acquisition Brandin Cooks and for the first time all year they truly unlocked their potential.
The result? An absolute demolition of the depleted New York Giants by the score of 49-17. The win improves the Cowboys to 6-3 on the season.
It was over when . . .
. . . the Cowboys stopped the Giants at the four-yard line a minute into the second quarter. Dak Prescott had misread the defense on the Cowboys’ previous drive, throwing a bad interception and giving the Giants the ball at Dallas’ 12-yard line.
The Dallas defense was not fazed. They clamped down against UDFA rookie QB Tommy DeVito and allowed New York nothing. Head coach Brian Daboll, looking for any type of spark, went for it on fourth down from the two, but Saquon Barkley was stuffed by Johnathan Hankins and DeMarcus Lawrence.
Dallas’ offense took over and drove 96 yards for the first of three consecutive scoring drives to put the game out of reach.
Game Ball No. 1: QB Dak Prescott
There was no one more impressive than Prescott on the game. He threw for over 400 yards and four passing touchdowns and added another score with his legs. It was the 10th time he has surpassed the 400-yard plateau in his career, more than every other Dallas QB combined (9). It was also Prescott’s ninth career game with at least four passing touchdowns.
He did this all without taking a snap in the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t a perfect game, the interception was one of two turnover-worthy plays, but Prescott has been on an absolute tear over the last four games. He’s averaging 339 passing yards a contest and has thrown 12 TDs against two interceptions in that stretch.
Game Ball No. 2: CeeDee Lamb
The Cowboys took the majority of their starters out with Prescott, starting the second quarter with a ton of backups. Lamb was not among them, catching the first two throws off the arm of backup QB Cooper Rush.
There was a method to the madness. The catches gave Lamb 11 for the game and took him to 151 receiving yards. After scoring on an end around in the first half and a reception in the second, Lamb became the first NFL player in history with three straight games of at least 10 receptions and at least 150 yards.
Lamb continues to ascend up the NFL leaderboards as he establishes himself as a top-5 wideout in the league.
Game Ball No. 3: WR Brandin Cooks
There was a lot of talk this week about the lack of Cooks’ involvement in the offense. After a really slow start, Cooks scored in two straight games but was largely overlooked in the loss to the Eagles. The first pass of the game went in his direction and that was just the appetizer.
Cooks saw 10 targets on the game, seeing a variety of looks underneath and deep. He hauled in nine of those for a season-high 173 yards, including a score. With the way Prescott has vibed with Lamb and Ferguson (who scored for the third-straight game himself), getting Cooks this involved seems to be the key to Dallas becoming an unstoppable offense.
Key Stat: 6
Once backup running back Rico Dowdle crossed the goal line for his first career rushing touchdown, that’s how many Cowboys had scored touchdowns on the game.
That’s a franchise record for a club that balled on all cylinders on Sunday afternoon.
Quick Hits
The Cowboys scored touchdowns on six of their seven trips into the red zone 87.5%). Dallas entered the game 29th in the league, converting just 43.75% of their opportunities.
CB DaRon Bland made a leaping interception in the third quarter, hauling in his fifth of the season, matching his team-leading total from 2022.
Lamb’s 617 receiving yards over his last four games is most in team history
The Cowboys’ defense held the Giants’ to under 100 passing yards for the 2nd time this season.
