Red, White and Blowout: Dominant Dallas Cowboys Embarrass New York Giants - Top 10 Observations
The giant outdoor Christmas tree went up this week at the Dallas Cowboys' team headquarters at The Star in Frisco. They didn't exactly come wrapped under it, but the New York Giants and their hapless offense served as the season's first gift as the Cowboys played mediocre football Sunday at AT&T Stadium and still managed an embarrassingly easy 49-17 victory. They rolled up an impressive 641 offensive yards in the rout, their most ever in 124 all-time games against the Giants. They also had a team-record six players - CeeDee Lamb, Jake Ferguson, Brandin Cooks, Dak Prescott, Michael Gallup and Rico Dowdle - score a touchdown. in the same game.
10. BOUNCE-BACK 'BOYS - Dallas is now an NFL-best 11-1 following a loss since 2021. In games after this year's three losses they are 3-0 with a combined winning margin of 70 points. The Cowboys were stopped on 4th-and-Goal on their first drive, went three-and-out on their second and still produced eye-popping individual stats and a cakewalk victory against a team that - let's be honest - doesn't belong on the same field as them.
9. OUT ON A LAMB - Lamb was so unfettered by the Giants' defense it was almost he was running pat-'n-go with quarterback Dak Prescott in pregame warmups. Lamb was wide open all day. But even when he was covered, he was open. His one-hand, lefty, 30-yard catch - while being interfered with, mind you - on Dallas' first series was one of his best of the season. With 11 catches for 151 yards, Lamb extended his NFL-record streak of at least 10 catches and 150 yards to three consecutive games.
8. HOME SWEET HOME - No doubt about it, the Cowboys are the NFL's best team at home. The have won their last 12 in Arlington, since last season's opening loss to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. This year they are 4-0 by margins of 20, 35, 23 and 32 points. Nobody loves to flex on inferior opponents at home like the Cowboys.
7. MILK CARTON MAZI - Wait, was that Mazi Smith actually making a first-quarter tackle? Even so, you can count the first-round draft pick's takedowns on one hand. He's got four. In nine game.
6. JAYVEE GIANTS - Difficult to imagine these same Giants went 9-7-1, won a playoff game and Brian Daboll was named NFL Coach of the Year just a season ago. Because that product they trotted out on the field Sunday was embarrassingly inept. Daboll wasted a timeout and a challenge on what was clearly a catch by Cowboys' receiver Brandin Cooks on the game's first play. Later in the first quarter the Giants' pathetic offense couldn't score even when its defense set them up with a first down at Dallas' 11-yard line with an interception of Prescott. In the first half, quarterback Tommy Devito and his laughable unit ran 22 plays for a grand total of 27 yards and one first down. It's as though the Cowboys were playing against their practice squad, or maybe even a Texas high school junior varsity.
CeeDee Lamb and the Cowboys rolled to another easy win over the hapless Giants Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
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5. FLIP-FLOPPER - Politicians have been known to hold flexible positions and flip-flop their stance from time to time. But former President George W. Bush put a new twist on it before the game, prematurely flipping the coin toss before the Giants had a chance to call heads or tails. Bush got a chuckle out of his oops.
4. COOKIN' - Cooks had his breakout game, with seven catches for 104 yards and a touchdown ... in the first half. He finished with nine for 173. Hate to be nit-picky, but dancing on one of the league's worst teams is one thing. Where was Cooks last week when the offense needed him in a close, gritty game against the NFL's best? In the 28-23 loss to the Eagles, he caught just one pass for seven yards.
3. VETERANS DAY VICTORS - The Cowboys broke out the rare red stripe for their "Salute to Service" game. The stripe on the helmet has only been worn a handful of times in franchise history. They debuted it during America's Bicentennial celebration in 1976, and also wore it during a blowout loss to the Broncos in 2021 and a shellacking of the Colts last season. Call this one a red, white and blowout.
2. GARBAGE TIME - Given how bad the Giants were/are, just not sure why any Cowboys starters played in the second half of a 28-0 game that felt like 82-0. The Giants could play every day until Christmas and not score four touchdowns against the Cowboys' superior defense. But, sure enough, after forcing a three-and-out to start the second half, coach Mike McCarthy's first three play calls of the third quarter were a reverse and two passes. Prescott dropped back and threw 11 passes in the third before finally giving way to Cooper Rush with a 42-7 bulge entering the fourth quarter. Other than padded individual stats, zero to gain from stars like Prescott, Lamb and Micah Parsons playing in what amounted to 30 minutes of garbage time.
1. GIANT ADVANTAGE - In the two meetings this season, the Cowboys outscored the Giants by a laughable 89-17. Throw in the Jets and the cumulative score this season is Dallas 119, New York 27.
