Brian Daboll: NY Giants Week 2 Loss to Cowboys Didn’t Hinge on One Play

True to form, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll took the high road on Monday when reflecting on the team’s heartbreaking 40-37 loss in overtime to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

The loss, which dropped the Giants to 0-2 for the third straight season, was marred by penalties throughout the game and another sluggish showing in the red zone, where the Giants went one of five. Despite that, they still managed to keep it a one-point difference with their division rivals until the fourth quarter.

That’s when the dam burst open and the Giants and Cowboys combined for 41 points, the Giants outscoring Dallas 21-20 in the quarter.

By then, the onslaught of penalties, at least on the Giants side of things, had calmed down, New York being flagged twice on one play for illegal contact (declined) and roughing the passer (enforced), and then once more in the quarter when safety Jevon Holland was called for defensive pass interference on a 4th-and-3 which extended a Cowboys scoring drive.

Dak Prescott is a sick man. The Giants defense played the situation poorly, but given the situation and the pressure, he put it in the right spot.

Dude was having an out-of-body experience.

(🎥: NFL Pro) pic.twitter.com/bZTHGCUUon
— Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite) September 15, 2025

The two division rivals slugged it out until the final drive of the game, which saw the Cowboys complete an 18-yard pass play to tight end Jake Ferguson at the Giants’ 49-yard line that helped set up Brandon Aubrey’s game-tying 64-yard field goal.

Daboll, in his usual press briefing the day after a game, refused to lay the blame on that one play or any one specific play for that matter.

“We had a number of opportunities throughout the game in every area to close that game out,” he said. “They hit that 64-yarder, which we knew was in his range there. They had that big play to the middle route right there, and it would have been a little bit tighter.

“But there are a number of plays that came up throughout the game that if you have one different play there or here, it’s going to make the difference in a game like that.”

Daboll pointed the finger at any one element as being the biggest culprit, but did say, “There are always certain techniques or things that could show up on the player side of it. But again, it’s a collective deal between the schemes, the decisions, and the playing. Everybody’s involved in it.

“We collectively had opportunities and fell short as a collective unit,” he added. “There are plays we left out there in all three phases.”

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