ARLINGTON, TEXAS — The Dallas Cowboys (5-7) win back-to-back games, and their first home game of the season, after defeating the Giants 27-20 on Thanksgiving day.
Head Coach Mike McCarthy said, “we feel different today than we did on Saturday night going into Washington;” the Cowboys having won two games over division opponents in the last five days.
Dallas’ first drive culminated in a 24-yard field goal for kicker Brandon Aubrey. The Giants (2-10) would score on their first drive too. Quarterback Drew Lock got his first start in New York’s red, white and blue, and initially scored on a QB scramble, but his 28-yard run was reversed. RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. then scored on the next play; K Graham Gano’s point after touchdown was good. It was their first lead in a game since Week 5 when they played at Seattle, and beat the Seahawks 29-20.
Tyler Guyton went down on the Cowboys’ second drive; the drive continued on into the second quarter, finishing with another three points from Aubrey’s 33-yard field goal. Guyton would come back on the field for field goal protection; McCarthy saying his injuries were to his ankle and knee.
Aubrey’s 33-yard field goal was good to end the drive.
Afterwards, Giants’ running back Eric Gray fumbled Dallas’ kick return, but it was recovered by linebacker Matthew Adams. Cowboys’ safety Juanyeh Thomas went down on the play, clutching his right knee, and did not return. Thomas put the nail in the coffin last Sunday, scoring a TD in the final moments against the Washington Commanders to help seal the deal and snap Dallas’ previous five-game losing streak.
On the very next play, LB DeMarvion Overshown ended the Giants’ second drive by tipping Lock’s pass to Singletary, to himself, for a pick-six; Aubrey’s PAT was good, making it 13-7, Cowboys. McCarthy said his daughter, who played volleyball, would have been proud of Overshown—that it was “one of the highlight plays so far this season.”
New York’s drive to follow had Lock getting sacked by Dallas’ Donovan Wilson.
Then, the Giants cut the Cowboys’ lead to three, scoring on a 46-yard field goal.
A fumble by the Giants in their opening drive of the third quarter was recovered by Overshown. Dallas went down to the six-yard line on the next drive, and it was originally thought that QB Cooper Rush fumbled it forward into the end zone for a touchback, but the play was called back. Rush then found wide receiver Brandin Cooks in the end zone; Cooks was activated off of injured reserve for the first time since Week 4, the last week he saw game action, which also just so happened to be against the Giants.
Aubrey’s PAT was good, making it Cowboys 20, Giants 10.
Lock got sacked again on the next drive, this time by Parsons.
RB Rico Dowdle added on to the score with a TD of his own, his first rushing TD of the season; Aubrey also made his PAT to go up by 17 points with just over four minutes left to go in the third quarter.
Parsons and defensive tackle Mazi Smith sacked Lock on the opening play of the fourth quarter, but the Giants would score a FG to close out the drive.
Drew Lock scrambled for an eight-yard TD to get the Giants within seven points with just over two minutes left to play, but New York could not finish the comeback.
Rush said he’s been at AT&T Stadium for a lot of Thanksgiving days, and was happy to finally start one this year. He threw for 192 yards, just 14 more than Lock, who got sacked a total of six times and had one interception.
Dowdle had 22 carries for 112 yards. WR Malik Nabers led all receivers with eight receptions for 69 yards; WR KaVontae Turpin led Dallas on four receptions for 53 yards.
Dallas only had the lead for just over two minutes total in its last six home games. The win over New York was “definitely overdue,” McCarthy said, and that it was “important to get the win on a lot of fronts, but really important… at home.”
The Cowboys will return to AT&T Stadium to host the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14’s Monday Night Football game.
