EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Dallas Cowboys held the ball for 2:05 in the fourth quarter. The New York Giants held it for 12:55, ran out the last 5:21 while Dallas spent its final two timeouts, and won 28-20 on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in front of 83,286.
Jaxson Dart completed 23-of-29 passes for 230 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions, finishing with a 134.2 passer rating. The second-year quarterback carried 11 times for 54 yards. New York ran 68 plays to Dallas’ 52, converted 9 of 11 third downs, and held the ball for 36:40 to Dallas’ 23:20.
Dak Prescott was 22-of-34 for 175 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception, with a passer rating of 84.8. He was not sacked. Dallas finished with 244 yards and 21 first downs. New York finished with 394 and 29.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Dallas did not play offense or defense the way it is capable of playing.
“I thought overall we were really, as a football team, we were pretty poor,” Schottenheimer said. “Just give coach Harbaugh and his team a bunch of credit. They were the more physical team tonight. That’s certainly not our standard. That’s certainly not how we see our identity playing.”
Dallas Cowboys Never Held A Lead
Dallas never led. The score was tied once, at 7-7 in the second quarter, and the Cowboys started 5 possessions while trailing and none while ahead. They were down by 14 twice, at 21-7 in the third quarter and 28-14 in the fourth.
Possession was nearly even through two quarters. Dallas held the ball 14:53 to New York’s 15:07, and the Cowboys won the second quarter 8:05 to 6:55. The second half went 21:33 to 8:27. Dallas ran 21 plays after halftime and had exactly two possessions, scoring touchdowns on both.
New York scored touchdowns on four of its seven drives and on three straight drives spanning the second half. The Giants punted once all night. Dart completed 12 of 14 passes after halftime, gaining 96 yards and scoring 2 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Skattebo carried the ball 12 times for 64 yards during this period, after a first half in which he had 6 carries for 17 yards.
Dallas gained 122 yards in the first half and 122 in the second. New York gained 213 and 181. The Cowboys averaged their drives from their own 22, the Giants from their own 25. Prescott was 10-of-17 for 72 yards with a touchdown, an interception, and a 63.8 rating before halftime, then 12-of-17 for 103 yards and a touchdown after halftime.
Quinnen Williams Points To Third Down
Dallas converted 8 of 11 third downs. The defense allowed 9 of 11 and 165 rushing yards, and missed 7 tackles, per NextGen Stats. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, one of the Cowboys’ four captains, named a single number when asked what hurt most, DallasCowboys.com reported.
“It was definitely third down,” Williams said. “I think we had a lot of third downs today and we didn’t get off the field — a bunch of them. I think we definitely gotta be critical [of ourselves] in our approach, when we get to [preparing for Week 2].”
“And it’s a great week to learn, and to get things better,” Williams added.
Williams said the defense made a long list of mental errors.
“The guys we got in our locker room, especially on defense, are unbelievable when it comes down to taking constructive criticism and accountability, first of all, and let’s move,” Williams said. “We had a lot of mental errors, a lot of busts today, and just really need to be critical with that going into this week; and focus on getting better.”
“We’ve already said it to each other, and we hold each other accountable to get better,” Williams continued.
Dallas sacked Dart twice and hit him 6 times. Schottenheimer said Dart looked comfortable in the pocket.
“We did not get enough pressure on him,” Schottenheimer said. “I thought we had some good shots on the ball, but the pass rush does have to be better, for sure.”
Outside linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku led Dallas with 10 combined tackles and added a half-sack, 2 passes defensed, and a forced fumble. Safety Caleb Downs, the 11th overall pick, finished his NFL debut with 7 combined tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, and a forced fumble. Getting off the field is part of the job and Dallas did not do it well, Downs said.
“At the end of the day, in football, it always just comes down to who does their job better,” Downs said. “We’ve got to do our jobs better — as a defense and as a team. We get that fixed, and we’ll be good. It’s always frustrating as a defense when you don’t get off the field.”
“That’s part of the job, and we didn’t do it at a high level today,” Downs added. “We need to see what we did wrong, execute what we need to fix, and then go do it better next week.”
Dallas forced 4 fumbles and recovered 1. Downs, Ezeiruaku, cornerback Cobie Durant, and Quinnen Williams each forced one. It was the first live game for defensive coordinator Christian Parker‘s group, and the Dallas starters did not play in the preseason. The Cowboys allowed more points than any team in the NFL last season.
New York Giants Control The Clock
Cam Skattebo scored from 3 yards out to cap New York’s opening possession, 10 plays and 83 yards over 6:13. Dart had run 22 yards on a left end four plays earlier, and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown drew an unnecessary roughness flag at the end of the run. Skattebo carried 18 times for 81 yards. The Giants rushed 37 times for 165 yards.
Dallas took its first takeaway of the season at the two-minute warning of the second quarter. Quinnen Williams punched the ball loose from running back Tyrone Tracy on an 8-yard run, and cornerback Shavon Revel recovered at the Dallas 19. Dallas started at its own 16.
On third-and-5 from the Dallas 36 with 58 seconds left, Prescott threw deep right and safety Jevón Holland intercepted at the New York 45. The Giants scored touchdowns on all three possessions that followed.
“He was trying to throw it away, and he didn’t get enough on it,” Schottenheimer said. “And that happens, but it was a big momentum swing. They went down and scored, and they got the ball in the second half and they scored. That’s unfortunately what they call a double dip, and they double dipped us.”
Tight end Isaiah Likely was targeted 8 times and caught all 8 for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns in his first game with New York. The first covered 15 yards with 20 seconds left in the half, the sixth play of a 55-yard drive that took 29 seconds. The Giants then took the second-half kickoff and drove 74 yards on 12 plays over 8:01, with Likely scoring from 2 yards.
Dart ran on three of the first four plays of New York’s next scoring drive, then threw four passes to Devin Singletary in the left flat. Singletary scored from 9 yards with 7:26 left. The drive covered 65 yards on 13 plays and took 8:11. Singletary caught 4 passes for 22 yards and a touchdown.
Receiver Malik Nabers caught 6 of 9 targets for 69 yards in his first game since tearing an ACL and meniscus in his right knee. He had been expected to play since Sunday morning.
The Two-Point Try Dallas Never Got To Attempt
Dallas gained 37 yards on its first two possessions and punted both times. The offense reached the end zone on its third series, a 10-play, 85-yard drive carrying 37 penalty yards. Two New York pass interference calls moved it, a 38-yarder on an incompletion intended for George Pickens and a 19-yarder that produced first-and-goal at the 2. Javonte Williams appeared to score from the 1 on second down, and the replay official reversed it. Prescott found CeeDee Lamb from the 1 on the next play.
Javonte Williams carried 12 times for 41 yards and a touchdown, with a long of 8. Dallas rushed for 69 yards on 18 attempts and averaged 3.8. Schottenheimer said the Cowboys made adjustments at halftime.
“I thought they pushed us around a little bit up front,” Schottenheimer said. “Their defensive line, our running game, there was way too much penetration early in the game. Javonte was running into freaking, a wall in the beginning of the game. We made some good adjustments at halftime, but this is a team game.”
The first of Dallas’ two second-half drives went 75 yards on 12 plays and ran 6:22, aided by two more Giants pass interference penalties inside the 30. Javonte Williams scored from 1 yard with 37 seconds left in the third quarter.
The second took 2:05 and covered 74 yards. Holland drew an unnecessary roughness penalty on a 17-yard catch by Ryan Flournoy that put Dallas at the New York 17, and Prescott hit Javonte Williams for a 17-yard touchdown on the next snap with 5:21 left. Williams held the ball out toward a New York defender as he crossed the goal line and was flagged 15 yards for taunting, enforced between downs.
Dallas had planned to attempt a two-point conversion, trailing 28-20, The Dallas Morning News reported. The penalty took it off the table.
“We were going for the win,” Schottenheimer said. “That’s not like Javonte.”
Brandon Aubrey pushed the extra point wide right from 15 yards farther back. Williams said afterward that he knew better.
“I’m a pro,” Williams said. “I know better than that. I shouldn’t have did it. I’m going to correct it. It is what it is. I’m just going to move past it.”
Williams, a member of the Cowboys’ 11-person leadership council, put the loss on the Cowboys themselves.
“It’s us versus us,” Williams said. “Self-inflicted wounds, penalties, things like that. That’s what cost us the game.”
Dallas was flagged 9 times for 90 yards, New York 10 times for 114. Lamb caught 5 of 8 targets for 44 yards and a touchdown. Javonte Williams caught all 5 of his targets for 31 yards and a touchdown, and his 3.4 yards per carry were the third-lowest of his Cowboys career, according to The Dallas Morning News. Pickens caught 3 of 6 for 28 yards. Neither team attempted a field goal. Both were perfect in the red zone, Dallas 3-of-3 and New York 4-of-4.
Javonte Williams signed a three-year, $24 million extension in February that includes $16 million guaranteed, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported. Aubrey signed a four-year, $28 million extension this offseason, the largest for a kicker in league history.
New York hired coach John Harbaugh on Jan. 20 after 18 seasons in Baltimore. The Giants went 4-13 last season. Dallas went 7-9-1 and has missed the playoffs two years running. Prescott entered the night 14-3 as a starter against the Giants, and Dallas had won 11 of its previous 12 season openers against New York.
“This is a humbling business,” Schottenheimer said. “And we got humbled tonight. That’s what I told the guys. We lost mile one of a 17-mile marathon, and we have to be better. We will be better. And the only way to do that is to get back to work.”
Dallas hosts the Washington Commanders on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
