EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants put the ball on the ground four times and lost it once. The Dallas Cowboys forced all four and came away with one, and Von Miller said that was the difference in a 28-20 loss Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.
“We had two good opportunities to get off the field,” Miller said. “They put the ball on the ground a couple times too. The complexion of the game would look a whole lot different.”
Rookie Caleb Downs stripped Jaxson Dart on a second-quarter sack and Giants guard Jon Runyan recovered. Outside linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku knocked the ball out of Isaiah Likely in the first quarter and New York fullback Patrick Ricard recovered. Cornerback Cobie Durant forced one out of Cam Skattebo in the fourth quarter, and Skattebo recovered it himself.
The one Dallas got came at the two-minute warning of the second quarter, when defensive tackle Quinnen Williams punched the ball loose from behind and cornerback Shavon Revel recovered at the Dallas 19.
The Last Drive
New York took the ball at its own 28 with 5:21 left and never gave it back. The Giants converted third-and-9 with a 12-yard pass to Likely and third-and-3 with a 5-yard pass to Likely, and Dart knelt three times to finish it. Dallas used its final two timeouts on the drive.
“Sometimes a loss like that is good medicine. You want to go out there and win the game,” Miller said. “Really, it just came down to that last drive. Even being down eight, I still got belief in our offense to go down there and score, make it a tie game, two-point conversion.”
Miller said the preseason was not the issue.
“I don’t think that was an issue. Both teams didn’t really play a lot,” Miller said. “Just the complexion of the game would have looked a whole lot different if we were able to make a play here and there. We weren’t able to do it. Lost by eight, and it’s a tight one.”
Von Miller’s First Season In Dallas
Miller is in his 16th NFL season and his first with the Cowboys, signing this offseason after a year in Washington. He entered the night with 138.5 career sacks and 27 forced fumbles, two Super Bowl titles, and eight Pro Bowls.
“It’s cool. Sixteen years in, I just got a sense of gratitude and I’m very appreciative of the opportunity,” Miller said. “Get back in the lab and get ready for the Commanders.”
Asked whether Miller played the number of snaps he wanted, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said he would have to check, and explained why the pass rush had fewer chances than expected.
“This was a situation where they didn’t really want to get in a situation, and we didn’t force them in any situation where they had to drop back and throw the ball and we could hunt,” Schottenheimer said. “It was more we were having to set edges and try to fill gaps and things like that.”
New York rushed 37 times for 165 yards and held the ball for 36:40.
Donovan Ezeiruaku Leads The Dallas Cowboys In Tackles
Ezeiruaku finished with 10 combined tackles, a half-sack, 2 passes defensed, and a forced fumble, leading Dallas in each of the first two categories.
“Definitely self-inflicted wounds was kind of the story of the game,” Ezeiruaku said. “Obviously, you got to give credit to the Giants defense and offense. They did a good job running the football and then keeping us off the field on offense.”
“So just hurting ourselves, not necessarily every single time Giants making a play, but when you got some false starts, you got some drops, you got some culmination of things,” Ezeiruaku said. “So really just our execution is what we gotta focus on. Show back up to work tomorrow and just focus on executing.”
Dallas hosts the Washington Commanders on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
