By Michael Stewart @TheTruthNYG
The New York Giants unbeaten season has come to an end at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys 23-16. As advertised this game lived up to the hype between these two division rivals with the Giants unfortunately coming up short. There were some positives to take away from this game for the Giants, but also there were negatives as well. Here are my top 3 reasons why the Giants won:
- Giants offensive Line pass protection pitiful: The Giants offensive line continues to struggle in the passing game as they surrendered a total of five sacks, 20 pressures and 12 hits on QB Daniel Jones. Rookie Evan Neal was totally outplayed by DeMarcus Lawrence (3 sacks) and Micah Parsons (1 sack). Neal will need to re-group and move forward as this is part of being a rookie in the NFL.
- Giants Defense & Dynamic Duo Pass Rushers non-existent: For the first this season the Giants had two of their best pass rushers available for the game in Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari. Unfortunately, it was apparent that both were not fully at their best as neither one was able to register a sack. In fact, the Giants entire defensive unit was unable to record a sack. As a whole, the Giants defense failed to come up with the big stop when needed and allowed the Cowboys offense to totally dominate them especially in the 2nd half.
- Costly penalties: When the Giants offense did move the ball they were hindered by inexcusable penalties that stalled the drives. There’s was unsportsmanlike penalty by Sterling Shepard for coming off the bench when the Giants were going to get an additional 15 yards added onto the play for a late hit on Jones on the sidelines. Another penalty by the offensive line (holding) on a big play that produced a 3rd and long, which would have continued the drive and possibly a scoring opportunity.
Final Thoughts: If we were asked before the season after 3 games that the Giants would be 2-1, we all would have been elated. However, this was the game the Giants could have won and let it slip away to the hands of a Dallas Cowboys team who have now won 9 of the 10 meetings against the Giants. Keep an eye out for my article on the Top 3 reasons after the game between the Giants and Bears.