Cover 3: Takeaways from Giants vs. Cowboys 

Matt Citak: The Giants converted just five of 16 third downs and were not able to capitalize on their two trips inside the red zone. The offense failed to reach the end zone for the second time in the first four games, instead having to settle for five Greg Joseph field goals.

“Very frustrating,” quarterback Daniel Jones told the media after the game. “We’re expected to score touchdowns and put points on the board. And in a game that I felt like we were able to do a lot and move the ball well and execute a lot of stuff well, we didn’t execute the red zone stuff and didn’t punch it in so that’s frustrating.”

Jones attempted six passes deep down the field (20+ yards) and connected on just one of those passes. The one completion came on his first deep attempt of the game, a play in which Malik Nabers used an incredible double move to get wide open for a 39-yard gain. The sixth-year quarterback was not able to connect on his following five deep pass attempts.

“I think [I’ve] just got to hit them and give the guy a chance to make a play,” the quarterback said about not hitting on the deep throws. “I’ll look at it and see where we can improve. I thought for the most part we moved the ball well in the pass game and maybe we didn’t hit a 30-yarder, but we hit 15-, 20-yarders and moved it well, so I’ll look at where I can improve on those down-the-field opportunities.”

“I just thought he underthrew a couple,” Brian Daboll added on Monday. “One was the snap. He threw it up there. Both of them, he didn’t put enough into it. So, we’ll just keep working on it.

Outside of the deep pass attempts, Jones was efficient. He began the game 19 for 22 over the unit’s first five drives, four of which resulted in points. As Jones mentioned, on intermediate throws (10-19 yards), he completed six of seven attempts for 98 yards and a 118.8 passer rating. Jones has also looked significantly better against zone coverage. He completed 14 of 17 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, earning a 119.9 passer rating against zone in Week 3. He followed that up by going 24 of 31 for 243 yards against Dallas’ zone coverage. This was the fourth-most yards Jones has thrown for against zone coverage in his career, according to NGS. However, Jones made it clear after the game that despite some positives, the offense is not taking any solace from their performance.

“No, we don’t feel good,” Jones said. “We don’t feel good about losing. We didn’t do enough to win and we’re frustrated. We’re not discouraged. I think we’re still confident in our team and what we can do, but no, we don’t feel good about losing.”