New York Giants Week 13 Report Card: A D-ud in Dallas 

The grades are in for the New York Giants’ 27-20 loss to the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Thanksgiving, as the Giants delivered another turkey of a performance, becoming the first team inthe league to be eliminated from the postseason and the first team to hit double-digit losses this year.  

Two costly turnovers (a pick-6 and a lost fumble) led to 14 points for the Cowboys, which is the difference in the game. Recording nearly as many penalties (13) as first downs (17) is never a good thing, nor is going 3-of-12 on third down. 

The offensive line continues to struggle, allowing a whopping six sacks and 14 quarterback hits this week. Add three more drops to the 26 the Giants entered this game with and a couple of big plays that were wiped out by holding penalties, and you had a recipe for a Thanksgiving disaster.

The good news? The Giants were 2-of-2 in the red zone–not that it helped the final result. The Giants should have been much more efficient against the Cowboys’ defense, but with a chance to bury their division rivals in their own home stadium, the Giants couldn’t get it done.  

Zero sacks by the Giants’ defense, which, by the way, has had what, one sack in its last four games? Add in at least ten missed tackles in the first half alone, and Rico Dowdle running wild for 112 yards on 22 carries (5.1 yards per carry), not to mention the yards after contact the Cowboys rushers were racking up? 

Not good.

Also not good were two costly defensive pass interference penalties that gave Dallas a fresh set of downs. Speaking of penalties, Kayvon Thibodeaux was called for being offside twice and was also nailed for “roughing the passer” (a ticky-tack call, but a call nonetheless) in the first half.

Cornerback Art Green seems to have quietly filled in nicely for former teammate Nick McCloud. He stopped punt returner KaVontae Turpin for no gain and then downed a 41-yard punt by Jamie Gillan on the 1-yard line.  

Ihmir Smith-Marsette had a nice day as well, with a 22-yard punt return in which he hurdled over Damone Clark. Graham Gano hit all of his field goals and PATs. Kickoff returner Eric Gray’s lone return went for 36 yards, but he also lost a fumble that Matthew Adams alertly pounced on. And Gillan put two of his five punts inside the 20, finishing with a nice 46.2 net average on the day.

The good news is that the team didn’t quit, and the effort was what you’d hope for, even if the result wasn’t. The bad news is that the team continues to lack discipline–see the aforementioned penalties, missed tackles, and other execution-related mishaps that happen week after week. 

Shane Bowen’s defense again struggled against the run, and no matter what they do in practice and meetings, it doesn’t seem to work. And now they might have to do it moving forward the rest of the way without defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, their best player.

Those missed tackles? We’re talking about a football fundamental that should be much more crisp at this point in the season, yet isn’t.