Grading the Giants’ 27-20 loss to the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Thursday:
Offense
Different quarterback, same inability to get the ball in the end zone often enough. Drew Lock (21 of 31, 178 yards) ran for a touchdown, but his two turnovers (pick-six, lost fumble) led to 14 points for the Cowboys.
The running backs — Devin Singletary (7-23) and Tyrone Tracy (9-32) did not do much. Lock was rushed relentlessly, sacked six times and hit a total of 14 times. RT Evan Neal had a false start penalty with Micah Parsons breathing down his neck and later barely laid a glove on Parsons on a third-quarter sack.
A nice gain by Tracy was called back by a holding penalty on rookie TE Theo Johnson. A sizable gain on a pass to Malik Nabers was brought back by a holding call on TE Chris Manhertz.
Going 3-for-13 on third down is not going to cut it, and only 247 total yards against a crummy defense is not good enough. At least Nabers (8-69) got involved early.
Grade: D.
Defense
Cooper Rush threw the ball 36 times, and he is not exactly a gazelle back there, yet there were no sacks. None. Memo to edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux: You are allowed to harass and actually sack the quarterback.
Thibodeaux had two offside penalties and closed out a brutal first half by mindlessly shoving Rush in the back for a roughing the passer penalty. The Cowboys came in 31st in rushing and yet Rico Dowdle (22-112, 1 TD) averaged 5.1 yards.
CB Cor’Dale Flott had good coverage on Brandin Cooks and later broke up a deep ball to Jonathan Mingo but gave up a 36-yard completion to Jalen Tolbert. Rookie safety Tyler Nubin was called for pass interference to prolong a Dallas drive. Veteran CB Adoree’ Jackson was beaten by Cooks for a touchdown and not long after was called for pass interference.
Offside on first down late in the game by Elijah Chatman? Ridiculous.
Grade: C-minus.
Special teams
Art Green had a big hit on KaVontae Turpin for a stop for no yards in punt coverage. Green a bit later tiptoed the goal line to down Jamie Gillan’s 41-yard punt on the 1-yard line.
Ihmir Smith-Marsette punctuated a 22-yard punt return by leaping over Damone Clark for a few extra yards. Gillan expertly angled a 53-yard punt out of bounds.
Eric Gray lost a fumble — we’ve seen that before — on a kickoff return, and he was fortunate that Matthew Adams recovered the ball. Graham Gano hit field goals of 46 and 47 yards.
Grade: B-plus.
Coaching
At least the Giants battled to the end, which counts for something when it comes to assessing Brian Daboll. Committing 13 penalties for 98 yards in losses does not lead to the conclusion that Daboll has a firm grip.
Daboll going for it on fourth-and-1 from midfield midway through the first quarter was the right thing to do and he was rewarded for it. Tell us if you’re heard this before: Shane Bowen’s defense looked shabby, trying and failing to stop the run and the tackling issues are alarming.
Grade: D.
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