Dallas, Texas – At this point in the season, the Giants’ weekly losses are becoming increasingly difficult to bear.
After their most recent defeat, 49-17, at AT&T Stadium on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, the locker room was understandably quiet. The Giants are 2-8 and have lost seven of their last eight games, including three in a row.
“It is challenging, in my opinion, to remain optimistic,” stated linebacker Bobby Okereke. But that’s where we, as leaders, can step up and try our best to remain upbeat rather than depressed. Naturally, this outcome does not please anyone. Hard work. It’s awkward, but nobody is going to come save us; all we can do is manage the things within our power, which are our attitudes and efforts in the real world, as well as our best efforts to help right the ship.”
“Everyone’s trying to figure out what to do to help right the ship and we got our asses kicked tonight, so there should be some pissed off people,” Justin Pugh, the offensive lineman, said. “You get embarrassed on national TV or whatever it is, it’s not a good feeling.”
The game was nothing like that. Dallas led by 28 points at the half. Dak Prescott ran for one touchdown and completed 404 yards of passing for four touchdowns. With 32 first downs, the Cowboys had twice as many as the Giants, and Dallas prevented the visitors from converting a third down on 12 attempts. At halftime, the Cowboys led the scoreless Giants in total yards (27), but they also led in points (28). They outgained the Giants 640–172 for the game, with 472-61 coming from the air.
“Not what we were hoping for,” head coach Brian Daboll remarked. “I felt like we had a fight in the second half, but there is still a lot we need to improve on. Give Dallas credit, then. They engaged in an incredible game.”
“This is really difficult,” said running back Saquon Barkley. “When you lose like that, you’ll be embarrassed every week, but you have to handle it like a man. Of course, you can’t indulge in your emotions for very long because you need to prepare for the upcoming week. The NFL is that.”
The Commanders, one of the two teams the Giants have defeated this season, will be the opponent when they visit Washington the following week.
Tyrod Tyler and Daniel Jones, the Giants’ two best quarterbacks, were sidelined due to rib and knee injuries, respectively, and were not available to play. Tommy DeVito, a rookie free agent quarterback, took over as the team’s quarterback. During his first NFL start, he primarily looked for ways to get away from the Cowboys’ relentless pressure. DeVito took seven hits and five sacks. Though he only completed 14 of 27 passes, he did manage to throw two touchdown passes, one to Sterling Shepard with six seconds left in the game.
Daboll stated, “I thought he did some good stuff.” “Things to work on, that’s why we competed all the way to the end, to give him as many different situations as he can get.”
Out of the 13 possessions the Giants had, eleven went for 17 yards or less. Two more ended with touchdown passes from DeVito.
Says DeVito, “It’s hard.” “Over the week, you invested a lot. You practiced and attended meetings a lot as part of the preparation. This obviously isn’t what we were hoping for. There needs to be a change. All we need to do is improve.”
However, how? After missing seven games due to a hamstring injury, Andrew Thomas left the game in the first quarter due to a knee problem. He did make a comeback and used a knee brace while playing in the second quarter. Jalin Hyatt, a wide receiver, and edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, a promising young player, both left the game with concussions. In the second half, defensive backs Cor’Dale Flott (shoulder) and Deonte Banks (ankle) did not participate.
Rewind to DeVito. He started his first two offensive series at the one- and six-yard lines of the Giants. Jamie Gillan punted out of the end zone to end both drives.
“I don’t feel sorry for myself,” DeVito declared. Any situation that you find yourself in, you must find a way out of it. All we need to do is get more first downs.”
The Cowboys needed just 46 yards after Gillan’s second punt to score their first point of the contest, which came from Lamb’s 14-yard end-around run. Dallas scored touchdowns on each of their three second-quarter possessions: Prescott’s 10-yard scramble with 16 seconds left, and passes of one yard to tight end Jake Ferguson and ten yards to Brandin Cooks. The Giants were trailing 28-0 going into their locker room.
“I take responsibility first,” stated defensive captain and middle linebacker Okereke. “I’m not doing enough to win games for this team. I’m not playing to win games for this team. This week, I have to get back to the drawing board and try to invigorate this team a little bit.”
DeVito found tight end Lawrence Cager for a 10-yard touchdown pass to put the Giants ahead 3–0 in the third quarter. Dallas moved 86 yards in just 3:37, and Prescott’s 41-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup increased the lead to 35-7. After two plays, DaRon Bland intercepted DeVito’s pass intended for Hyatt, which allowed Lamb to score from 12 yards out and give the team a 42-7 lead.
The winning points came from a 40-yard field goal by Randy Bullock, the Giants’ first, and a late touchdown by Josh Shepard.
Following the game, Daboll and a number of players—including wide receivers Shepard and Darius Slayton, defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, and Daboll and Barkley—were barraged with inquiries regarding sideline exchanges that occasionally appeared unusual to onlookers.
“Normal stuff during a game,” Daboll called it. “Slayton and Shep, they weren’t getting into it. Little stuff during the game. Not a big deal. I’ve talked to all those guys. Not the results we want but get back to work. Everybody’s pros. Everybody’s pros. Obviously, not the results we want, not the record we want, but everybody’s a pro and we get back to work and do everything we can do to be better.”
“That’s football,” Barkley remarked. “It’s like that for every team, every week. When things don’t go your way, you have competitors or guys who are fired up. That most likely occurs once a week, particularly when you’re losing a game. That doesn’t necessarily mean, in my opinion, that the team is doing well or anything. That’s football; it will occur this week and most likely in the future. Even though we finished the season 7-2, there were occasions last year when that kind of thing came up, but there was just no way for them to write a story about it. We’re not doing too well, so they can now.”
Improving is more important in the locker room than squabbling.
Barkley remarked, “It’s okay to be upset and frustrated.” “Go home and leave that. Without a doubt, I’ll go home, talk to my family, and vent my frustrations, but I’ll do my best to keep it a secret and, to be honest, make up a tale for you guys. That’s how I think. That’s my approach to handling it. It’s difficult, but keep grinding, put on your hat, and keep showing up for work.”
“I feel like we have a strong-minded group, and you know that’s what it’s going to take,” Shepard stated. “Considering how the season has been going so far, we’re going to find out who truly has a strong mind. This is when the true mental toughness of a person is revealed.”
This is most definitely one of those times for the 2-8 Giants.