Dak Prescott said Dallas Cowboys had to beat Giants, a third straight loss would have been untenable

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Dak Prescott didn’t have to be Nostradamus to peek into the future and envision the doom and gloom reigning down on his Dallas Cowboys if they had lost Thursday’s game against the New York Giants.

They didn’t, coming away with a 20-15 victory at MetLife Stadium as Prescott won for the 13 straight time against the Giants while the Cowboys won for the 14th time in last 15 meetings between the two long-standing rivals, including seven straight.

But coming in riding a two-game losing streak in which the Cowboys failed to compete against New Orleans Saints in a 44-19 blowout and falling behind 28-6 before going down 28-25 to Baltimore Ravens _ resulting in infighting, accountability questions and fans launching an online petition to fire owner Jerry Jones as general manager _ the mood was already combustible.

Prescott openly admitted that a possible third straight loss would have been untenable given the environment surrounding the team.

Coach Mike McCarthy is already on the hot seat in the final of his contract with a possible Super Bowl-or-bust mandate and the Cowboys have a young impressionable roster that can’t stay away from the negativity of social media.

“1000 percent,” Prescott said asked if the Cowboys were at a must-win portion of the season in Week 4. “I don’t want to even think about that. Especially with such a young team and the way some of the these young guys might react. It was a huge, especially when you compare it to the alternative. What that would have been like. It was huge. Got to turn the narrative. Got to change the narrative. That’s what this game did, especially over a long weekend. Puts us at 2-2.”

It may not change the narrative completely.

And the Cowboys still have mountains to climb before they can reclaim some respect, namely matchups at the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, at home against the Detroit Lions and at the San Francisco 49ers in their next three outings.

Again, consider how things would have looked like heading into the those three games if the Cowboys hadn’t beaten the Giants.

Sure, it was an ugly win that featured 11 penalties by the Cowboys.

And it was against a Giants team that they always dominate.

“Fuck, give credit,” Prescott said he was walked in the tunnel of MetLife Stadium to meet his family. “Not everybody beats the Giants. People are going to say what they want to say validate their arguments. It’s hard to win in this division. We are going to take it and grow from it.”

The Cowboys won because Prescott continued his personal mastery of the Giants. After dropping the first two meetings during his rookie season in 2016, Prescott has won every time since.

He is the fourth quarterback in NFL history to register 13 consecutive wins against an opponent, joining Miami’s Bob Griese (17 against Buffalo from 1968-79), San Francisco’s Steve Young (13 against the Los Angeles Rams from 1987-98) and New England’s Tom Brady (13 against Buffalo from 2003-10).

Prescott set the tone early Thursday completing 11 of his first 12 passes before finishing 22-of-27 (81.5%) for 221 yards and two touchdowns. He also recorded a 125.5 passer rating.

And one week after receiver CeeDee Lamb had a fumble in the red zone and was seen yelling at Prescott on the sideline in the loss to the Ravens, the connection that led the NFL in receptions in 2023 got it’s mojo back.

Lamb led all Cowboys receivers with seven receptions for 98 yards and a 55-yard catch and run for a touchdown in the second quarter that was a thing of beauty on the only play he faced single coverage.

“I finally got one one one,” Lamb said. “It was only one one one I got all game and we exploited it.”

Lamb was flagged for taunting after throwing ball at a Giants defender upon crossing into the end zone.

“All the passion came out of me,” Lamb said. “I told my coach I won’t do it again. It was built up from a long time ago.”

As well as Prescott and Lamb played and started, it wasn’t a perfect outing as the offense failed to get in the end zone in the second half, settling for field goals of 60 and 40 yards from Brandon Aubrey.

When Aubrey missed from 51 yards with 31 seconds left, the Cowboys had rely on a maligned and injury-riddled defense to secure the victory.

Cornerback Amani Oruwariye, a practice squad call up who was forced into action when Andrew Booth was benched after a horrid first half, ended all hopes a Giants comeback with an interception against Daniel Jones in the final seconds.

Booth was only starting because rookie Caelen Carson was out with a shoulder injury. And Carson only started the first three games because Pro Bowl cornerback DeRon Bland is out for the first month of the season with a fractured foot.

Consider also that the Cowboys ended game on defense without star edge rusher Micah Parsons and veteran defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence due to the foot and ankle injuries.

But a unit that allowed 557 rushing yards through the first three games, the most given up by the Dallas franchise in the first three games of a season, shut down the Giants on the ground.

After allowing 274 yards on the ground to the Ravens and 190 to the Saints, the Cowboys held the Giants to 26 yards on 24 carries.

The average of 1.08 yards-per-carry by the Giants was the sixth-lowest allowed rushing average in franchise history. The last time the Cowboys allowed less than 1.08 yards-per carry was in 2015 against Philadelphia.

And after allowing the Giants to score field goals and dominate the time of possessions on their first four drives of the games, thanks to penalties and timely third down completions from Jones against the injury-riddled secondary, the Cowboys held the Giants to just one field goal on their last four drives.

The last two drives of the game came without Parsons and Lawrence and the Giants ended with a incompletion on fourth down and the final interception.

“We overcame a lot, so, it’s a good one to get,” McCarthy said. “We feel great about what we accomplished but I think for the fourth week in a row, we realized that we have a lot of work to do.”

The Cowboys have a mini bye as they have roughly 10 days before they face the Steelers on Oct. 6. Parsons and Lawrence are optimistic they will be back on the field.

But no one believes their problems have been solved by beating the Giants. They still have to be accountable and continue to get better.

“We’ve got to continue to be pros,” Prescott said. “That’s not done. That’s not done when you get a win and that’s my point about (how) we’re not going to get overexcited or hopefully the guys don’t listen to anything that’s being written about, good or bad. It’s about focusing on this process. We were able to get a win, puts us at 2-2, going into a long weekend.”

“Allows us a couple days to get our body right, mind right. If guys want to read about themselves in this team, it’s all positive hopefully. I ask you guys to make it positive. Keep their confidence right and just allowed to build momentum. That’s what we’re looking to do.”

The Cowboys still look nothing like the teams that fashioned 12-5 records in each of the past three seasons. And they will have to be much better than their were against the Giants if they hope to the survive the next three weeks against the Steelers, Lions and 49ers.

So no one is thinking the Cowboys are suddenly contenders again.

But what they are dealing with now is better than the alternative if they had lost Thursday’s must-win game against the Giants.

That’s a fact and Nostradamus Dak knows as much.