Blogging The Boys
As the old saying goes, a win is a win. After needing overtime to beat the Giants on Sunday, the Cowboys know they need to be better going forward. But it also says something that they were able to get the win despite not being at their best. These five plays were instrumental in the Cowboys’ comeback.
The Cowboys finally reached the endzone right before halftime, but they still trailed 13-10 going into the break. Getting the ball first after halftime was a big deal, but any advantage was quickly tossed out when Dak Prescott threw a pick. The Giants were set up in great field position, but a run stuff on third down threatened to render the opportunity wasted.
Brian Daboll opted to go for it on fourth down, needing just three yards for the first down and 10 for the touchdown. Russell Wilson dropped back and had Cam Skattebo open in the flat for a first down, but Wilson needed to maneuver to his right in order to throw it. By the time he did, two defenders were already bearing down on Skattebo, and the rookie running back dropped the pass.
It was a huge moment that kept the Cowboys in it, ultimately rendering the interception meaningless and keeping it a one-score game. Without that fourth-down stop, Dallas may very well be sitting at 0-2 right now.
Jalen Tolbert has received a lot of (unwarranted) heat recently, and that unrest within the fan base ratcheted up during this game when Tolbert straight up dropped a would-be first down on third down late in the game. But he absolutely atoned for it later on.
Trailing 34-30 with just over two minutes left in the game, the Cowboys opted to go for it on fourth and three. After all, they really had no choice at this point. Prescott fired a strike over the middle to a diving Tolbert, who secured the catch for an 11-yard pickup and the first down.
A flag was also thrown for pass interference, so the Cowboys would’ve moved the chains either way, but Tolbert didn’t leave it in the zebras’ hands to keep the team’s chances of winning alive. He made a really difficult catch in one of the biggest moments of the game, proving yet again why Prescott trusts him in those moments.
Tolbert’s drive-extending catch led to the George Pickens touchdown, but it was quickly wiped out by another Giants score, and Dallas was back in a three-point hole with 25 seconds left. Prescott’s first pass got batted down at the line and shaved six seconds off the clock, making the Cowboys’ win probability dangerously slim.
But on second down, Prescott found Jake Ferguson up the seam, and he lasered it in there for a massive 18-yard gain. Just like that, the Cowboys were right on the cusp of field...
