There have been high schools around New York City that have shown more offensive competence than that of the Giants.
Sunday afternoon provided another embarrassing effort for Big Blue, playing a third-straight game without Daniel Jones, with four turnovers in a 21-6 loss to the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium.
Backup quarterback Mike Glennon could do nothing against an aggressive Cowboys defense, completing just 13-of-24 attempts for 99 yards and three interceptions — though he was given the keys to the offense for a majority of the afternoon despite a disastrous showing.
With the game well out of reach and the Giants offense going nowhere, head coach Joe Judge finally turned to third-string quarterback Jake Fromm for the final offensive series of the afternoon.
Now sitting at 4-10, the Giants have clinched their fifth straight season of losing double-digit games while the Cowboys (10-4) bolster their stronghold on the NFC East.
Glennon gifted the Cowboys with dangerous field position to set up the opening score of the afternoon.
On the Giants’ opening drive from their own 29-yard-line, Glennon was hit by Demarcus Lawrence while throwing with the ball popping straight up into the air to be picked off by Jourdan Lewis, who returned it to the 13.
Two plays later, the Cowboys were in the end zone when running back Ezekiel Elliott rumbled straight up the gut for the 13-yard score. Their lead remained at six, though, after Greg Zuerlein missed the extra point.
The Giants went to the run game eight times on an 11-play responding drive that meandered down to Dallas’ 17 — and kept alive by a brilliant one-handed catch by Saquon Barkley on a 3rd-&-1 screen to keep the possession alive — to cut their deficit in half with a Graham Gano 35-yard field goal with 35 seconds to go in the first quarter.
While the Cowboys’ offense found success moving the football, the Giants found ways to keep the visitors out of the end zone. Two consecutive drives moved inside the Giants’ 25-yard-line, but both ended in field goals to give Dallas a 12-3 with 1:40
to go in the second quarter.
But Barkley gave the Cowboys another opportunity to put points on the board before the break when he was stripped by Lawrence to give Dallas possession near midfield. They moved to the Giants’ 18-yard-line before another Zuerlein field goal gave Dallas a 15-3 lead going into the locker rooms.
Some rare Giants aggression led to Big Blue’s second field goal of the game as a 4th-&-inches attempt from their own 34-yard-line led to a Devontae 31-yard rumble off a toss play that had 15 yards added to it thanks to a horse-collar tackle. It was as close as the Giants would get to the end zone, though, as a holding penalty derailed the drive and led to a Gano 42-yard field goal.
They tried it again with 4:30 to go in the third quarter from their 29-yard-line, but Glennon was stuffed on the 4th-&-1 attempt to give the Cowboys the ball right at the doorstep.
Nearly two minutes later, the Cowboys put the game away after Dak Prescott hit tight end, Dalton Schultz, for a one-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 21-6.
The Giants offense continued to slump, including a Glennon interception on a deep pass intended for an unknowing Sterling Shepard. However, they received a golden opportunity to make it a game after Lorenzo Carter strip-sacked Prescott, giving possession to the Giants at the Dallas 27-yard-line.
Judge turned back to Glennon, almost inexplicably, and it backfired immediately with eight minutes left in the game. While scrambling to his left, he heaved a prayer into the end zone intended for Kenny Golladay that was picked off by Trevon Diggs. It was the Cowboys’ young star’s 10th interception of the season.
That was all for Glennon, as Fromm captained the final series of the afternoon for the Giants. He completed each of his first four passes on his way to a 6-of-12 performance for 82 yards; just 17 short of Glennon’s output.
