The New York Giants fell to 7-4 on the season with a 28-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. It wasn’t as ugly as some anticipated, but it wasn’t necessarily pretty, either.
The Giants blew an early second half lead and couldn’t seem to get anything going again until it was too late. In a game of inches, they came up a few short entirely too many times.
The opportunities were there but Brian Daboll’s group just couldn’t capitalize.
Here’s some winners, losers and in-betweens from Thursday’s loss.
Winners
Kayvon Thibodeaux: The rookie may not have recorded a sack on Thursday, but he was a menace for a very good Cowboys OL. Thibs recorded one tackle and five QB hits, but also tallied a large number of pressures and finally generated some holding penalties with consistency.
Julian Love: Love wasn’t perfect in Week 12 but with so much in flux around him, he handled a wide-ranging role quite well. He finished the game with a team-leading 10 tackles (one for a loss), one pass defensed and one interception.
Graham Gano: After a bad game in which he missed two extra points and needed four IVs last week, Gano was perfect on Thursday. He made both of his point after attempts and both of his fields goals, which came from 57 and 47 yards out.
Others: Gary Brightwell, Chris Myarick, Leonard Williams
Losers
Micah McFadden: McFadden had earned the right to start over Tae Crowder, who we will touch on in a moment, but he seems overmatched out there. He’s constantly trailing or trying to catch up from behind, and is often out of place. His coverage is a real liability for the Giants.
Jaylon Smith, Tae Crowder: The linebacker duo ran into each other on a blitz in second quarter, which ended up taking both players away from the play. It was a big gain for Dallas. Crowder was limited to just eight snaps in this game and that was his contribution.
Darnay Holmes: Holmes made some decent plays throughout the game, but they were outweighed by some ugly coverage moments and penalties (at least one of those was very questionable).
Saquon Barkley: Is Barkley hurt? He seems ineffective with the ball in his hands and while he is being met behind the line of scrimmage, other backs on the team are out-rushing him in the same situations. And while a fourth down throw from Daniel Jones wasn’t perfect, Barkley — the team’s superstar — couldn’t come up with it, sealing the loss for New York.
Others: Justin Ellis
Mixed reviews
Daniel Jones: DJ started the game strong but seemed to fade in the third quarter. The pressure was beginning to get to him and that led to some off-target throws. Fair or unfair, the Giants need their quarterback to be perfect in order to win. When he’s not, they don’t.
Darius Slayton: Slayton had a big first half on Thursday, which included an impressive 44-yard leaping catch that led to a touchdown. After that however, the wheels came off. He finished with three receptions on six targets for 63 yards.
Others: Dexter Lawrence, Richie James, Andrew Thomas, Jason Pinnock
