10 thoughts on the Cowboys 49-17 demolition of the Giants

The Dallas Cowboys continue their dominance of their division rival, the New York Giants, with a convincing 49-17 win on Sunday. They took control early and never let up. The offense was fantastic. The defense was fantastic. And the special teams didn’t even need the services of KaVontae Turpin. Even Brandon Aubrey had it easy as he never attempted a field goal and was relegated to just kicking PATs. It was one of those blowouts that were fun to watch as we saw some of our biggest concerns fade a bit with impressive performances. Here are 10 thoughts on the victory over the Giants.

1. A SLIGHT TEASE

The Cowboys have this thing where they start off a little slow before kicking things into gear. On Sunday, they looked impressive on their first drive only to stall out at the two-yard-line. That was frustrating considering they had 1st-and-goal at the four-yard-line. On their next offensive possession, they went three-and-out. What was that about?

Not to worry though as the Cowboys scored touchdowns on four of their remaining drives in the first half to take a 28-0 lead. And just like the last time these two teams met, this one was over before intermission.

2. DAK CONTINUES TO ROLL

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there was a Cowboys quarterback that struggled to throw touchdown passes. Yep, that’s right. Dak Prescott just wasn’t finding the end zone. Things are much different now. In fact, it’s so different that it’s hard to imagine that Prescott averaged just one touchdown pass over his first six games this season. Over his last three, he’s now thrown a total of 11 touchdowns (3.7 TDs/game). The emergency brake has been released and Prescott is tearing it up. Against the Giants, he was 26/35 for 404 yards, including four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. He was sensational.

3. CEEDEE THE SENSATIONALIST

Remember back when some people weren’t sure if the Cowboys' young wide receiver was capable of taking on an alpha role in this wide receiver group? Geez, that seems downright silly to think about now. Not only is Lamb a clear WR1, but he’s manifesting into one of the best wide receivers in the league. Lamb put together another stellar outing and now has 68 catches and 975 yards on the year. Most of the damage has come over the last four games where he’s had 617 receiving yards, the most by a Cowboys receiver in a four-game span.

4. NOW WE’RE COOK’N

The Lamb production has become a staple in this Cowboys' offense, but he wasn’t the only wide receiver who was making plays on this day. After the worst start to a season of his 10-year career, Brandin Cooks finally showed up, and he showed up in a big way. The veteran receiver finished the game with nine catches for 173 yards. It was the most receiving yards he’s had since 2016 and the second-most over his entire career. We have all been waiting for the old Cooks to show up, but none of us would’ve expected this.

5. AND THE FUN DOESN’T STOP THERE

Cooks hasn’t been the only Cowboys’ receiver who has been missing in action this year. Michael Gallup has been quiet all season and when he is garnering attention, it’s usually not for something good. On Sunday, Gallup played well. He didn’t see a lot of action, but he made them count, catching both of his two targets. He finished the game with 70 yards receiving, including a deep 41-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

And we can’t forget to mention the solid outing by rookie receiver Jalen Brooks. He caught everything thrown to him and finished the game with four catches for 39 yards.

6. A LITTLE RICO LOVE

Fans have been pleading for more opportunities for Rico Dowdle, and on Sunday, we finally got it. Dowdle had a career-high 12 carries for a total of 79 yards. It was the second-highest outing from a Cowboys’ running back this season, trailing only Tony Pollard’s 122 yards against Arizona in Week 3. Dowdle was the more efficient runner of the two averaging 6.6 yards per carry vs. Pollard’s 3.7 per attempt. He also scored the first rushing touchdown of his career. As a team, the Cowboys rushed for 168 yards with a little help from everyone, but Dowdle was the most productive. Hopefully, this is a sign of a more balanced distribution between the Cowboys' two main running backs.

7. AN EPIC OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE

We all know the Giants' offense is in bad shape, but they have a decent defense, particularly in pass defense as they entered the game ranked 11th in passing yards allowed. That is something to keep in mind when we think about this 660-yard (472 in the air) 49-point offensive performance. The Cowboys’ offense was fantastic. They averaged 8.3 yards per play and six different players scored a touchdown. Say what you want about the Giants team, but the Cowboys' offense was in a zone on Sunday. It was quite fun to watch.

8. DOMINANT DEFENSE

The box score will tell you the Giants scored 17 points, and it’s true they did. However, this game seemed far more lopsided than the first two times these teams met when Dallas won 40-0. The Giants' offense had all kinds of struggles and at one point in the second half were averaging less than a yard per play. That’s crazy.

9. ROUGH DAY FOR THIS GOODFELLA

We all suspected it would be a rough day for Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito, not to be confused with Joe Pesci’s character in the movie GoodFellas. While the ending for the Giants quarterback was far less disastrous than Pesci’s character, it still wasn’t good. DeVito was sacked five times in this game, each time by a different Cowboys player as they all took turns teeing off on him. On the year, the Cowboys have now sacked the Giants’ quarterback 12 times. Speaking of 12...

10. 12 IN A ROW

The Cowboys are really good at home. They’ve won all four of their home games this year and their final eight home games last year after dropping the opener to Tampa Bay. Even more impressive is that they are scoring machines in the confines of AT&T Stadium as they are averaging 40 points per game in front of the home crowd. And they keep getting better with each new game. At this rate, they’ll put up a delicious 50-spot on their next home outing against Washington on Thanksgiving.