The New York Giants lost 37-18 to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night to drop their record on the season to 2-7, the same record they had at this point a year ago. Unlike last season, there doesn’t seem to be as much optimism around the team. They are like Sisyphus, the Greek king who was relegated to pushing a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down on him every time.
Here are three takeaways from Monday’s game (there are probably about 10, but we’ll spare you for now).
Confusion still reigns on defense
The defense did an excellent job holding the Cowboys to field goals instead of touchdowns on several drives. Dallas was just 3-for-11 on third downs and went 1-for-3 in the red zone.
But none of that matters, because the more space the defense has to work with, the worse off they are. Dak Prescott threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper that was the result of another blown coverage by rookie Deandre Baker.
Tight end Blake Jarwin scored from 42 yards out on a blown coverage. Jarwin has six career touchdowns — five against the Giants. The Giants have now allowed 11 plays of 40 or more yards through the air, tied with Green Bay for the most in the NFL.
Prescott has the Giants’ number
One thing is for sure: Dak Prescott is a Giant-killer. In eight games against New York, he has a 6-2 record with 17 TD passes, 2,201 yards and a 100.5 passer rating.
Prescott has the escapability to dodge whatever rudimentary pass rush the Giants throw at him and has the patience to seek out the open receiver.
On Monday night, Prescott opened the game by getting picked off by Antoine Bethea, which was only his third interception against the Giants. After that, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Prescott finished the game 22-of-35 for 257 yards and three touchdowns for a 101.7 passer rating. He also rushed three times for 12 yards.
Challenging pass interference calls has become a joke
The new pass interference rules are simply a scam to appease the New Orleans Saints, who got jobbed in last year’s NFC championship game. Coaches have stopped challenging calls because there’s only been a very low percentage of calls that have been successfully overturned.
Pat Shurmur might be the only coach in the NFL who didn’t get the memo. He challenged a play on Evan Engram in the red zone that was clearly pass interference but ended up being upheld.
“I’m a hopeful guy when it comes to that,” Shurmur said after the game. “But in that situation, I think that was, prior to today they were 0-for-8. Now, we are 0-for-9 this weekend. So, that’s what I was told. There is a system in place for that. I believe in the rules, I believe in the system. At a time in the game when that could have given us a fresh set of downs, I thought it was worthy of the challenge. I guess there are just different views of what rises to the level of egregiousness, I guess.”
