The Dallas Cowboys got a much-needed victory on Thursday Night Football as they edged past the New York Giants 20-15 at MetLife Stadium.
Coming off two painful home losses, the Cowboys traveled to East Rutherford, New Jersey, in search of a victory to inject some confidence back into the season.
And through a clean performance from quarterback Dak Prescott, a strong redzone defense and kicker Brandon Aubrey – who continued to show why he’s the best in the NFL – Dallas was able to take a step back in the right direction.
The narrow win continues the Cowboys’ domination over their division rivals. It is Dallas’ 14th win in the last 15 games against New York, with Prescott now having won 13 straight starts versus the Giants – the second-longest winning streak for a quarterback against a single opponent since 1950, according to the NFL.
Prescott completed 22 of his 27 passes for 221 yards – including a 55-yard connection with CeeDee Lamb midway through the second quarter – and two touchdowns, both to Rico Dowdle.
Afterwards, Dallas’ franchise QB spoke of how important the victory was for ‘America’s Team.’
“It was huge, absolutely,” Prescott told reporters. “After losing two, especially at home, coming on the road, first division game. Division wins are always tough and you’re out on the road before a long weekend. Puts a better taste in our mouth.”
The 31-year-old added: “We’re not going to get complacent, we’re not going to get overexcited about what we’ve done tonight. It’s about building and it’s about figuring out what we can do better in all phases. But it’s a lot easier to do that after a win.”
It wasn’t a classic at MetLife Stadium, with both teams’ kickers arguably proving to be the stars of the show.
With the Giants struggling to convert promising drives into touchdowns, kicker Greg Joseph was a perfect 5-of-5 from field goals, scoring all 15 of New York’s points on the evening.
And on the other sideline, when the Cowboys offense stopped firing on all cylinders, Aubrey stepped up to hit two second-half field goals, though he did miss one a late to further extend Dallas’ lead.
Aubrey converted two fourth-quarter field goals to help seal the victory against the New York Giants. Adam Hunger/AP
New York suffered a blow in its hopes of making a late comeback when star rookie receiver Malik Nabers was pulled in the fourth quarter with a concussion. He later posted an Instagram Story that he was “all good,” allowing Giants fans to breathe a sigh of relief in what was otherwise a disappointing evening.
In the end, Amani Oruwariye intercepted Giants quarterback Daniel Jones with just seconds remaining to seal the victory for Dallas as they improved to 2-2 on the season; New York, meanwhile, falls to 1-3.
“It didn’t finish the way we wanted to, not to our standard,” Prescott said afterwards. “Left it in the hands of our defense, which credit to those guys for finishing getting it done, not allowing any touchdowns, but we’re an offense that can finish better and score more touchdowns than we did tonight. So we’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and go get that done.”