ARLINGTON – The streak is over.
The Cowboys ended up winning the home opener at AT&T Stadium.
Everything that was needed DeMarvio’s Overshow and Micah Parsons — basically the defense — to run errands on Thanksgiving.
Dallas earned its first home win of the season a A win over the New York Giants 27-20 on Thursday. The Cowboys started the season 0-5 at home and lost a playoff game to Green Bay to end last season at JerryWorld.
It’s over now.
The Cowboys have won their last two games and have 10 days off before hosting Cincinnati on Dec. 9 at AT&T Stadium.
“They’ve encouraged me,” Jerry Jones said. – I see the younger players playing better. I can see that our defense has really figured out what [defensive coordinator Mike] Zimmer wants to get involved, which was more of a challenge than we thought it would be. But I can see them going out and playing as designed by Zimmer. And I am particularly pleased with the custom [quarterback Cooper] Rush plays quarterback. I thought he had everything to do with us being successful.”
Photos: Dallas Cowboys take home Thanksgiving win over New York Giants
The home losing streak was something else. The Cowboys opened the game with a minus-118 home differential, the third-worst through a team’s first five home games in league history.
Yes, it was that bad. Well, the Cowboys won the home opener and forged their second winning streak of the season.
Here are five of our takeaways from the game:
Home in the third quarter
The Cowboys had won 16 straight home games before the losing streak, but some good things happened on Thursday. Rico Dowdle scored his first rushing touchdown of the season, Brandin Cooks had a receiving touchdown and the Cowboys beat someone at home in the third quarter. Dallas won the third quarter for just the third time this season. Early in the game, the quiet Home Crowd erupted when coach Mike McCarthy called for a running game on third-and-long, but when country singers Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll took the stage at halftime, the crowd got loud and continued to make noise in the third quarter on some key plays. For a change, the Cowboys took care of things in the third quarter with a 14-0 run.
Lamb drops and health
Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb had three drops and Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers had one. Lamb’s three falls came in the first half and at the end of the first 30 minutes he was seen doing push-ups on the touchline as punishment. Lamb had four dropped passes in the game and six in 2023. Lamb left the game briefly with a right shoulder problem. He entered the game with a sprained right shoulder and appeared to hit his shoulder late in the third quarter while being blocked. Lamb said this is the most turbulent of his career and it is clear that the shoulder is bothering him. Lamb led the NFL in catches despite health issues. He finished Thursday with two catches for 39 yards.
Using Turpin works
KaVontae Turpin is the fastest man on the Cowboys. Some would say cornerback Josh Butler can match him. But Turpin needs to be used more in attack. On Thursday, Turpin caught four passes for 53 yards in victory. The Cowboys even tried an end play with Turpin gaining 2 yards. But if the Cowboys want to show the versatility of their offense going forward, it would be nice to see more of Turpin.
The defense is in place
The Cowboys finished with six sacks and 14 quarterback hits. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown had one of the best plays of the day, an overthrown pass that he returned 23 yards for a touchdown. Micah Parsons shared a sack with Mazi Smith and it looks like this Mike Zimmer defense will get better and better as the Cowboys enter December. Yes, it was against the Giants, one of the worst offenses in the NFL, but you’re supposed to beat an offense like that, and it happened Thursday. The Cowboys defense was able to play without starting cornerback Trevon Diggs (groin), who could return in 10 days against the Bengals. It’s also possible that defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (foot) will return at some point in December. Zimmer has talked about not having all the pieces on his defense, but he might get it all back soon enough.
“It’s huge,” linebacker Eric Kendricks said. “I feel like we’re all doing the right things, obviously we couldn’t get a few wins there for a while. Now we’re seeing momentum. We are getting a little more confident, people understand the system a little more. We have to keep the quarterback in the pocket for sure. We play so hard.”
How did special teams fare?
Remember what happened in Landover, Md., last week between the Cowboys and the Commanders: a failed point-after attempt, a blocked punt, a punt return for a field goal, an onside kick that was returned for a field goal and all kinds of drama? Special teams play was quiet on Thanksgiving. Very quiet. Maybe that’s progress for the Cowboys. Kicker Brandon Aubrey had two field goals of 23 and 33 yards, and Turpin didn’t have a punt in this game, but when the Cowboys took control of the game by running the ball and a strong defensive performance, special teams weren’t needed. .
Check out more Cowboys coverage from the Dallas Morning News here.
#takeaways #CowboysGiants #Dallas #finally #cooking #ATT #home #win