It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish. The Dallas Cowboys stumbled out of the gates, but finished strong to beat the New York Giants 28-20.
The Cowboys offense struggled early on. Dallas turned the ball over three times in the first half. Two were interceptions by Dak Prescott and the third was a turnover on downs to open the game.
But the defense stepped up and kept the Cowboys in the game. Big D has yet to allow a first quarter touchdown through 11 games this season.
The Cowboys didn’t have clean performances on either side of the ball early on. The Cowboys committed seven first half penalties, the second-most in a half by the team this season.
But they cleaned up their acts in the second half. The offense scored touchdowns on its first three drives, and the defense allowed just seven points.
Maybe we should’ve expected a slow start after the Cowboys emotional Week 11 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Plus, the Giants had extra motivation coming off a loss to the Detroit Lions.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the win:
Season-best performances from three players
A trio of Cowboys players had their best games of the year on Thursday.
Ezekiel Elliott had 16 carries for 92 yards, averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Zeke’s total yards and YPC were season highs. He also scored a touchdown in the win.
Michael Gallup was targeted eight times and reeled in five catches for 63 yards. All three were the highest totals of the year. Gallup also made some impressive contested catches.
Dalton Schultz had a quiet first half, but scored touchdowns on consecutive drives in the third quarter. Peyton Hendershot scored his first career touchdown on a play that featured all four Cowboys TEs. The group then pulled off this spectacular celebration:
Dorance Armstrong is having a career-year
Armstrong is flourishing this season. His eight sacks are a career high, and tie the number of sacks he had his first four seasons.
The only Cowboys player with more sacks is Micah Parsons, who got two more in the Thanksgiving win. Armstrong’s strong play forces offenses to give him attention rather than shift all the focus onto Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence.
