“The two-game losing streak was over and those who have been criticizing Dallas (2-2) and coach Mike McCarthy and predicting a disappointing season had been quieted for one night. The Cowboys were back to being the Cowboys, a good offense and a solid defense.”
– Tom Canavan, AP News NFL
The 2023 Dallas Cowboys season fell short (again) after suffering a loss to the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the playoffs, and expectations going into this season were that they’d be battling with the Eagles to defend their NFC East title.
So, how did we end up at a point where we’re commending them for a “hard fought victory” over the Giants? The Giants???
The Cowboys might actually have better players than the Giants at every single position. No, seriously. The only player I’d argue for on the Giants would be Dexter Lawrence.
Recency bias will have fans clamoring to give Malik Nabers his flowers, but mustn’t you forget that Ceedee just became the second-highest paid receiver of all time, raking in $34 mil per year. That doesn’t happen by accident.
Don’t get me wrong, though. Nabers is nice with it.
Now, I will say that Daniel Jones had one of his better games of his career last night, but in classic Dimes fashion, he threw a pick late to seal the game for Dallas. I wouldn’t exactly call his execution surgical either. The G-Men failed to get the ball into the endzone a single time, and instead opted for five field goals. All this being said, Jones did throw for 281 yards on 29 for 40 passing. Not bad.
The most disappointing part of last night’s matchup came in the fourth quarter where afformentioned Giant’s star Malik Nabers exited the game with a concussion, and Cowboys superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons was carted off with a lower leg injury. Parsons, who’s had a sub par season so far (14 total tackles and 1 sack through three starts), would be a crippling absence from the Dallas defense, and the same can be said for Nabers and the Giants offense.
In short, there’s three main points that came from last night’s game:
1 – The Cowboys are far better than the Giants and shouldn’t be applauded for their win.
2 – Malik Nabers is a Dawg, and if he misses any time, the Giants will lose those games
3 – If Micah Parsons’ MRI comes back positive, Dallas’ season could be in jeopardy.
Entering the season, the Cowboys had the 6th shortest odds to win the Super Bowl. Now they sit at 10th. This team has arguably the lowest floor and highest ceiling of any team this season, but only time will tell where they’ll end up come Februrary.
Let me know your thoughts on last night’s TNF matchup in the comments below, or on Twitter/X @a2zsportstakes!