Turnovers doom Giants in loss to Cowboys
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It’s been said defenses win championships, and nobody in the NFL might be playing better D right now than the Dallas Cowboys.
Demarcus Lawrence forced a fumble and made two other big plays that led to 15 points as the Dallas defense forced four turnovers for the third straight game Sunday. The Cowboys inched closer to their first playoff berth since 2018 with a 21-6 win over the New York Giants.
“We’re the best defense,” a blunt Trevon Diggs said after picking up his league-high 10th interception of the season, one shy of the team record set by Everson Walls in 1981.
Lawrence said the defense is the best he has played on in his eight seasons.
“It’s amazing just to be on a team with a strong defense,” he said. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Making the loss even worse for the Giants, wide receiver Sterling Shepard tore an Achilles tendon late in the game.
This has been a strange season for the Cowboys (10-4), who also got a touchdown pass from Dak Prescott and a 13-year TD run by Ezekiel Elliott in winning their third straight game, all on the road.
The Dallas offense, which also got three field goals from Greg Zuerlein, carried the team for the first six or seven games. The defense has shouldered the burden since.
Graham Gano kicked field goals of 35 and 42 yards as the Giants (4-10) lost their third straight game with backup Mike Glennon starting for the injured Daniel Jones (neck).
This game was not as close as the score. The Cowboys never trailed, and the Giants never looked threatening against a defense that also got interceptions from Jourdan Lewis and Malik Hooker.
Lewis’ pick came after Lawrence hit Glennon as he was throwing. It led to Elliott’s TD run on a draw. Prescott’s 1-yard TD pass to Dalton Schultz capped a short third-quarter drive that started after Lawrence and Neville Gallimore stuffed Glennon on a fourth-and-1 sneak from the New York 29.
Prescott finished 28 of 37 for 217 yards. Schultz caught all eight of his targets for 67 yards.
Sidelined by a broken foot most of the season, Lawrence set up 10 of the 15 first-half points. His hit on Saquon Barkley forced a fumble that Carlos Watkins recovered at the Giants 46 with 41 seconds left in the half. Zuerlein, who missed the extra point after the Elliott touchdown, hit a 27-yard field goal, his third of the half. He also converted from 26 and 42 yards, but missed two extra points kicking into a crosswind.
“Amazing. I expect Demarcus to do that every game,” Diggs said. “You know, he’s still very much the leader of the defense. He’s a veteran. He is still our guy. So I expect that from him all the time. He’s a great player.”
The three interceptions gave Dallas a league-high 23 picks.
“Self-inflicted wounds,” said Glennon, who finished 13 of 24 for 99 yards with three interceptions before being relieved by Jake Fromm. “There were a couple of times we did move the ball well and then just ended up with field goals, and then a couple of kind of dumb decisions on my end forcing the ball that were not good decisions.”