BECK THE HALLS
Odell leads Giants over ’Boys again
Odell Beckham Jr. scores the winning touchdown in the Giants’ 10-7 victory over the Cowboys last night.
Fumble. Three-and-out. Interception. Three-and-out. And another, and another.
This was the sad state of Eli Manning’s offense, laboring and sagging as the fans at MetLife Stadium booed the unit off the field. This was shaping up Sunday night into a wasteful evening, but those who get paid to play defense for the Giants were having none of it.
“A pick happens and we say good, we get to go out there and play some defense,’’ linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. “It may be insane but you got to be a little crazy to play defense in the NFL.’’
A little crazy is an appropriate description of what went down in a truly strange and ultimately rewarding showing for the Giants. They could do almost nothing with the ball but thwarted the Cowboys’ precision attack so relentlessly and completely it was enough to overcome the failings of Manning and Co. When the harassing o fD ak Prescott was complete and his final pass was ruled incomplete to struggling Dez Bryant — who in his nightmares will see Janoris Jenkins — the Giants had a stunning 10-7 victory to show for themselves.
“We’re a team to reckon with,’’ safety Landon Collins said.
“Electrifying,’’ added Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. “It was like a playoff atmosphere, the crowd behind you, you’re out there flying around, making plays. You got the 11-1 Cowboys and you hold them like you do, it’s an awesome feeling.’’
It took an entire night of electrifying defense and one shocking instance of brilliance from O dell Beck ham Jr. to finally nudge the Giants into the lead. Their offense was a dismal disgrace and they trailed 7-3 late in the third quarter, with Manning (three turnovers) getting pounded and hearing it from the paying customers.
Manning, from his own 39- yard line, looked short to Beckham, who was able to beat Brandon Carr off the line. Beckham hauled in the pass and was gone, beating Carr in a footrace for a 61-yard touchdown hookup that put the Giants ahead 10-7 with 1:07 left in the third quarter.
It was a great play and the only truly impressive moment for the offense, yet it was enough snap the Cowboys’ 11-game winning streak. The Cowboys (11-2) have only two losses and both are to the Giants.
“So-called best team in the league. They got two losses, they’re both to the New York football Giants,’’ Casillas said. “They get to say that. I like when they say it. ‘ Who’d you guys lose to? We lost to the Giants.’ ’’
This was a colossal victory for the Giants (9-4). Instead of a two-game skid, they have won seven of their last eight games and stayed in firm control of their NFC wild-card playoff destiny. They now, realistically, need to win only one of their final three games to make the postseason for the first time in five years.
That the Giants could win with Manning and the offense operating so feebly is astonishing. Manning lost two fumbles and threw one interception and, down the stretch in the fourth quarter, coach Ben McAdoo went conservative to the point of appearing to be afraid to put the game in the hands of his quarterback. Manning was getting hit too often, he had no running game (2.8-yard average) to lean on, his receivers were dropping his passes (Beckham had two drops) and the best course of action was to get the defense on the field to pummel the Cowboys.
Rookie Ezekiel Elliott ran for 107 yards, but only 21 in the second half. Prescott looked like the rookie he is, as the Giants forced him into 20 incomplete passes and two interceptions — after throwing only two previously all season.
Manning threw an inexplicable interception with 9:40 remaining, looking for Victor Cruz but instead finding Anthony Brown. The defense came up big again, with Devon Kennard drilling Elliott for a 6-yard loss. Manning and the offense, playing scared, then ran the ball three times and punted it away. The defense came up big, again, forcing a three-and-out, with rookie Romeo O kw ar a—fillin gin for injured Jason PierrePaul—applying pressure to Prescott. O kw a rain his first NFL start led the Giants with eight tackle sand go this first career sack.
“When Odell took it down to the house it was over with,’’ Collins said. “All we needed was the offense to put the points on the board to get us in front and we were going to hold it off for the rest.’’
The Giants still are the only team to figure out Dak Prescott.
Big Blue did it again Sunday night, beating the usually superb Cowboys rookie for the second time — this one by a 10-7 count at frigid MetLife Stadium — while making Prescott look uncharacteristically rattled and mistake-prone in the process.
Unwilling to let Prescott sit back in the pocket and pick them apart, the Giants blitzed him relentlessly and came away with two interceptions — as many as Prescott had thrown in Dallas’ first 12 games combined.
The fourth-round pick from Mississippi State, who had been so good in place of Tony Romo he was being mentioned as an NFL Most Valuable Player award candidate, certainly didn’t help that candidacy Sunday night.
“That’s a good defense out there, particularly tonight,” said Prescott, who also lost to the Giants by a 20-19 count in the season opener. “I didn’t play my best game, obviously, but that’s a great defense.”
Prescott got off to a hot start, beating the Giants for a 31-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Williams late in the first quarter, but his performance was as chilly as the temperatures the rest of the way.
Sacked three times despite the Giants missing the injured Jason PierrePaul, Prescott ended up completing just 17-of-37 passes overall for 165 yards. The result was a season-worst 45.4 passer rating that snapped his streak of five consecutive 100-plus ratings.
Prescott was so underwhelming Jerry Jones was asked afterward if the Cowboys had considered turning to Romo in relief.
“The thought never once entered my mind,” said Jones, who also ruled out switching to Romo the rest of the way.
The two interceptions were the biggest outlier for Prescott, although teammate Dez Bryant didn’t do his young quarterback any favors on either of the turnovers.
Bryant fell down on the first Prescott pick, allowing Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins to haul it in at his own 39-yard line midway through the second quarter.
It was Prescott’s first interception in six games, but the Cowboys were let off the hook when the Giants could do nothing with Jenkins’ big play. But that wouldn’t be the case later in the game on Prescott’s second turnover.
Looking for Bryant on a deep ball late in the third quarter, even though he was blanketed by double coverage, Prescott was easily intercepted by veteran Giants safety Leon Hall when Bryant got turned around and fell away from the play.
The Giants didn’t waste this turnover, and the result would be the end of Dallas’ 11-game winning streak.
“You never want to say it’s good to lose,” Prescott said. “I hate to lose. It’s a bad feeling. But this kind of gets you resettled. After we lost to these guys the first time, we went on that run. So maybe we can do something similar.”