Dallas Cowboys Defense 'Down For The Fight, Anywhere, Anytime!' - Coach Dan Quinn

Dallas Cowboys Defense 'Down For The Fight, Anywhere, Anytime!' - Coach Dan Quinn

The Dallas Cowboys defense produced a stellar effort against the New York Giants offense and rookie Tommy DeVito in a performance that has coordinator Dan Quinn proud.

After the 28-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cowboys had to pick themselves up off the canvas and take care of the Giants. Well, they did so emphatically as they held the Giants' offense to just 172 total yards while getting five sacks and not allowing a single third-down conversion.

Saquon Barkley was held to just one yard on seven carries in the first half as Dallas was back to its suffocating best, and while the Giants managed to score 17 points, they all came when the game was over, and the Cowboys took their foot off the gas.

“I was certainly proud of them,” Quinn said. “Mostly because we had to get off the mat from a week ago Sunday in a tough game, tough loss to go reset, refocus, and absolutely go after it as hard as we can, which they absolutely did. 

"I thought they're always down for the fight anywhere, anybody, anytime, and it's one of the qualities I really respect about this group. They're competitive, tough, they love the fight, so I thought that really showed up, knowing that we got knocked down in the last round and we had to come back up swinging.”

What was the most surprising thing about the Cowboys' defensive performance was that Micah Parsons was a non-factor.

The "Lion-backer'' didn't have a single tackle or sack in the game as the Giants did a fine job of making sure Parsons didn't "wreck the game.'' The Cowboys' defense totaled five sacks and seven tackles for loss, as Micah's absence from the top of the stat sheet wasn't felt.

The Cowboys defense bounced back against the Giants in devastating fashion at AT&T Stadium / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Such is Parsons' ability to ruin games on his own, that this kind of game-planning will no doubt be used more going forward. But Quinn stressed that when Parsons gets that kind of attention, it opens things up for others.

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“You want to make sure you're always making an impact, and sometimes his impact is other people's chances to get things because of the attention that goes his way," Quinn said. "Any competitor can get frustrated with that, and there'll be games like that, but when his moments [come] and you leave him once or you don't give him help, those are the times he really makes you pay.''

So, there is a lot that can be taken out of the game for the Cowboys. While the Giants offense in the end didn't present much of a challenge as anything New York tried, Dallas had an answer for.

But perhaps the biggest thing to come out of Sunday was that when the centerpiece of the defense is held in check, others in DeMarcus Lawrence, Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler Jr., Neville Gallimore, and Sam Williams can shouldered the load.

And maybe, as this "fight'' goes the distance, that won't be such a bad thing.