10 Takeaways from the New York Giants’ 23-19 Win Over Dallas Cowboys

Regardless of what happens beyond this week, the New York Giants' win over the Dallas Cowboys is as big as it gets for many reasons. Here are some random thoughts and reactions why that is.

When the New York Giants season comes to an end--be it this week or whenever should they make the playoffs--much will be looked at as far as their growth under first-year head coach Joe Judge.

One of the most significant areas of growth by this Giants team is their resiliency. Early in the year, this is a team got smacked in the mouth a few times, just coming up short of their goals and failing to finish what ended up as some close games.

But those close games and how the Giants players kept at it even when things looked bleak told Judge everything he needed to know about the players in his locker room, and he liked what he saw.   

"In terms of their wherewithal and fortitude, I think it showed throughout the entire year," Judge said after the game. "I keep saying this: I found out a lot more about our team when we were 0-5 and 1-7 than I did down the stretch. 

"I think that showed what kind of team and culture and foundation we built here, the foundational pieces we have here going forward. The way these guys came to work every single day, never complained, never questioned, just came in and went to work."

Judge is right. The Giants could have easily given up when things looked bad earlier in the season, but they kept plugging away, knowing that better times were ahead. And now here they stand at the door waiting to find out if they'll win their first NFC East title since 2011.  

And it's all thanks to the team building up some calluses that helped them weather the tough times. 

Some more thoughts on this week's game. 

1. Can we finally agree that maybe the Giants did know what they were doing regarding Leonard Williams? And while we’re at it, kudos to defensive coordinator Patrick Graham for figuring out how to make the most out of Williams’ talents and kudos to the Big Cat for putting in the work in what is officially his best season as a pro. Williams, who had three sacks in this game, now has 11.5 sacks on the season and is in line for a very handsome payday this off-season.

2. Did the Giants have their No. 2 cornerback on the roster all along? Julian Love, a college cornerback at Notre Dame whom the coaching staff tried to convert to safety, looked like he never missed a beat when asked to go back to playing more snaps at cornerback this week.

And while it’s just one game, Love sure did look like an upgrade over Isaac Yiadom. The Cowboys receivers—Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and Michael Gallup—aren’t easy to cover, yet Love and friends held each of them to under 50 yards. That’s pretty good production by the Giants defensive backs, Love included.

And here’s the other promising development. With Logan Ryan having signed a contract extension and Xavier McKinney and Jabrill Peppers also under contract for next year, I think it might be time to move Love back to cornerback, where he initially drew attention from NFL scouts?

3. This may or may not have been by design, but neither Will Hernandez nor Matt Peart received a single snap this week. And you know what? I’m good with that.

I get why head coach Joe Judge has gone to a rotation this year—the loss of the OTAs and minicamps and the preseason left him with no choice but to deploy such a tactic to see what he had in each lineman. But with that said, I still question how much the revolving door of linemen was messing with quarterback Daniel Jones.

Jones has enough to worry about on every play as it is, and in a huge game such as this, the last thing he probably needed was to have to worry about how an additional two linemen might read what the Cowboys were trying to do. 

Continuity on the offensive line has always been desired, and although Jones took two sacks in the second half (one of which I would put on him as he should have thrown the ball away), I thought the pass blocking was as consistent as it’s been in weeks.

With that said, I wouldn’t read too much into the decision not to play Hernandez or Peart as I have a gut feeling both will be starting next year on that offensive line.

4. Evan Engram works hard and is a respectful young man, but can we all agree that he is too inconsistent to be a Pro Bowl tight end?

5. Usually, I wouldn’t say I like to reference the officiating in a game because it will overcome a missed call or an incorrect call or no-call if a team is good enough. But I’d be lying if I said karma wasn’t involved this week on that catch by receiver Dante Pettis which on the replay looked like it was an incomplete pass yet was ruled a completion.

The Giants quickly got the field goal unit on the field before Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy decided to challenge it, and that score gave the Giants a little breathing room at the time. So hey, maybe that was payback for the no-call made late in the Week 5 game when the Giants on defense appeared to have one of their linemen held.

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SEE ALSO:

• Resilient New York Giants Top Dallas Cowboys, 23-19

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6. If I ever get into a street brawl, I want Giants center Nick Gates in my corner. This won’t get much mention, but you had to like the way Gates not only stood up to the trash-talking Cowboys but also how he got under their skin just enough to cause defensive end Randy Gregory to lose his cool and commit a 15-yard personal foul.

7. Deep down, I know that head coach Joe Judge is right when he says that the prior history against the Cowboys, namely the seven-game losing streak the Giants brought into this weekend’s game, doesn’t matter because those were all different teams.

But this rivalry is deep in tradition at this point where some of the biggest wins by the Giants have had playoff implications, like in 1981 when the Giants ended an 18-year playoff drought by beating Dallas, or in 2007 when they upset the Cowboys in the division playoff game on their way to Super Bowl XLII or, more recently, in 2011 when they beat the Cowboys in the finale to get into the playoffs on their way to another Super Bowl championship run.

8. Surprising stats of the game: The Giants were zero for seven on third downs, the Cowboys 6-of-17. As a result, the Giants lost the time of possession battle, 32:33 to 27:27. That’s not going to cut it if they do get into the playoffs.

And both teams had six penalties, the Cowboys for 58 yards, the Giants for 45 yards—it sure did seem like the Cowboys had more, especially of the discipline related variety.

9. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the Washington-Eagles game, but I think it's fair to say the Giants have come a long way and are headed in the right direction, making for a promising future once this team adds a few more new faces at spots where they currently lack.

10. One final bonus thought, courtesy of McKinney, whose huge interception to snuff out a Cowboys scoring drive will likely be on every highlight reel this week:

Happy belated New Year’s Skip 😉 https://t.co/nI5oclDZoY

— Xavier McKinney (@mckinney15__) January 3, 2021

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