'Thursday Night Football' recap: Cowboys seal 20-15 victory over Giants, taking record to 2-2; Parsons and Nabers leave game with injuries (2024)

Malik Nabers left with a concussion

Daniel Jones was picked off throwing deep and that will do it.

Amani Oruwariye intercepted the pass, Dallas kneeled it on the next play and that ends the game.

The Cowboys win 20-15, improving to 2-2.

The Giants are now 1-3.

Brandon Aubrey just missed his first kick from over 50 yards.

It’s a wild time for his first miss from that distance.

The Giants will now have a chance to win the game.

Giants receiver Malik Nabers was injured on 4th down on the Giants’ most recent drive. After being observed by trainers on the sideline, he was taken to the locker room.

To add insult to injury, New York has no timeouts left and the Cowboys have the ball on the other side of the two-minute warning.

After leaving the game before a key fourth-down play, Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons was observed in the blue medical tent and then carted off the field into the locker room. Still no word on the type of injury.

New York went for it on 4th-and-6 from the Dallas 45 but couldn’t convert. Daniel Jones scrambled to his left and tried to find Malik Nabers on the sideline but he couldn’t reel in the pass.

The Cowboys take over with a 20-15 lead.

New York has two timeouts left and there are over three minutes left in the game.

After a failed third down by the Giants, Micah Parsons was attended to by trainers on the field before heading to the sideline.

Parsons was tangled up with a couple Giants offensive linemen as he hit the ground on the play. He was helped off the field and headed to the blue medical tent.

Parsons left the game earlier with a neck injury before returning.

Dallas was driving, but after 10 plays the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal.

The Giants’ defense absolutely had to have that hold as a touchdown may have put the game out of reach.

New York will take over trailing 20-15 with under seven minutes to go. Can the Giants finally get into the end zone?

The Cowboys’ cornerback left with cramps and is questionable to return, per the broadcast.

New York just kicked its fifth field goal of the game.

The Giants did seem to want to be aggressive on this drive, but after entering Dallas territory thanks to a fourth-down conversion, two straight negative plays ruined the drive.

The Cowboys now lead 17-15.

Cowboys defensive end Trevon Diggs is leaving the game with an injury. After being attended to by trainers, he went straight back to the locker room.

The Giants went for it on 4th and 3 from the Dallas 45 and picked it up!

Nice pitch and catch from Daniel Jones and Malik Nabers, who connected on a short in-breaking route.

The Giants have settled too much on offense tonight, that was a good time to be aggressive.

The Cowboys lead 17-12 going into the 4th quarter as the Giants have been held to field goals all game.

Dallas picks up only one net yard in three plays — thanks to a holding penalty — and punts the ball back to the Giants.

New York will take over on its own 48 trailing 17-12.

After a bad decision by Daniel Jones on a read option cost them five yards, the Giants couldn’t convert on third down and punted.

The Cowboys take over with a 17-12 lead.

Dallas kicks a field goal after an eight-play, 28-yard drive that stalled out because of a holding penalty.

Brandon Aubrey came in and hit a 60 yarder, his first field goal of the game.

The Cowboys lead 17-12.

Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is questionable to return with a foot injury.

Four drives, four field goals for the Giants.

This one is the most frustrating. New York orchestrated a nice drive to start the second half, moving 77 yards all the way inside the 10-yard line. Daniel Jones completed 6 of 7 passes.

But the Giants decided to kick again on 4th-and-goal from 3, much to the chagrin of their fans.

It’s 14-12, Dallas.

New York is playing good offense. That drive may have called for some more aggression from Brian Daboll.

...and we’re back! New York takes over on its own 20. The Giants’ first play was a three-yard loss by Devin Singletary on the ground.

Dallas takes a five-point lead into halftime.

The Giants strung together three nice drives on offense, but settled for a kick every time. The Cowboys have been boom or bust — they have two touchdowns and two punts.

Dak Prescott is 14 of 16 for 164 yards and two scores.

Daniel Jones is 13 of 14 for 142 yards.

After a loooooong drive — 15 plays, 52 yards, eight minutes and 10 seconds — the Giants kicked their third field goal of the game.

New York’s offense has looked good but stalled out in Dallas territory every time. If the Giants can’t start converting some of these possessions into touchdowns, it’s hard to see them winning this game.

At least they played keep away from the Cowboys, who will have only 66 seconds to score before half.

Dallas leads 14-9.

That was close!

Devin Singletary had to break a tackle in the backfield and dodge a couple defenders, but he picked up a big fourth down for the Giants on their current drive.

New York trails 14-6 and now continues its drive inside Cowboys territory.

Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons left the field during the team’s last drive with a neck injury, but he’s expected back in the game, per a sideline report.

After converting on 4th and inches, the Cowboys were rewarded on the next play: Dak Prescott found CeeDee Lamb for a 55-yard catch-and-score.

Dallas increases its lead to 14-6.

The Giants settled for three points again. They were driving, but an illegal shift penalty set the team back.

New York ultimately kicked a 41-yard field goal on 4th and 6.

Dallas’s lead is now 7-6.

Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons was removed from the game in the second quarter after a collision with another teammate.

He went straight to the blue medical tent — it’s unclear what the injury is for at this point.

Wan'Dale Robinson is leading the Giants with four receptions in the first half.

He has five catches for 34 yards and helped New York convert a key third down on the team’s current drive.

He entered Thursday’s game with 15 receptions on the season. His shiftiness is providing a nice second punch next to Malik Nabers.

The Cowboys lead after one quarter after a long touchdown drive on their second possession.

The Giants have the ball and are driving to start the second. They’ll have a 2nd and 14 when play resumes.

Dallas is on the board after a 12-play 75-yard drive. The Cowboys were nearly set back after a holding penalty inside the 10 but rebounded to punch it in. Rico Dowdle capped off the possession with a 15-yard catch-and-run for the score.

Dallas leads 7-3.

The Giants made some nice plays on their opening drive, but a facemask penalty set them back to 2nd and 18. After two straight catches from Wan'Dale Robinson, New York opted to kick a field goal on 4th and 4.

The Giants now lead 3-0.

After a slick double move, Malik Nabers made his first catch of the game, a 39-yard gain on third down to get the Giants into Dallas territory.

After two rushes, Dak Prescott threw incomplete on third down and the Giants get a nice stop to start the game.

New York will take over on its own 15 for its first drive.

...and we’re off! The first play was a seven-yard run by Rico Dowdle.

We’re under 10 minutes to kickoff as the teams are on the field.

Here’s how star rookie receiver Malik Nabers showed up for the game tonight, by the way. It’s Nabers’s first primetime game as a pro.

Through the first three games of the season, Dallas is averaging just 73.7 rushing yards per game (29th in NFL). It rushed for 102 yards in the Week 1 win at Cleveland but were held to 68 rushing yards in Week 2 and 51 rushing yards in Week 3.

They have been unable to establish the run in the last two weeks after falling behind early against both New Orleans and Baltimore.

Tony Pollard, who led the Cowboys in rushing yards in each of the past two seasons (1,000+ yards in both 2022 and 2023), signed with Tennessee in free agency this offseason.

Rico Dowdle, who did not start a single game in his career prior to this season, has started each of the last two games and leads Dallas in carries (23) and rushing yards (88) this season.

Entering 'Thursday Night Football,' Prescott leads the league in passing yards (851) with four touchdown passes and two interceptions.

He had 379 passing yards and three total scores (2 passing, 1 rushing) in the Week 3 loss vs. Baltimore, with 187 of those passing yards and all three of his total touchdowns coming in the fourth quarter as the Cowboys tried to mount a comeback.

The Cowboys have dominated the Giants of late. They have won the past six games and 13 of 14 overall.

In their two games last season, Dallas won by a combined margin of 89-17. It’s the biggest point differential the Cowboys have had in two games against an NFC East rival in a season.

The Giants quarterback has taken a ton of grief for poor play in recent years, but he was strong in New York's win against Cleveland last week.

Jones completed 70.6% of his passes (24 of 34) for 236 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was Jones' first time with two or more touchdowns and no picks in consecutive games since his 2019 rookie season.

The Cowboys star receiver has 13 catches for 218 receiving yards and one touchdown through the first three weeks this season. In Sunday’s loss vs. Baltimore, with Dallas trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, he lost a fumble at the Ravens 10-yard line. Later in the game, Lamb was seen visibly frustrated on the sidelines.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was asked about Lamb’s frustration.

“The body language, whether it’s good or bad, is irrelevant; it’s where his mind is," Prescott told reporters. "He’s going to be disappointed. When you’re passionate and expect a lot from yourself, you’re going to be that way.”

Lamb did not speak with the media after the loss.

Including playoffs, Dallas has now lost three straight home games. The Cowboys previously won 16 straight home games prior to current stretch. Maybe it helps to be on the road this week?

The Dallas defense allowed 456 total yards (including 274 rushing yards) with no sacks and no takeaways in a Week 3 loss to the Ravens.

It was Dallas' second straight week allowing more than 430 total yds and more than 190 rushing yards (it allowed 432 total yards and 190 rush yards in Week 2 to the Saints).

The rookie receiver out of LSU had eight receptions for 87 yards and two scores in Week 2's win against Cleveland. But it wasn't the only time he's shined this season.

Nabers has 23 receptions (2nd in the NFL), 271 yards receiving (5th) and three touchdowns (tied for first) this season. He has been targeted by Daniel Jones 37 times through three games, the most in the league.

“[Daniel Jones] told me if he throws it up there, it’s me or nobody," he told members of the media after the game. "(Brian Daboll) is cooking up a lot of plays for me, the offense trusting me to get that done, putting a lot of targets on my back, getting the ball in my hands. It shows how much we want to be an explosive offense, and I’m just a key factor in that offense.”

The Giants let running back Saquon Barkley leave in free agency for the Philadelphia Eagles and replaced him with former Texan Devin Singletary. While many scoffed at the move this offseason, Singletary has done his best to fill the void.

In a Week 3 win against the Browns, he had 16 carries for 65 rushing yards and a touchdown to go along with four receptions for 43 yards. Singletary could have rushed for another score late in the fourth quarter, but went down at the Cleveland 1-yard line so his team could kneel out the clock.

Singletary has 197 yards and two touchdowns this season.

Is he Barkley, who is having a career resurgence for the Eagles right now? No. But he's a key contributor to a team desperately lacking offensive weapons.

Dallas' owner isn't happy with the 1-2 start.

“I’m very disappointed that we got beat (Sunday). Very disappointed. And you can’t in any way sugarcoat the fact that we got beat, and there were parts of the way we got beat that were really areas we’ve got to get a lot better in," Jones said.

"We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’ve got time to do that kind of work and we’ve got a short week this week, but we’ve got to start," Jones added. "That was disappointing. … When you look at the whole picture, we got outplayed.”

The Giants defense sacked Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson eight times (NYG’s most sacks in a game since 2014) in Week 2.

• Five different Giants had at least one full sack (nine different Giants had at least 0.5 sack).
• The Giants allowed just 217 yards of offense (allowed 368.5 yds/game in Weeks 1-2 this season).

The Cowboys (1-2) are off to their worst start since the 2020 season (Mike McCarthy’s first season as head coach). In 2020, the last time Dallas missed the playoffs, it started 1-2 and finished the season 6-10.

McCarthy said his team needs to "look straight in the mirror" after losing to the Ravens in Week 2.

“We put a lot into this game. We put a lot into it every week. Our practice — sometimes your preparation is really good and you don’t play as well as you would like, and there’s times when your preparation is not very good and you play better than you thought. I think clearly this week our preparation was pretty much in line with the way we played.

"This group works hard. They do. I truly love the locker room. They’ve got a ton of fight, but we’re going through some growing pains. So, we need to continue to grow. Get ready for this game in New York.”