Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants: Full Report Card Grades for Dallas
It wasn't pretty, but the Dallas Cowboys (8-3) came out of MetLife stadium with a 31-28 win against the New York Giants (3-8). The Cowboys needed this win as they have an extremely tough schedule this week as they travel back home for a game on Thursday.
Tony Romo put together another splendid game as he led the Cowboys to a game-winning score with just one minute, one second left in the fourth quarter. He proved once again that he is the most valuable player on the Cowboys roster.
DeMarco Murray had a productive game as he had to fight hard for every yard he got. Murray's running allowed the Cowboys to set up some positive plays off play action in the second half.
Odell Beckham Jr. was slaughtering the defense in the first half, but it did a much better job covering him in the second half. Orlando Scandrick had his worst game of the season as he struggled to cover Beckham throughout the game.
Jeremy Mincey was the only player who could get constant pressure on the defensive line, which has proved to be one of the biggest weaknesses on the team.
Rolando McClain put together a performance reminiscent of what he did earlier in the season. He did a great job of filling against the run throughout the entire game.
Dwayne Harris finally made an impact in the return game. He consistently got the Cowboys in good field position, something he has yet to do this season.
The Cowboys will now look forward to Thanksgiving Day, when they face the Philadelphia Eagles (8-3) on a short week.
Let’s take a look at how each position graded out in this Week 12 matchup.
Quarterback
1 of 10
The Cowboys needed Tony Romo to lead them to victory Sunday night, and that is just what he did as he connected with Dez Bryant for a touchdown with 1:01 left in the fourth quarter.
Romo went 18-of-26 for 275 yards and four touchdowns as he put together one of his best performances of the season.
He did a great job of buying time in the pocket to find his receivers throughout the game. Romo didn't seem to have any ill effects from his nagging back injury.
Romo's footwork and mechanics were on point throughout the game, which led to his fantastic performance.
When you have Romo as your quarterback, your team has an opportunity to win any game it is in.
Grade: A
Running Back
2 of 10
DeMarco Murray put in another workmanlike performance against the Giants. It wasn't easy, but Murray finished with another 100-yard rushing game.
Murray rushed for 121 yards on 24 carries against the worst rushing defense in the league Sunday night.
Murray broke a great deal of tackles and fought for every yard. One of Murray's best qualities is that he always falls forward for an extra yard or two when he is running the ball.
If there is one complaint about Murray's running, it's his lack of open-field vision. There were a couple of occasions where Murray missed cutback lanes in the open field.
Lance Dunbar had a nice catch on a screen pass that he took for 26 yards.
Outside of that, it was all Murray in regards to the Cowboys running backs.
Grade: A-
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
It wasn't easy, but the Cowboys receivers and tight ends put together a productive performance against the Giants.
Dez Bryant continued his stellar play as he had seven catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score with a little over a minute to go. The Cowboys need Bryant to be a dominant receiver in the last stretch of games.
Cole Bealsey only had two catches, but they were both extremely important as one went for a touchdown and the other for a crucial first down on the last drive on the game. Beasley is a player with a specialized role, but he did a great job tonight filling that role.
Jason Witten had another solid game as a receiver and a blocker as he had a touchdown and did a good job sealing the edge in the run game.
Not only did the receivers and tight ends do a good job catching the ball, but they also did a great job of blocking in the run game. On several occasions, wide receivers made some key blocks to spring a run or a screen for a big play.
Grade: A-
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
The Cowboys offensive line was great again Sunday night. It opened holes for Murray and gave Romo a ton of time, especially on the last drive, to throw the ball.
Zack Martin had another impeccable performance as he constantly paved the way for many of Murray's biggest runs. Martin may be the best offensive lineman in the league in space when he is pulling or out in the screen game.
Tyron Smith was the worst of the five offensive linemen today. He was beaten badly by Jason Pierre-Paul on several occasions in the pass and run games. However, he did a great job when it mattered most on the Cowboys' final drive.
The Cowboys offensive line continues to be the strongest unit on the team, and it proved it once again against the Giants.
Grade: A-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The Cowboys defensive line struggled for the majority of the game against the Giants. For the most part, it failed to get much pressure on Eli Manning, and the linemen got moved out of their gaps in the running game far too often.
The biggest bright spot on the defensive line was Jeremy Mincey, as he supplied constant pressure and was a disruption in the backfield against the Giants. The stat sheet won't show it, but Mincey was outstanding throughout the game.
Nick Hayden was very active throughout the game as well. He did a great job with his effort and backside pursuit against the Giants.
The Cowboys need more production from their defensive ends Anthony Spencer and DeMarcus Lawrence down the stretch. Both these players are supposed to be able to provide constant pressure but have failed to do so in the last few games.
It was rough in the first half, but the defensive line rebounded to put up an adequate performance in the second half. The Cowboys will need this unit to be much better against the Eagles on Thanksgiving Day.
Grade: C+
Linebacker
6 of 10
The Cowboys' best defensive unit was the linebackers against the Giants. Most of their productivity was due to the stellar play of Rolando McClain.
McClain was extremely active as he had a team-leading 11 tackles and one pass deflection Sunday night. McClain filled against the run extremely well and also did a great job in zone coverage. He made the play that ended the game as he tackled Rashad Jennings before he could get to the first-down marker.
Anthony Hitchens wasn't as impactful as he was against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he didn't make any huge mistakes either.
Overall, the Cowboys linebackers played a solid game and were one of the biggest reasons why the Cowboys made some crucial stops late in the game.
Grade: B
Secondary
7 of 10
The secondary had been solid throughout the season, but it had a tough day at the office Sunday night.
Orlando Scandrick had his worst game of the season as the Giants receivers beat him repeatedly. Scandrick had been the Cowboys' best defensive player, but he struggled big time against the Giants.
Brandon Carr once against put together a below-average performance. He was on the receiving end of what may be the catch of the year when Odell Beckham soared over him to make a one-handed touchdown grab.
Barry Church made a couple of nice plays in the running and the short passing game. He did a splendid job of making tackles in space as he also had a crucial interception that swung the momentum in the Cowboys' favor.
Altogether, the Cowboys secondary needs to improve quickly as it faces a tough task Thursday against the Eagles.
Grade: D+
Special Teams
8 of 10
This was by far the best special teams performance the Cowboys have put together thus far this season.
Dan Bailey continued to be automatic as he went 1-of-1 on his field-goal attempts against the Giants.
The real star of the special teams was Dwayne Harris. He had four punt returns for 68 yards as he constantly gave the Cowboys good field position throughout the game. He was also fantastic covering punts as he bottled up Odell Beckham on a couple of returns.
Chris Jones was solid once against as he averaged 48.8 yards per punt and put two inside of the 20.
The Cowboys will be facing the best special teams unit in the league in the Eagles next Thursday, so they will need to be even better.
Grade: A
Coaching
9 of 10
The Cowboys coaching staff put together a great offensive game plan against the Giants.
Play-caller Scott Linehan added some new wrinkles that were exceedingly effective against the Giants. Linehan called his best game of the year, as he didn't panic when the Cowboys were down and stuck to the game plan.
The Cowboys' defensive struggles appeared to be less about bad play-calling and more about poor execution. Sometimes you need players to win their matchups, and the defense didn't do that enough against New York.
Head coach Jason Garrett did a great job with time management and making adjustments at halftime.
Grade: A-
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Overall Grade |
| QB | A |
| RB | A- |
| WR | A- |
| OL | A- |
| DL | C+ |
| LB | B |
| Secondary | D+ |
| Special Teams | A |
| Coaching | A- |
| Cumulative Grade | B+ |
The offense carried the Cowboys throughout, and the overall grades show it. The Cowboys will need the defense to be much better against Chip Kelly's vaunted Eagles offense. The Cowboys will have to play sound assignment-based football, as the Eagles tend to create a lot of one-on-one matchups.
If the defense is just average and the offense plays like it did today, then the Cowboys should come out with a win against the Eagles.
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