Dallas Cowboys not taking care of business, trail New York Giants 20-9 at halftime
In a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Dallas Cowboys came out of the gate against the New York Giants sputtering.
A win against the Giants and loss by the Washington Football Team against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night puts the Cowboys in the playoffs as the champions of the NFC East to complete arguably the most remarkable in-season turnaround in franchise history.
Washington would render it all moot with a win as they control their own destiny for the division title and the playoffs.
Of course, the Giants would also make the playoffs with a win and a Washington loss.
The Cowboys came into the game riding the wave of a three-game winning streak but it was the Giants who started with more purpose, going right down the field on the opening drive to score on a 23-yard turn by receiver Sterling Shepard.
The missed extra point made it 6-0.
The Cowboys got the first big break of the game on the Giants second drive when running back Wayne Gallman fumbled a handoff and cornerback Chido Awuzie recovered at the 26.
However, the Cowboys could only turn it into a 38-yard field goal.
The Cowboys mustered just 23 yards and three first downs in the first quarter.
It was 13-3 in the second quarter when quarterback Daniel Jones capped a 65-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Shepard.
Cowboys kicker Greg Zuerlein added a 46-yard field goal to make the score 13-6.
But Jones followed with touchdown pass to Dante Pettis to give the Giants a commanding lead at halftime.
Zuerlein added a 57-yard field goal just before halftime for the 20-9 score.
This story was originally published January 3, 2021 at 1:43 PM.
