Cowboys’ weapons shine in victory over New York Giants
With the Dallas Cowboys very public courting of Odell Beckham still ongoing, the current crop of Dallas playmakers had their own say on Thanksgiving.
Wide receiver Michael Gallup had his best game since returning from a torn ACL on Oct. 2 while his teammate CeeDee Lamb had his second 100-yard game of the season as the Cowboys pulled away from the New York Giants 28-13.
The game didn’t start pretty for Gallup and the offense. Dak Prescott’s first attempt to Gallup was incomplete on third-and-short. Dallas went for it on the next play in their own territory and was stuffed.
The next attempt appeared to be a miscommunication and Prescott was picked off by Rodarius Williams. The rough start didn’t deter Prescott from going back to Gallup in the first half.
Prescott and Gallup connected with each other three times in the first quarter as Gallup made a number of a tough, contested catches to help move the chains.
Later in the second quarter Gallup had back-to-back catches of 25 and 14 yards to move the Cowboys into scoring position. Gallup finished with five receptions for 63 yards. It was the most receiving yards he’s had in a game since last Thanksgiving when he produced 106 yards against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I was just feeling comfortable, I felt like the old MG,” Gallup said after the game. “It felt good out there, I came back in the locker room and didn’t feel sore or anything.”
Gallup credited his relationship with Prescott as the reason he was still able to make an impact despite the early struggles between the two.
“Ever since I was a rookie he’s been telling me, if you drop a ball I’m right back to you next play. Don’t even worry about it,” Gallup said. “He’s got faith in me. That’s how it’s always been.”
As Gallup cooled off in the second half with more focus from the New York defense, that’s when Lamb stepped up with a number of highlight catches that helped Dallas pull away from the Giants in the second half.
None was bigger than Lamb’s one-handed grab on the sidelines while Giants corner Darnay Holmes was holding onto one of his arms for dear life. It drew a flag, but wasn’t enough to stop Lamb from making the catch and gesturing that Holmes was too little afterwards.
“I was getting held all night, they were holding one arm and it was the same one; the left one,” Lamb said. “I understood that, so I only had my right hand. I had to start using it.”
A few plays later Dalton Schultz scored a touchdown to put the Cowboys in front 21-13 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
On the Cowboys’ next possession Lamb accounted for 51 yards and nearly had another highlight catch in the endzone. Lamb caught another pass from Prescott one-handed, got one foot and then toe tapped the other one, but his heel landed out of bounds to rule the pass incomplete.
Prescott said he thought it was touchdown during the postgame press conference.
It was a bummer for Lamb, but Dallas scored on the very next play as Peyton Hendershot got his chance to score. Lamb led all receivers with 106 yards and is averaging just a tad over 100 yards the last three games.
He and Prescott are starting to get acclimated with more reps since Prescott’s return from injury.
“We’re still building, I know how late it is in the season, but I didn’t have him in the first half,” Lamb said. “We still had a couple mishaps, but we came out victorious. Had a few completions in the clutch. We’re understanding that there may be some incompletions, but we’ll get it back the next drive.”
While Gallup and Lamb were producing numbers, Dallas also got nice contributions from the tight end spot. Dalton Schultz scored two touchdowns and Jake Ferguson added 57 yards, plus a highlight hurdle to help spark the offense.
The Cowboys also rushed for 169 yards as Ezekiel Elliot and Tony Pollard took turns wearing down the Giants defense. It was an offensive performance that showed the potential of the current pieces on the roster.
“It was guys being available when their number is called,” Lamb said. “We understand how crucial everyone is that’s apart of this team and apart of this victorious run we’re going on. We’ve got to keep building and keep going and understand that everybody’s important.”
Now just imagine how this offense could look if Beckham does end up joining the mix.
This story was originally published November 24, 2022 at 7:54 PM.
