Arlington, Texas-- The Giants fall to the Cowboys 44-20 in a heartwrenching loss. The gross number of injuries in this game will haunt the minds of Giants fans and members of the organization for the foreseeable future.
The Injury Report
RB - Saquon Barkley (ankle)
QB - Daniel Jones (concussion)
WR - Kenny Golladay (knee)
CB - Rodarius Williams (knee)
Offense
Coming into the game, Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton, two starting wide receivers, were both ruled out with hamstring injuries. This loss forced rookie WR, Kadarius Toney, to take the field sooner than the coaching staff would have hoped. However, he did not disappoint. Toney, one of the few highlights of today, had 10 receptions for 189 yards, more than the rest of the Giant's offense combined. Toney's performance would then be clouded by a late-game ejection for throwing an unnecessary punch.
There's very little positive to say about this offense's performance besides Toney. Saquon exited the game midway through the first quarter with an ankle injury after he misstepped a Cowboy's defender once the play was already dead. NFL Insider Ian Rappaport said this following the loss regarding Barkley's injury:
#Giants star RB Saquon Barkley is believed to have suffered a low-ankle sprain, sources say, an injury that likely knocks him out next week. He’ll have more tests, but he’s best characterized as week-to-week. A fast healer, Barkley will work to miss only one week.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 11, 2021
On top of Saquon's injury, Daniel Jones went down in the second quarter. Jones, who looked a little off all game, collided hard with Dallas defenders forcing him into concussion protocol. He could be seen stumbling off the field, in which the Giants then had to cart their starting QB off the field. The Giants later lost their new toy, Kenny Golladay, to a knee injury, furthering the nightmare already unfolding.
Mike Glennon stepped and contributed heavily to this abysmal performance with two interceptions, one being a pick-6 that sealed the game for Dallas.
Defense
In the first half, the only thing that kept the Giants in contention were the takeaways by the defense. Lorenzo Carter tipped Prescott's pass and came down with it near the 50-yard line (Giants offense was unable to capitalize off of this). Later in the half, Reggie Ragland recovered a fumble by Prescott on a muffed snap inside New York's 10-yard line (Once again, their offense was unable to capitalize).
This Giants defense showed once again their inability to stop their opponent nearing the end of the first half when they allowed Dallas to break the 10-all tie and make it a 7-point game. Their stamina and mindset when approaching the crucial final two minutes must be improved. Considering Daniel Jones was carted off not too long before, the Giants giving Dallas momentum going into halftime was of zero help.
