New York Giants vs Dallas Cowboys: 4 quick hits from Week 5

It was a one-possession game going into halftime, but the Dallas Cowboys managed to run away with the win beating the New York Giants 44-20. The offense once again showcased how dangerous they can be when they play keep-away with the ball. The defense made stops when they needed to, but they continued to give up chunk plays just like previous weeks.

After watching the game, here are my five takeaways of what happened in Arlington, TX, between the Cowboys and Giants.

Dallas Cowboys: 1.  Injury bug bites New York

Heading into the game, the biggest storyline was the ankle injury to quarterback Dak Prescott last season. It was also in Week 5, against the Giants, at AT&T Stadium, with kickoff being 4:25 EST. An injury defined that game, and injuries are what defined this game too.

The Giants could not catch a break when it came to significant injuries. It started in the first quarter when running back Saquon Barkley injured his ankle and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. If Barkley’s injury wasn’t bad enough, quarterback Daniel Jones sustained a concussion from rookie linebacker Jabril Cox in the second quarter and was also ruled out for the game.

One after another, players from Big Blue were being ruled out with significant injuries. Wide receiver Kenny Golladay didn’t return with a knee injury, and many Giants were seen on the sidelines being attended to throughout the game. Dallas goes home with the win, but New York is left wondering how many players they’ll be missing for Week 6.

Dallas Cowboys: 2. Zeke leaves with a full belly

Once again, the offense relied on a heavy dose of running back Ezekiel Elliott. He finished the game with 21 carries for 110 yards, one rushing touchdown, and one beautifully designed pass for a touchdown.

Going into 2021, the health of the offensive line was a question mark. That’s been put to rest as the unit is getting better each week. Dallas has developed a juggernaut running attack led by offensive linemen Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, Connor Williams, Tyler Biadasz, and Terence Steele.

The Cowboy’s success in 2014 and 2016 was a great ground game with Elliott carrying the load. When he went down with an apparent back injury in the third quarter, it seemed like his night would be over. Instead, he came back in and scored a touchdown, and ran out the clock.

He’s a monster of a player and deserves every bit of money in his contract. No matter what people say, Elliott should be considered a top-five running back.

Dallas Cowboys: 3. Trevon “no-fly zone” Diggs

There isn’t much more to say about cornerback Trevon Diggs that has not already been said. Through five games this season, he leads the league in interceptions with six. The Cowboys haven’t had this type of production at cornerback since Deion Sanders.

When rookie cornerback Kelvin Joseph mentioned in training camp that this defense would be considered a “no-fly zone,” fans didn’t know he would only be talking about one player.

In 2020, Diggs had many plays that caused a lot of head-scratching. He would bite on coverage too quickly and would have trouble sticking to his assignments. He was making rookie mistakes. Now in year two, Diggs has taken his game to a whole new level.

He has been studying tape this off-season and working on reading receivers better. It also helps to practice against wide receivers Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and Michael Gallup all summer. After Week 5, you can pencil Diggs in for the Pro Bowl and the All-Pro conversation.

Dallas Cowboys: 4. Things to work on

Even though Dallas sits atop the NFC East with a two-game lead, they did not play their cleanest football tonight. There were a lot of errors on offense and defense tonight that could have made this a blowout if they did not happen.

Center Tyler Biadasz is excellent as a run blocker but has struggled with snapping the ball. A couple of snaps made Prescott uneasy in the pocket, having him worry about ball placement. The fumbled snap in the red zone is on the quarterback, but if it were snaped to Prescott’s numbers, maybe it would not have happened.

The chunk plays once again are the kryptonite to this Dallas defense. Wide receiver Kadarius Toney had about five plays where he left the cornerbacks dancing on the field. That cannot happen as it gets later in the season. Teams will start to recognize that and expose defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has been excellent this season, but he has to focus on red-zone efficiency. This game had the potential to be over before halftime, but after two field goals and an interception, there were points left on the field. Elliot mentioned how they needed to put away the Carolina Panthers last week, but they allowed them to get back in the game. This week, the Cowboys did the same thing.

If the defense can stiffen up later in the game and the offense can capitalize in the red zone, then this team will be an unstoppable force in the NFC. The game against the Arizona Cardinals Week 17 might be flexed to a Sunday Night Football game.