4 Cowboys stars who saved Dallas from choking vs. the Giants

After two consecutive weeks of getting embarrassed at home, the Dallas Cowboys needed to get back on track against the New York Giants on Thursday. Despite a rash of injuries and penalties, the Cowboys won their seventh straight game over the Giants, while Dak Prescott won his 13th in a row against them. Though impressive streaks, a narrow 20-15 win was not what most expected.

The Cowboys' defense only allowed 26 total rushing yards, which marked a huge improvement relative to the last two games. Despite that, the Giants were still in position to win the game after Brandon Aubrey missed his first field goal of the season. Fortunately, a late interception sealed the win.

This may have been a victory, but it was almost given away by Dallas during some moments on Thursday night. However, these four players made sure the team walked out of New Jersey with a win.

4 players who saved the Cowboys from choking against the Giants

4. DT Mazi Smith

Mazi Smith answered the challenge of many fans on Thursday night. He spearheaded a defensive line that only allowed 1.1 yards per carry the whole game. Giants starting running back Devin Singletary only had 24 yards on the ground. The rest of the defense played much better as a unit but Smith's run- stuffing and ability to move the line of scrimmage stood out.

Smith had three total tackles. One that stood out was a tackle for loss he had on Singletary. He clearly beat his man to the point of attack and got in the backfield to blow up the play right away. That is what Dallas has been looking for ever since they drafted him.

The 2023 first-round pick also had a tackle on backup running back Tyron Tracy Jr. where he practically body-slammed him at the line of scrimmage. The rest of the line rallied around Smith. With the injuries that happened to Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Trevon Diggs, the defense still made stops and did not let the Giants' offense score one touchdown.

Hopefully this is the beginning of Smith turning his career around. The Cowboys want him to be that run-stuffing nose tackle in the middle. He looked the part on Thursday night and was a catalyst in the win.

3. LB Eric Kendricks

Eric Kendricks finally looked like the replacement for Leighton Vander Esch Dallas is hoping he will be. He led the team in tackles Thursday night with 13, six of them being solo. If fans looked too quickly, they might have thought Sean Lee was back out there.

Kendricks was the most significant free agent the Cowboys signed during the offseason. They needed huge help at middle linebacker after Vander Esch retired. Through the first three games Kendricks had looked like a shell of the player he was in his prime. He was all over the field on Thursday night.

The former Viking and Charger might not have had any glamorous plays, but he made a difference for the Cowboys' defense. Players did not look out of position and everyone seemed to be flying to the ball. That is a testament to Kendricks, who wears the green dot as the field general.

If Kendricks can get back to being what he was in Los Angeles last year, this defense will look better with each passing week.

2. QB Dak Prescott

Dak Prescott and this offense found some momentum at the end of the Ravens' game last week and it carried over in the first half. Prescott never put the ball in harms way and finished with over 220 yards. His stats might have been boosted by CeeDee Lamb's 55-yard score, but he moved the offense well enough to secure the win.

After punting on their first possession, Dallas scored on every drive the rest of the first half. The 12-play drive that ended in a Rico Dowdle screen pass touchdown was the type of drive this team needed to jump on the Giants early. In the last two games, the Cowboys started slow and were hardly able to get any offense going until it was too late.

The touchdown pass to Lamb was what arguably broke the game open. Yes, a 14-6 lead is not insurmountable, but against a weaker team like the Giants a big play like that can shatter their confidence. New York was having to play catch up for the rest of the game and therefore had to resort to going to the air more so than the ground.

It wasn't a gaudy Dak game, but he overcame shoddy play-calling and picked apart the Giants' defense, specifically with quick passes. He completed 13 of 14 passes under 2.5 seconds for 143 yards and two TDs, per Next Gen Stats.

When the defense can make stops and give Prescott more time with the ball, the offense can win games for this team. That played out on Thursday night.

1. WR CeeDee Lamb

If there was one Cowboys' player who dealt with scrutiny the most this week, it was Lamb. That was fully deserved after cameras caught Lamb arguing on the sidelines and he had a critical fumble early in the Baltimore game. Lamb responded in a big way Thursday night.

After making his case for being more involved in the offense, Lamb got his wish. He was targeted eight times and caught seven of those passes without one drop. He also had a 10-yard carry on the first drive, which was one of the Cowboys' longest run plays of the season. The Giants were down two of their corners so the expectation was Dak would feed Lamb most of the night.

The play that changed the game was early in the second quarter when Prescott looked deep for Lamb, who beat Deonte Banks and was then able to make a move to get out of the way of safety Tyler Nubin. After that, it was a clear run to the end zone. Lamb also got flagged for taunting the Giants by throwing the ball back toward them, but the touchdown stood.

After the week Lamb had in dealing with the media, who could blame him for celebrating like that? The superstar WR has his money and those big plays are what this offense needs to be one of the best. Lamb might have gone quiet in the second half, which might have been the biggest reason the offense went stagnant, but the plays he made early helped Dallas get the upper hand to finish this game in the end. He deserves a lot of credit for answering those questions this week.

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