I guess Jets quarterback Sam Darnold was on to something when he said he saw ghosts during the Jets 33-0 Monday night meltdown against the New England Patriots three weeks ago?This time with the Giants featured on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys, a precocious feline, darted across the field, and eventually found the end zone before dodging security guards on the way up the tunnel. The cute little black cat became a social media icon, and in so many ways resembled the Giants season. A season that has seemed jinxed from the word go.
Funny thing too, the G-Men were up 9-3 on the Cowboys, and were in the midst of tacking on another score following a Dallas fumble when the black cat stole the spotlight. Ironically, the Giants offense never reached the end zone on that drive, getting as close as the one-yard line before settling for a field goal to make it 12-3 Giants with 2:50 to go in the half.
It was all Dallas the rest of the way.
The Cowboys took the next possession and scored a touchdown when quarterback Dak Prescott broke free of containment, rolled to his right and found Blake Jarwin uncovered at the Giants 42. Upon catching the ball, Jawrin turned up field and darted past Giants defenders on his way to the end zone to cut the deficit to 12-10.
The Giants bad luck continued when Daniel Jones was picked off by Xavier Woods, who brought the ball back to New York's 39-yard line for what would eventually be a field goal and a 13-12 Dallas lead. The black cat, people. The black cat.
The Giants misfortune would only continue into the third quarter as Saquon Barkley had little to no room to run, and Jones was completely under siege on the edge by the Dallas pass rush. The pressure eventually got to Jones, who was stripped of the football on a critical third and six, while trying to scramble out of pressure. Xavier Jones fell on it for Dallas at the Giants 49 yard line. The Cowboys converted that turnover into three-more points to make it 16-12.
Even when the Giants managed to stay in the contest, stupid mistakes haunted them throughout the second half. A mammoth illegal use of the hands penalty against Alec Olgetree moved the football from the Dallas 25 to 40.
Later a neutral zone infraction on the Giants gave Dallas a short third down, which they converted when Prescott hit Randall Cobb for a four yard gain to the Giants' 38-yard line. Four plays later Prescott found Michael Gallup in tight coverage on the sideline. Gallup somehow hauled in the ball, stayed in bounds and leapt over a Giants defender, and falling perfectly into the end zone for the score to give Dallas a 23-15 advantage.
The Giants had one last real gasp early in the fourth quarter when Saquon Barkley took a screen pass from Jones and dashed 65-yards to the Dallas 11, but Big Blue stalled right there. On second down it appeared that Evan Engram was held by Dallas corner Chidobe Awuize, but a flag was never called. Pat Shurmur challenged the non-call, but the refs never changed the call to what was an obvious pass interference.
The Giants were forced to settle for three more, to cut the Dallas lead to five, 23-18.
The Cowboys put the game completely out of reach with 7:56 to go when Prescott hit Amari Cooper for a 45-yard strike to make it 30-18. The cherry on top came in the waning seconds when Jones fumbled again, and Jourdan Lewis picked up the loose ball and brought it back for a 63-yard Cowboys touchdown to blow the game totally wide open.
It was a night of bad luck for Big Blue, if you believe in superstitions. Or, you could just realize the fact that the Giants are a mistake prone football team. They have a young, developing quarterback who makes a ton of mistakes; a running back who isn't getting the carries he is used to; an offensive line that is a mess; a head coach who is a terrible play caller, and a defense that can't stop a nose bleed. Yeah, bad luck alright, bad luck indeed.
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