ARLINGTON, Texas — Brian Daboll was still red-faced when he stepped off the podium after Cowboys 28, Giants 20 and said: “Sorry, I was pissed off. … F–king tough loss.”
His decimated, depleted Giants tried to steal one and could not because they brought a water pistol to a gunfight at the OK Corral, and a defense that had bent eventually broke.
Daniel Jones could have used name tags to identify some of the bodyguards valiantly keeping Micah Parsons and the rest of the Cowboys predators from turning him into turducken on the first football-playing Thanksgiving of his life.
He tried to be the gladiator inside Jerry Jones’ howling colosseum, but he didn’t get to play Russell Crowe.
The Cowboys weren’t about to let Saquon Barkley (11-39, 1 TD rushing, 4-13 receiving) impose his will on the day.
But here’s what Daboll, Daniel Jones and the Giants needed to do even before they boarded their flight home: Flush it.
It’s one game.
You’ve lost two in a row but you’re 7-4.
Daniel Jones, under pressure from Dexter Lawrence, throws a pass during the Giants’ 28-20 loss to the Cowboys. Brian Daboll’s undermanned team was no match for Dallas, The Post’s Steve Serby writes. USA TODAY Sports; APDon’t let this turn into Black Friday.
No time for Thanksgrieving.
Mama said there’d be days like this.
Daboll said there’d be bumps in the road.
There is no crying in football, and no excuses.
And no medals for trying.
The Giants look like a team that needs to get healthy between now and the Commanders on Dec. 4.
A team without half of its starting secondary, three-fifths of its starting offensive line and, OMG, that wide receiver corps Darius Slayton leads these days.
Boy, would a healthy Odell Beckham Jr. be a godsend right about now.
Jihad Ward: “We don’t care about our record, to be honest with you. We proved that we are a good football team. Now, we gotta do the impossible now. Because s–t is getting real in November and December football. We don’t sleep on no team. The season’s about to be over. Everybody’s trying to get their shine on. It gets real around this time so you never know so we just gotta aim for the top. Even though we lost today, we’re gonna find a way.”
Slayton: “We’re still in a position where we control our destiny. We’re still in a position where we can compete for everything we want to compete for.”
CeeDee Lamb runs after a catch as Darnay Holmes tried to chase him down during the Giants’ loss to the Cowboys. Getty ImagesKayvon Thibodeaux: “Nothing is too far out of our reach. I feel like we have a big opportunity still ahead of us, and if we just continue to get better and sharpen our tools, we’ll be able to have the outcomes we want.”
It was fourth-and-1 at the NYG 45 late in the third quarter, Cowboys 14, Giants 13, when Daboll tried to spark his offense and went for it.
“I thought we needed to change a little bit of momentum,” he said.
Barkley, acknowledging the NFL grind on his body, faulted himself. “I didn’t make the play there for us. Gotta be better.”
Jones (21-for-25, 228 yards, 1 TD) faulted himself: “Just a bad throw. I gotta get it out in front of him. Bad throw; can’t miss that.”
And that, essentially, was ballgame.
Because soon Dak Prescott, who had been intercepted twice in the first half, was rolling right and finding Dalton Schultz with a 6-yard TD pass, and it was Cowboys 21, Giants 13.
And soon, someone named Jake Ferguson was hurdling Jason Pinnock in the open field, and the Giants, who were up 13-7 at the half, were roadkill.
Every step of the way, the Giants had no margin for error:
Dak Prescott and Saquon Barkley hug after the Giants’ loss to the Cowboys. APTo wit: Nick McCloud could not afford to muff a punt at the Dallas 1 and let it squirt into a touchback.
Tyre Phillips could not be ineligible man downfield on a 24-yard Jones’ TD pass to Isaiah Hodgins.
Darnay Holmes could not have been flagged for illegal contact on a failed third-down conversion that would have forced the Cowboys to attempt a field goal.
Holmes could not have been flagged for holding on a failed third-and-7 early in the third quarter on the drive that ended with Prescott firing a 15-yard TD pass to Schultz against McCloud on third-and-goal.
Slayton’s high-point, 44-yard catch at the Dallas 1 that set up Barkley’s first-quarter TD was too little, too early. “We just didn’t make enough of the little plays in the second half,” Slayton said.
“We’ve got a really good opportunity going forward, and we know that,” Jones said. “We’ve put ourselves in a good position. We’ve gotta heal up and take advantage of this long week. … We’re confident, we’re 7-4, and we got a lot still we need to accomplish.”
Talent overcomes resilience and fight and heart and mental toughness and coaching. But don’t count these Giants out just yet.
