YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS…AND THIS…AND THIS
You had to see all of it to believe it, but the chain of events in the fourth quarter also included Jaxson Dart's NFL debut. The 25th overall pick entered with 12:51 left in a game that had the Cowboys leading 20-16.
From the Dallas 25, Dart handed the ball off to Cam Skattebo, another rookie, who burst straight up the middle for 24 yards down to the goal line. Skattebo then punched it in on the next play as the Giants regained a three-point lead.
Daboll wasn't done with the wrinkle.
After the Cowboys regained the lead, Dart returned for two more plays on the Giants' next drive. He handed the ball off to Tyrone Tracy Jr. for a first down, converting a second-and-short. Dart then lost three yards on a run. Wilson re-entered, and Nabers couldn't hold onto a third-and-four pass that would have provided a fresh set of downs with 2:50 left in the game. Nevertheless, on fourth-and-four, Wilson then threw a 32-yard touchdown to Wan'Dale Robinson on the very next play to put the Giants back up by three points.
"Well, the one that we hit with Skat, we were just talking about our sideline," Daboll said of playing Dart in that moment. "We didn't have much going in the running game. A couple of plays here or there. That particular one is kind of 11-on-11 football with a read. Kind of sprung Skat. It was good blocking, so, they did a couple of good jobs with the handoff and then he kept one and then slipped on one. I think that was right before the fourth down if I'm not mistaken but that was the reason why."
STAT OF THE GAME
The Giants more than doubled their offensive output from Week 1 (231 yards at Washington, 506 at Dallas) despite being penalized 14 times for 160 yards. The 37 points were the third-highest total of the Daboll era (since 2022) and could have been more. The Giants were 1-for-5 in the red zone after going 0-for-2 in Week 1. The Cowboys, meanwhile, found the end zone on all three of their trips inside the 20.
"Far too many," Daboll said of the penalties. "I wanted the guys to play physical this game, be aggressive. Roughing the passer, DPI. There were a lot of penalties called this game. Almost 260 yards worth between two teams. We certainly don't want to have that many penalties."
The penalties became a storyline early in the game when James Hudson III, who has been filling in for Andrew Thomas, was called for four penalties on the opening drive. Rookie Marcus Mbow, a fifth-round pick out of Purdue who had an impressive preseason, took over from there.
Wilson completed 30 of 41 passes (73.2 percent) for 450 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and a quarterback rating of 123.0. The 450 passing yards are the second-most in his career and tied for the fourth-highest total in franchise history. Eli Manning also threw for that total at Dallas in the 2013 season opener.
Robinson finished with eight catches and a career-high 142 yards and one touchdown. On the opening possession of the game, Robinson caught a 50-yard pass, the longest reception of his career.
Nabers totaled nine catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns, the fourth 100-yard receiving game and third multi-touchdown game of his career. His second touchdown – which went for 48 yards – was part of sequence that included a combined two touchdowns and one field goal in the final 52 seconds of regulation.
"I love watching people be relentless. I love watching boxing, for example…you know, we're in a 17-round fight. We battled in the first round and second round. We've got more to do. So, I was just proud of how we needed to be able to answer the way we did. I've been a part of a lot of crazy games. I don't know if I've ever been part of one that crazy with that much grit." – Russell Wilson after his 201st career regular-season start (second with Giants)