Breaking down all the Cowboys offensive drives against the Giants

The Dallas Cowboys walked away winners on Thursday night with a 20-15 victory over the New York Giants. It was a frustrating game as it was riddled with penalties, and the defense’s inability to get off the field shortened the game for the offense. Thankfully, the Cowboys’ run defense came up big, but it would’ve been nice if the offense could’ve scored a few more points.

To understand what’s going on with the offense we’ll examine each of the Cowboys drives in this game. What were they doing wrong? What were they doing right? Let’s take a look and try to piece some stuff together.

FIRST QUARTER
DRIVE 1
Length: 3 plays, 5 yards, 1:14

Result: Three-and-out

It’s starting to become a thing now. The Cowboys start the game with the ball and the offense goes nowhere. The offense started with the ball in three of their four games, and each time, it wasn’t pretty (Browns -1 yard, Ravens 13 yards, and Giants 5 yards). It’s a small sampling, and maybe it’s just a coincidence, but so far, they don’t seem ready to go.

DRIVE 2
Length: 12 plays, 75 yards, 6:57

Result: Touchdown

After the Giants kicked a field goal on their opening possession, the Cowboys found themselves in an early 0-3 hole. Fortunately, they answered with a drive that featured a nice dose of CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys receiver/sometimes running back touched the ball five times and accounted for 40 of the team’s 75 yards on that drive. There was a lot of quick stuff, mostly slants, and it was capped off with a Rico Dowdle screen pass touchdown. Initially, the officials threw a flag for what was going to be an illegal man downfield but picked it up after discussing it. It was the right call, however, they could have been flagged for holding when Jake Ferguson got a little tug on the jersey.

Cooper Beebe was within the one-yard buffer when Dak Prescott released the ball.

SECOND QUARTER
DRIVE 3
Length: 5 plays, 70 yards, 1:55

Result: Touchdown

The Giants answered with another field goal to make it a 7-6 game. It looked as if the Cowboys’ ensuing drive would stall after the small stuff wasn’t getting things done. A failed read option that resulted in a tackle for a loss and a short pass to Ferguson left the Cowboys with a fourth-and-inches. When the Giants went heavy over center, it took away their go-to play of a quick-Dak sneak to his right, but fortunately Prescott audibled out of it and handed it off to the elusive Hunter Luepke who outran the Giants Kayvon Thibodeaux around the edge and stumbled for the first down. On the very next play, Prescott hit Lamb down the sideline, who YAC’d his way to a 55-yard touchdown.

DRIVE 4
Length: 5 plays, 10 yards, 1:10

Result: Punt

The Giants tacked on another field goal on a drive that took over eight minutes keeping them within striking distance at 14-9. Thanks to good usage of timeouts, the Cowboys still had over a minute to work with which was plenty of time to get into Brandon Aubrey’s range. Two quick strikes to Lamb and Ferguson respectively and the offense was already at the 47-yard line with 38 seconds to go and one timeout. Things were looking promising. But then a sack (bye-bye timeout) created a setback, and the offense couldn’t get any closer for Aubrey.

This play design infuriates me. If the Cowboys get to midfield, Brandon Aubrey sets the record for the longest FG in NFL history and you’re telling me you got no short options rolling to the sideline? The best you can come up with is a wormburner to Brandin Cooks? Disappointing. pic.twitter.com/BdGcHMoEwb

— Dan Rogers (@DannyPhantom24) September 29, 2024

After only getting possession of the ball twice in the first quarter, the Cowboys only held the ball for 3:05 in the second quarter. It remained a five-point lead with the Giants getting the ball to start the second half. It felt like the Cowboys were playing with their food and that eventually, things would come unglued.

THIRD QUARTER
DRIVE 5
Length: 8 plays, 28 yards, 3:36

Result: Field Goal

The Cowboys’ first possession of the second half started well as they had plays for six, six, eight, and nine yards. They drove down and had a 3rd-and-1 on the Giants’ 32-yard line, but rather than take two shots running for it, they opted to pass. That didn’t go well as Tyler Guyton was flagged for a holding call and the Cowboys failed to convert on 3rd-and-11. The only saving grace is they remained in Aubrey’s range and he knocked down a 60-yard field goal. The Cowboys made it a 17-12 lead, but they continued to leave the Giants one touchdown away from taking the lead.

DRIVE 6
Length: 3 plays, 1 yard, 2:57

Result: Punt

Not only did the defense make a stop forcing a punt on the Giants’ next drive, but it was a quick three-and-out. Sadly, we hadn’t even finished celebrating the stop before the Cowboys offense turned around and punted it back to them. It was the worst possession of the night for Dallas. They got penalized for holding on the very first play (two linemen were flagged). Then, Lamb had another carry in the backfield, only this one went for a loss. Then, they called a 2nd-and-20 draw play followed by a short no-chance pass play to Luepke in the flat on 3rd-and-12.

Holding penalty. Behind the chains. It happens.
CeeDee run, TFL. Okay. That didn’t work.
Draw play on 2nd-and-20? Huh?
And then your first option on 3rd-and-12 is short to the flat to Luepke?
What is going on here? pic.twitter.com/sppZr1FMaF

— Dan Rogers (@DannyPhantom24) September 29, 2024

It’s hard to imagine this type of offensive mindset getting them very far.

FOURTH QUARTER
DRIVE 7
Length: 10 plays, 48 yards, 4:17

Result: Field Goal

If you thought the defense might force back-to-back punts, you thought wrong. The Giants put together a 10-play drive and kicked another field goal getting them even closer at 17-15. What an offensive showcase this turned out to be. The Cowboys answered with a 10-play drive. Starting with a nice mix of short pass plays to Ferguson and small runs from Rico Dowdle, they were moving right along. A jet sweep to Lamb resulted in another tackle for a loss. The Cowboys failed to convert on 3rd-and-7 when Dak threw low to a covered Lamb who would’ve still been short of the sticks. Ugly. Aubrey knocked down the field goal to extend the lead, 20-15.

DRIVE 8
Length: 7 plays, 13 yards, 2:53

Result: Missed Field Goal

After the Giants turned the ball over on downs at their own 45-yard line, the Cowboys were in good shape with just 3:21 left in the game. The offense started working on the clock with the rushing attack. They converted a nice third and short with Luepke, but the Giants tightened up their run defense after Dallas got a new set of downs. The Cowboys worked the clock down under 30 seconds and were primed to go up by eight when the automatic Aubrey decided not to be automatic. A missed field goal kept it 20-15, but the Giants didn’t have enough time to do anything.

SUMMARY
Here are some key notes from the offense in this game…

The Cowboys’ offense doesn’t seem prepared to start games and takes a bit to find their groove. In the previous two games, that meant they found themselves in a hole, but the Giants weren’t doing much scoring, so it didn’t hurt them in this one.
Eight drives in a game isn’t much. And while the defense is to blame for not getting the Giants off the field, the Cowboys offense needs to do a better job making them count. The Cowboys only had four drives that went for more than 13 yards.
Prescott loved him some Lamb and Ferguson. They combined for 17 touches. That’s not surprising. Luepke had four touches, and all of them were either on third- or fourth-down.
Luepke had as many touches as Brandon Cooks and Jalen Tolbert had combined. That’s not good. The Cowboys must find a way to get the WR2 and WR3 more involved. Dak’s not looking their way very often.
Prescott was comfortable with the quick stuff. He liked to get the ball out early. He locked in on his target and let it rip even if there was tight coverage. He completed 13 of 14 passes under 2.5 seconds for a total of 143 yards.
The Cowboys had some questionable playcalling in certain situations. They get cute sometimes and don’t take the easy stuff, while they’ll wimp out at other times and won’t even try to get to the sticks. It’s frustrating. If they genuinely believe in their rushing attack like they claim they do, then run it on third and short.