ARLINGTON, Texas – Somewhere up there, John Madden is smiling. There almost was not enough of his infamous Thanksgiving-game turkey legs to go around for the winning stars early Thursday evening here at AT&T Stadium.
Here, Micah, you get one. You had 1½ sacks, 4 QB hits and seemingly umpteen QB pressures, not only earning a leg but also the Thanksgiving John Madden MVP award trophy.
Here, DeMarvion, you get one for sure. Not only did you finish with nine tackles and a fumble recovery, but on that blitz you batted an attempted pass high in the air and then on the run caught the ball for an interception and ran 23 yards for the touchdown, turning the entire complexion of this game around.
Getcha one, Osa. Four tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits.
Hey, Capt. Kendricks, the heart and soul of this defense all season long, definitely a turkey leg guy for your sixth double-digit tackle game of the season (10) but also registering one sack and forcing the fumble Overshown recovered.
Chauncey, you get one too. You were all over the place, not to mention a pass defense and a QB hit.
Mazi, come on over here big guy. Take a big ol' bite. Three tackles, a half-sack and a QB hit, a huge part of a Cowboys defense holding the Giants' running backs, which included the NFL's leading rookie rusher Tyrone Tracy, to just 55 yards.
Hey Carl, grab you one. You looked like the Lawson we saw in the NFL a few years back with a sack, a tackle for loss and five QB hits.
What a postgame, on-field feast Fox put on in memory of the late Madden, these holiday games named after the former coach and television analyst who helped make Turduckens a thing on this holiday around the country.
And had the Fox crew not run out of turkey legs, one should have gone to Rico Dowdle, who ran for a career-high and Cowboys season-high 112 yards and should have had 117 if not for two runs totaling minus-5 yards when the Cowboys were just trying to run out the clock.
Munch away, boys.
Cowboys 27, Giants not-as-close-as-it-seems 20, after Dallas had built a commanding 27-10 lead near the end of the third quarter here at AT&T Stadium before 92,196 fans this Thanksgiving Day. When the Cowboys beat the erstwhile 2-9 Giants for the eighth straight time and 15th in the last 16 meetings with their NFC East brethren.
As importantly, this second win in a five-day span moved the Cowboys' record to 5-7 and meant after an 0-5 start at home, notched their first victory at the AT&T this season. They also nudged their NFC East record to 3-1, good news with two to play if a tiebreaker with five games left is ever needed.
Why, the very people who had given up on the Cowboys actually asked head coach Mike McCarthy afterward, "Five days ago your team was 3-7 and kind of given up for dead by some people. Does it feel different around the team after what you've done against two division teams moving forward?"
McCarthy, the upstanding man he is, should have remarked, "You mean you people," meaning media members so quick to come to conclusions with so many more games yet to play. But naw, once again gentleman Mike took the high road.
"We feel a lot differently today than we did Saturday night going into Washington," McCarthy said, referencing that 3-7 record before Sunday's victory over the Commanders. "That's fair and accurate. It's a good feeling. This is where we deserve to be. We've had to fight to get here.
"We're still in the valley of adversity, we've taken two steps forward, but we've still got a long way to go. We recognize that. That's the fun part about it."
Got to keep grinding but can kick up their feet with a job well done Thursday while watching the rest of the games to be played that night, Friday afternoon, then Sunday and Monday since the Cowboys already have taken care of their Week 13 business. Yep, will have a better idea where they stand when the smoke clears before preparing for their next two games, here a week from Monday against Cincinnati, currently 4-7 heading into Sunday's game against Pittsburgh, and then a road game at Carolina, 3-8 heading into Sunday's game against Tampa Bay.
And look, don't any one of you "some people" dare try to minimize this victory just because of the Giants losing their seventh consecutive game and having to play with their backup quarterback – since they released starter Daniel Jones of their own volition and wore out the third guy, Tommy DeVito – got beat up sore this past game when having no interest in trying to win any more this year. Come on, do you realize the Cowboys came into this game with their own backup quarterback playing, and still from Sunday without Pro Bowlers Jake Ferguson, Trevon Diggs and Zack Martin, plus after getting rookie Marshawn Kneeland finally back for 19 snaps on Sunday, he, too, was out again with a sore knee. Then they had to place backup left tackle Asim Richards and backup cornerback Caelen Carson on injured reserve before this game.
On top of all that, in this game the Cowboys lost starting left tackle Tyler Guyton, then starting cornerback Josh Butler to what COO Stephen Jones says is a torn ACL. In addition, Juanyeh Thomas suffered meniscus knee damage, the guy who returned that onside kick against the Commanders for a touchdown. And as if all that were not enough, poor CeeDee Lamb, who has been dealing gallantly with a shoulder injury and probably the reason he uncharacteristically had three drops in the game, injured that shoulder some more – enough to not return to the game, although he should be ready to return for the Bengals game.
And did you happen to notice, without Diggs and then Butler departing in the end of the second quarter, and already having placed backup starter Amani Oruwariye on IR, there the Cowboys were with slot corner Jourdan Lewis playing the outside right cornerback spot and backup Israel Mukuamu playing in the slot to finish the game
That is tons to overcome, no matter if you are playing the Little Sisters of the Poor.
But you can see the worm turning with the return of some of the Cowboys' injured. Don't you think this defensive resurgence the last few weeks has something to do with Parsons returning after missing those four games with a high ankle sprain? Why, he has 5½ sacks in the four games since his return. And with just his presence on the field, Overshown's production has increased, totaling 29 tackles, three sacks and 12 pressures in the past four games as well as the pass-defensed that turned into his interception return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery.
If you double- and triple-team Micah, ain't got enough guys if D-Mo is coming either from the other side or from behind. For further defensive resurgence evidence, in these past four games, and look, two of those were against Philadelphia and Houston, the Cowboys have racked up 16 sacks – six of those on Thanksgiving against the Giants – when they only had 12 sacks in the previous seven games to this stretch.
And bet you noticed Brandin Cooks was back on the field too. He had missed the past seven games after suffering the knee infection. The veteran wideout caught that 2-yard touchdown pass on third-and-goal to give the Cowboys some breathing room, up 20-10, by running a great crossing route we've seen him connect on before. Also, Cooks on third-and-2 with two minutes left in the game made that diving catch for the first down, enabling the Cowboys to then kneel-out the clock to prevent any more attempts at last-minute heroics by their opponent.
Makes a huge difference having your guys on the field.
Not only that third down play, but don't forget KaVontae Turpin, he of the 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against the Commanders on Sunday, coming up big on a third-and-10 from the New York 38 after Kendricks' forced fumble Overshown recovered at that same 38. Turpin took a Cooper Rush smoke-screen pass 30 yards, once again stepping on the gas to a first-and-goal at the 8, setting up the Cooks' TD reception.
There was another big third-down play, third-and-5 from the 49 with the Cowboys leading 20-10 midway through the third quarter. Rush hit Jalen Tolbert on a 36-yard go-route to set up a first-and-10 at the 15, eventually resulting in Dowdle's 4-yard touchdown run, his first rushing touchdown of the season and just the team's fourth in now 12 games.
Job well done. Now must hope and pray they can get some of these Pro Bowl players back, like Diggs, Lamb, Martin and Lawrence, who Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on Friday was hopeful for his return against the Bengals. Be nice if Guyton returns since Chuma Edoga was playing his first snaps of the season, struggling some.
"Hopefully we're fully loaded," Parsons says, looking forward to the Dec. 9 game right here on a Monday night against Cincinnati. "But got to be thankful, man, super blessed, super appreciative. We came out here and put on a show today."
And got fed well, too, afterward.
