Cooper Rush passed for 215 yards and one touchdown and Tony Pollard rushed for 105 yards as the Dallas Cowboys notched a 23-16 victory over the New York Giants on Monday night at East Rutherford, N.J.
Rush completed 21 of 31 passes and guided Dallas (2-1) to its second consecutive win while starting in place of Dak Prescott (fractured right thumb) for the second straight game. Rush threw the tiebreaking touchdown in the fourth quarter to CeeDee Lamb, who caught eight passes for 87 yards.
Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown and DeMarcus Lawrence matched his career high of three sacks as the Cowboys defeated the NFC East rival Giants for the 10th time in the past 11 meetings.
Daniel Jones connected on 20 of 37 passes for 196 yards and one interception and added 79 rushing yards for New York (2-1). Saquon Barkley rushed for 81 yards and one touchdown.
Dallas took a 20-13 lead on Rush’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Lamb with 8:30 remaining. The two teamed up for a 26-yard pass play to the 1 prior to the score. The Cowboys drove 89 yards on 11 plays.
The Dallas defense then forced a Giants punt, and KaVontae Turpin’s 28-yard return placed the ball on the New York 35-yard line. The return set up Brett Maher’s 44-yard field goal that made it 23-13 with 5:58 remaining.
New York moved within seven on Graham Gano’s 51-yard field goal with 3:37 remaining. The Giants had another chance, but Trevon Diggs intercepted Jones and Dallas took over at the New York 29 with 1:11 left and ran out the clock.
The Cowboys outgained New York 391 yards to 336. Dallas sacked Jones five times.
Barkley gave the Giants a 13-6 lead when he scampered 36 yards for a touchdown with 5:31 left in the third quarter. Barkley started up the middle and veered to his left for the score to cap a six-play, 77-yard drive.
Dallas answered with a crisp nine-play, 75-yard excursion to tie the score on Elliott’s 1-yard run late in the third period.
Dallas struck first on Maher’s 26-yard field goal with 2:09 left in the opening quarter.
The Giants tied the score on Gano’s 42-yard field with 11:17 left in the second quarter. Just over two minutes later, Maher kicked a 28-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 6-3 advantage.
New York knotted the score when Gano booted a 51-yard field goal with 9:02 remaining in the third quarter.
–Field Level Media
