Cowboys outlast Giants in wild, back-and-forth OT duel as Brandon Aubrey drills four FGs, including 64-yarder

In an absolutely wild, back-and-forth affair at AT&T Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys came from behind in the final moments and pulled off a 40-37 victory over the New York Giants in overtime, capturing the first victory of the Brian Schottenheimer era in dramatic fashion.

Dak Prescott led both game-tying and game-winning field goal drives, as Brandon Aubrey connected from 64 yards out at the regulation buzzer to send the game into an extra period and then again from 46 yards out to win the game with no time left on the clock in OT. 

The sequence of events to get to those field goal drives was absurd. Dallas scored a go-ahead touchdown on a back-shoulder throw to George Pickens with 52 seconds left in the game, and the Giants had no timeouts in their quiver. They needed a touchdown drive to take the lead, and it took them all of 27 seconds to get it as Russell Wilson found Malik Nabers over the top of double coverage for his third touchdown toss of the game. 

Alas, that left Dallas enough time to engineer a field goal drive while trailing by three. Aubrey’s kick looked like it would have been good from 70 yards out, as he calmly drilled it through the uprights. The two teams then traded punts on their respective first drives of overtime, and Dallas had its second drive undermined by an offensive pass interference penalty on Pickens and then a third-down drop by Jalen Tolbert. But the Cowboys managed to get the ball back a third time thanks to Donovan Wilson, who picked off Russell Wilson on what seemed like the umpteenth deep shot he took on the afternoon.

Prescott found Pickens for a big gain to get Dallas just outside field goal range, then scrambled up the middle to set up the game-winning kick. He finished the game having completed 38 of 52 passes for 361 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, repeatedly connecting with CeeDee Lamb (9 catches for 112 yards), Jake Ferguson (9 catches for 78 yards) and Pickens (5 catches for 68 yards) as the Cowboys battled back from deficits both early and late. 

Prescott was mostly matched throughout the game by Wilson, who bounced back from a game that had fans and analysts alike calling for his job and went 30 of 41 for 450 yards, three touchdowns and the aforementioned interception. He connected on several of his trademark moon balls, finding Nabers (9 catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns) and Wan’Dale Robinson (8 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown) for big gains all over the field.

But Wilson made a pair of crucial mistakes in overtime after playing a nearly flawless game in regulation. With the Giants facing second-and-3 on their first possession of the extra period, Wilson tried to double-clutch on a throw but ended up throwing it backwards for a 14-yard loss. On their next possession, Wilson unleashed an arm punt down the field on second down and it dropped easily into the hands of Donovan Wilson. That pick set up Dallas’ game-winning drive. 

See below for more takeaways on this game.

Why the Cowboys won

Prescott’s big day, hard running from Javonte Williams, timely plays from the receivers and Brandon Aubrey’s monster leg. 

Prescott forced a pass into double coverage that resulted in a pick by Dru Phillips, but was otherwise quite good despite being repeatedly under pressure throughout the game. Williams ran for 97 yards on his 18 carries, including a 30-yard touchdown jaunt, and he had six receptions for 33 yards to boot. Lamb, Ferguson and Pickens combined for 23 receptions and over 250 receiving yards. 

And Aubrey connected on all four of his extra points as well as field goals of 51, 44, 64 and 46 yards. Those latter two kicks tied and won the game, and he drilled them easily through the middle of the uprights. 

Why the Giants lost

They made an absolutely unacceptable amount of mistakes throughout the game. 

They took an incredible 14 (FOURTEEN) penalties that were accepted. That had at least six more that were wiped out by either offsetting penalties or being declined. They were called for three penalties on one play. (All three were offset by a taunting call on CeeDee Lamb.) Starting tackle James Hudson III was called for five penalties in the first quarter alone. They turned five trips into the red zone into just one touchdown. They had a fourth-down drop that would have extended one of those drives. 

And Wilson had the two backbreaking mistakes in overtime, the latter of which directly led to Dallas’ game-winning field goal.

Turning point

It’s hard to choose just one turning point here, given just how many times this game went back and forth. We can start with the Giants’ first two drives, where they moved the ball at will but came away with only two field goals, leaving the door open for the Cowboys to come back despite being dominated early on. 

We can go with the turnover on downs in Dallas territory, which followed Prescott’s interception and led to the Giants coming up empty on yet another red-zone drive. We can go with the final drive of regulation, where the Giants easily let the Cowboys move the ball up the field despite being pinned in their own territory with just 25 seconds left. 

Or we can go with Wilson’s two overtime mistakes, which turned advantageous situations for the Giants into a punt and then a pick. All of those would qualify.

Highlight play

I know the Giants lost and the Cowboys won, but I think we have to give this to each of Wilson’s three touchdown passes, which looked suspiciously like each other as he found Nabers and Robinson deep down the field with his trademark moon ball. 

That first grab by Nabers, twisting in the air and coming down with the ball over Trevon Diggs, was pretty spectacular. Robinson was wide open on his touchdown, but Wilson was under heavy pressure and let the ball go just before it hit home. And the second Nabers touchdown was a fantastic throw and catch, and it capped what was, again, a 25-second touchdown drive to take the lead after Dallas had driven for a go-ahead score of its own. Were it not for the Giants’ defense collapsing on the ensuing drive, that would’ve been a game-winner.

What’s next

The Cowboys improved to 1-1 with this win. They’ll take on the 0-2 Bears next week in Chicago before welcoming Micah Parsons and the Packers back to AT&T Stadium the following week.

The Giants are 0-2 and could be facing some tough questions soon. Brian Daboll was livid all day and rightfully so, but he could be the one who comes under fire in the coming weeks. He and his team host the Chiefs and Chargers over the next two weeks, and things could get ugly if they can’t pull off an upset win in one of those two games.