Giant
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Giants beat the Cowboys 23-19 in an elimination game that was not without controversy.
The Giants (6-10) stay alive in the NFC East race. They need the Eagles to defeat Washington in Sunday Night Football to win the division.
The winner of the division hosts the Buccaneers next week.
It was a fast and furious final seven minutes in a game the Giants never trailed.
The Giants faced a third-and-16 at the Dallas 42 with 7:07 remaining when Daniel Jones completed a 10-yard pass to Dante Pettis. The ball, though, hit the ground without Pettis’ hands underneath.
Replay likely would have overturned the call on the field of a completion, but Mike McCarthy didn’t challenge it. Graham Gano kicked a 50-yard field goal with 6:27 left to give the Giants their final margin of victory.
The Cowboys got as close as the Giants 7-yard line on their final possession. But on first-and-goal, Leonard Williams sacked Andy Dalton for a 10-yard loss. Two plays later, with Williams pressuring Dalton again, Dalton threw the ball up for grabs in the end zone.
Xavier McKinney intercepted it with 1:15 left.
Still, the Cowboys had three timeouts. Wayne Gallman went 5 yards on first down, and then 8 yards on second down, which should have ended it. But Gallman inexplicably dropped the ball on the 8-yard carry.
He did manage to get on the ball, though the Cowboys came out of the pile with it.
Replay let Gallman’s fumble recovery stand, and the Giants ran out the clock.
Dalton had his left hand inadvertently stepped on by Williams in the second half. He put a glove on the hand, but it obviously bothered him, and a close-up of the hand showed blood coming out of the glove. He finished with seven carries for 48 yards and completed 29 of 47 passes for 243 yards and the pick.
Jones went 17-of-25 for 229 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Sterling Shepard caught eight passes for 112 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a touchdown.
Williams could win NFC defensive player of the week honors with seven tackles, three sacks and five quarterback hits. The Giants had three other sacks of Dalton.