As stat lines go, it wasn’t much to look at.
But the Cowboys got to double digits on the scoreboard and they didn’t lose, so it’s reasonable to declare progress for Dak Prescott.
Prescott was solid-if-not-spectacular in their 20-13 win over the Giants, the kind of efficient performance from their quarterback which has to be the baseline if they’re going to be anything other than average.
He finished the night 16-of-25 passing for 160 yards and a touchdown, the eighth time in his last 10 games he’s been held under 200 yards passing. Also, 40 percent of his yards came on one early touchdown pass, making the rest seem a little anticlimactic.
He also added 45 yards on seven carries. It wasn’t quite the performance owner Jerry Jones might have envisioned when he compared him to Jared Goff and Cam Newton last week, but it was certainly better.
It was also — as has been his custom — in conjunction with a solid game from running back Ezekiel Elliott (17 carries for 78 yards).
While calling him a complementary player seems like a slight (and maybe it is), Prescott has shown that he needs multiple things going in his favor, usually a strong line and run game to support him.
Sunday, it was a defense that hounded Eli Manning throughout (six sacks), lowering the bar for what Prescott had to do. Only a few plays were necessary, and he mostly made them.
After leading an eight-point outburst in the opener, when there were plenty of doubts about the kind of offense the Cowboys might be (and those still exist, if to a lesser degree), it was certainly a step in the right direction.
Here are five more things we learned during Sunday Night Football:
1. The Giants used the second overall pick in the draft on running back Saquon Barkley. Then they gave veteran running back Jonathan Stewart a deal with $3.5 million guaranteed to be his backup. Then they spent a pile more on a free agent left tackle (Nate Solder) a second-round pick on a left guard (Will Hernandez) and a smaller pile of money on another guard (Patrick Omameh).
Then on fourth-and-1 from their own 48-yard in the first quarter, the Giants punted.
If you’re going to spend assets on being a physical running team, avoiding the chance to physically run seems odd.
Perhaps coach Pat Shurmur thought it was too early to go for it, on the road and already trailing a score and afraid to give the Cowboys such field position after they had scored a quick-strike touchdown. It was a very by-the-book call, which is the kind football coaches most often make.
But they didn’t spend money like they were scared in the offseason, so being conservative in the game simply didn’t seem consistent with what is obviously an organizational priority.
In the second quarter, they went for a pair of fourth-and-1s from their own territory, which made not going earlier even stranger.
2. Speaking of that offensive line, the Giants have some work to do up front.
While everybody likes to make fun of former-left-tackle-now-on-the-right Ereck Flowers, the entire line struggled to pick up the pressure the Cowboys were bringing. They gained 79 yards in the first half and allowed four sacks before the break, and it’s not as if they were physically whipped.
Putting a new unit together takes time, no matter how much currency you spend on it. The Giants obviously need more, and having center Jon Halapio leave on a cart with an air cast on his right leg creates another layer of problems, as Jon Greco came on to replace him.
3. When Cowboys wide receiver Tavon Austin scored the 64-yard touchdown on the first possession of the game, it was exactly what the Cowboys needed.
It’s also what other people thought he was capable of years ago.
The former eighth overall pick in the 2013 hasn’t been able to live up to his draft status, or the potential suggested by his physical skills.
In fact, the touchdown was his first receiving touchdown since Nov. 27, 2016, and his first score of any kind since Oct. 8, 2017. The Rams gave him a four-year, $42 million contract in 2016, but gave him away for a sixth-round pick this offseason to get out from under that deal.
Whether this was a blip or whether Jason Garrett and Scott Linehan are going to be the ones to unlock his potential remains to be seen. But without competing options in Dallas (and this will remain true if they re-sign Brice Butler) he at least has a chance.
4. The Cowboys have their own offensive line issues.
Without center Travis Frederick (who is receiving treatment for Guillain-Barre syndrome), they’re no longer a dominant group.
It’s not as if they’re below average, but after setting such a high standard in recent years, the drop-off is noticeable, if only in the communication of the group.
5. The excitement in Dallas over tight end Rico Gathers is interesting, but mostly it points to the void that was left when Jason Witten decided to do television instead of play this year. There’s not much else of substance at the position.
Gathers was active for the first time, and the former basketball player might have scored in his debut if Prescott hadn’t missed him in the end zone.
If he had reeled it in, it would have created a real buzz there. Either that or underscored how much they took Witten’s production and reliability for granted.