Not good enough.
Better, yes. Closer, yes.
But not there just yet.
“If there’s one word to describe it, it’s frustrating,’’ tight end Daniel Bellinger said.
The Giants ventured into a prime-time game Thursday night against the Cowboys, the team that regularly beats them, usually decisively.
This was not that.
The Giants kept their fans in their seats at MetLife Stadium from start to finish, but they could not finish what they started in a 20-15 loss that dropped them to 1-3 on the season.
This was progress, considering the way the Giants usually get rocked by the Cowboys. Not that it felt satisfying in any way, shape or form.
“We don’t feel good about losing,’’ Daniel Jones said.
“Yeah. Again, the result stinks,’’ coach Brian Daboll said. “I thought there was improvement. I think there’s been continual improvement. Last week we got the result we wanted, this week we didn’t, which is hurtful. It’s painful. We played the game the way we needed to play it, we just missed out on a couple of things.’’
There was no way the Giants were going to pull off an upset without scoring a touchdown and that was their undoing.
Dak Prescott tossed first-half touchdown passes to Rico Dowdle and CeeDee Lamb and the Giants were unable to find their way into the Dallas end zone.
They were stopped on the 3-yard line in the third quarter and they had a first down on the Dallas 20-yard line early in the fourth quarter, and the end-result was Greg Joseph’s fifth field goal to trim the deficit to 17-15 with 11:11 to go.
Brandon Aubrey’s second field goal made it 20-15 with 6:54 remaining.
The Giants needed a touchdown.
They came up short — yet again — when on fourth down from their own 45-yard line Jones was flushed out of the pocket and, rolling to his left, fired a pass to the left sideline to Malik Nabers.
The rookie tried to make a diving catch while staying in bounds against cornerback Trevon Diggs but failed to hold onto the ball as he tumbled out of bounds, falling on the football with 3:21 remaining.
Nabers was shaken up on the play and the Giants’ last gasp came and went.
He was diagnosed with a concussion.
The Giants got the ball back with 28 seconds to go and Jones’ desperation pass was intercepted with five seconds to go.
Jones (29 of 40, 281 yards) in another solid outing kept the ball moving and found Nabers 12 times for 115 yards. Wan’Dale Robinson caught 11 passes for 71 yards.
There was not enough dynamic playmaking, though.
Five field goals is not going to win many games.
“It definitely ended up to us to make plays in the passing game and we made a lot,’’ Darius Slayton said. “We made enough to get down there but we didn’t make enough to score and ultimately you got to score to win. We got to find a way to make more when it’s needed.’’
The Cowboys (2-2) came in hearing how poorly they played in back-to-back home losses and there was all sorts of tension and consternation around a team that is supposed to be among the NFC’s best.
There was nothing overly impressive about the way the Cowboys handled their business but they did extend their uncanny dominance in this series.
The beat goes on for the Giants.
They are now sad owners of a seven-game losing streak to Dallas and have dropped 14 of their last 15 games in this one-sided series.
This was the 10th time in the past 12 years these teams met in prime time and the Giants are now 1-9 in those marquee games.
Jones is now 1-13 as a starting quarterback in prime-time games.
On the flip side, Prescott has now beaten the Giants 13 consecutive times. Prescott completed 22 of 27 passes for 221 yards.
Last season, the Giants were routed twice by the Cowboys by a combined score of 89-17 — the most lopsided series sweep in Dallas franchise history.
From the start in this game, the Giants showed that they were not going to get pushed around and routed the way they were in 2023.
But they were unable to do anything on the ground — 26 rushing yards — against the league’s worst-rated run defense.
The Giants trailed 14-9 at halftime and it was more of the same to start the second half.
The Giants held the ball for 6:18 and Jones got the ball to Slayton and rookies Tyrone Tracy and Nabers to advance to the Dallas 10-yard line.
A third-down pass to Robinson came up short on a leg-tackle by DeMarvion Overshown.
Daboll had a decision to make on fourth down on the 3-yard line but he opted for another Joseph field goal to pull within 14-12.
Aubrey, the hottest kicker in the NFL, countered with a 60-yard field goal to extend the Dallas lead to 17-12. The Giants never got in the end zone to threaten the Cowboys.
“Disappointed, not discouraged,’’ edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux said.
“They didn’t beat us. I felt we beat ourselves,’’ right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said. “That’s a cliche thing to say in the NFL, but I think that’s a true thing in this game.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]