Every week, we'll grade the Cowboys on the three phases of the weekend's game.
Offense: C+
There were a lot of positives from the Cowboys offense with Matt Cassel at quarterback and La'el Collins as a starting guard, but there were also a ton of negatives. Darren McFadden had a monster game on the ground, rushing for more than 150 yards and a score, and Cassel made a few throws you'd never see Brandon Weeden attempt, much less complete, including a beautiful scoring strike to Devin Street to tie the game briefly in the fourth quarter. But three Cassel interceptions were a huge downer as the Cowboys lost despite outgaining the Giants by nearly 200 yards.
Defense: B
The Cowboys held the Giants to under 300 total yards, which is a pretty good recipe for victory in the NFL (as long as your offense doesn't give the ball away). However, they failed yet again to create any turnovers and had just two sacks against Eli Manning after getting to Tom Brady five times in a half in their last game.
Special teams: F
After seizing the momentum and tying the game with about seven minutes to play on a brilliant throw and catch from Cassel and Street, the kickoff coverage unit went out and let it all slip away on the ensuing kick, allowing Dwayne Harris to go untouched for a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown to give the Giants the lead back for good. Then, after it appeared they were dead, the defense held the Giants to a three-and-out and set up a scenario for the offense to have the ball with about 90 seconds left and no timeouts, but Cole Beasley muffed the Giants punt, and the game was over.
