Drew Lock's 2 turnovers doom Giants in Thanksgiving loss to Cowboys as losing streak continues

ARLINGTON, Texas — For the first time in seven games, the Giants took a lead.

Drew Lock, the third quarterback to start for the Giants in as many games, led a 13-play, 70-yard touchdown drive on his team’s opening possession Thursday against the Dallas Cowboys.

Rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers, who four days earlier bemoaned his lack of first-half involvement, received three targets and a carry on that drive.

And rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., who did not start Thursday after losing fumbles in back-to-back games, finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, putting the Giants up, 7-3, at the 3:06 mark of the first quarter.

But from that point on, it was more of the same for the spiraling Giants.

Lock’s two turnovers — including a pick-six on the Giants’ second possession — helped feed the Cooper Rush-led Cowboys’ 27-20 victory on Thanksgiving at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

It was the seventh consecutive loss for the Giants, who fell to 2-10. They have now lost eight games in a row to the Cowboys, with the last six coming under head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen.

Lock completed 21-of-32 passes for 178 yards and an interception in his first start of the year, failing to solve the Giants’ season-long quarterback problems. He rushed for 57 yards and a touchdown and also lost a fumble.

Both of his turnovers led to touchdowns for the Cowboys, who improved to 5-7 and won their first home game of the year. The Giants (0-6) remain the only NFL team without a home victory.

But Lock was far from the only Giant who deserved blame Thursday.

An offensive line down to backup tackles Chris Hubbard and Evan Neal struggled to protect the sixth-year quarterback, surrendering six sacks, including 1.5 to ferocious pass rusher Micah Parsons.

The Giants’ defense did not record a sack.

Once again, the Giants failed to finish tackles, with Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle rushing for 112 yards on 22 carries.

Rush, in his fourth start since Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring injury, completed 21-of-36 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown. He won the battle of the backups, leading a Dallas offense that totaled 317 yards, compared to the Giants’ 247.

Lock signed a one-year, $5 million contract in the offseason to be Daniel Jones’ backup, but the Giants gave Tommy DeVito the first crack at the starting job after releasing Jones last week.

The Giants struggled under DeVito during Sunday’s 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during which DeVito repeatedly took big hits. DeVito showed up on the injury report Tuesday with a right forearm issue and served Thursday as the emergency quarterback.

Lock provided an early jolt against the Cowboys. After Dallas began the game with a 24-yard field goal — on a drive Kayvon Thibodeaux extended with a third-down offsides penalty — Lock converted a 3rd and 6 with a 29-yard scramble that took the ball to the 1-yard line.

Tracy’s ensuing touchdown was the Giants’ first on an opening possession since Week 2 and gave them their first lead since their Week 5 victory in Seattle.

Dallas responded with another field goal on the next drive, cutting the Giants’ lead to 7-6.

And that’s where the game unraveled.

On the first play of the Giants’ second possession, Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown exploded into the backfield, collided with running back Devin Singletary to throw him off his route, then tipped and intercepted Lock’s pass to Singletary and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown.

The Cowboys took a 13-7 lead and never trailed again. Dallas led, 13-10, at halftime, with three drops by star receiver CeeDee Lamb helping to keep the score close.

Dallas pulled away in the second half, starting with an Eric Kendricks sack on the Giants’ opening possession that forced Lock to lose a fumble.

The Cowboys cashed in with a six-play, 38-yard touchdown drive, which ended with Rush’s 2-yard scoring throw to Brandin Cooks that made the score 20-10. Dowdle added a 4-yard touchdown run on the Cowboys’ next possession to extend the lead to 27-10.

The Giants stalled offensively after their early touchdown, totaling only 35 yards on their next eight drives. Lock scored on an 8-yard scramble with 2:18 in the fourth quarter to cut the Giants’ deficit to 27-20 but did not get the ball back.

The loss came four days after multiple Giants players described the team’s performance as “soft” against the Buccaneers. Among them was Nabers, who expressed frustration over not receiving a target in the first half of that game.

Lock threw to Nabers early and often Thursday. The receiver finished with eight receptions on a game-high 13 targets for 69 yards but also dropped a pair of passes. That modest production came with the Cowboys’ top cornerback, Trevon Diggs, out with groin and knee injuries.

Adding injury to insult Thursday were the losses of star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who was ruled out in the second half with an elbow issue, and fellow lineman Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, who did not return after suffering a stinger.

Thursday’s defeat was less competitive than the Week 4 loss to the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium, where the Giants fell, 20-15, in a game started by Jones and Prescott.

The Giants are now 1-15 in their last 16 games against Dallas.