ARLINGTON, Tex. — After the Giants stumbled to start the season, it was something of a surprise when they rallied to roar through a three-game winning streak.
But what loomed next figured to be a better test of the team’s ostensible progress.
Consecutive road games against the best teams in the Giants’ division would be the expeditions that would verifiably measure how far the Giants had distanced themselves from last year’s disastrous season.
At Philadelphia last week and against the high-flying Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, the Giants discovered that their one step forward could indeed be followed by two steps backward.
Embarrassed by a spiritless shutout last week against the Eagles, the Giants conspicuously showed a renewed sense of vitality and proficiency at Dallas. A taut and unforgivingly physical game between two old rivals ensued with the Giants holding their own late into the afternoon.
Clearly, the Giants played better, just not well enough, and turnovers, last year’s greatest failing, helped undo their best efforts again. A significant deciding factor was also the Cowboys’ superior overall team speed and high-powered offensive talent, which eventually overwhelmed the injury-depleted Giants defense with 17 second-half points.
Giants at Cowboys Close-Up
In the end, Dallas, which opened its season with a defeat, increased its winning streak to six games with a 31-21 victory. The Giants will head restlessly into their bye week with a 3-4 record.
The time off could be spent looking ahead to the next test. The Giants’ next game is at home against Indianapolis, which has won its last five games.
“We certainly have to get some wins; we have to get going in that area,” Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said. “We’ve lost a couple of important games in a row, but we have nine games left. We are going to have to figure out some things.
“It’s obvious you’ve got to be able to hold on to the football.”
While Dallas had a slight statistical edge and benefited from some stellar performances — quarterback Tony Romo did not throw an incompletion in the second half — the most pivotal play was very likely a fumble by Giants tight end Larry Donnell early in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys backup tight end Gavin Escobar had given the Cowboys a 21-14 lead when he caught a 26-yard touchdown from Romo, who finished with 279 passing yards while completing 17 of 23 passes.
With the Giants attempting to tie the game, Donnell, a star during the Giants’ winning streak despite his N.F.L. inexperience, caught a third-down pass over the middle and successfully fought for the extra yardage he needed to pick up a first down. But as Donnell was being brought to the ground, Dallas safety Barry Church stripped the ball from his grasp. Dallas recovered the fumble at the Giants’ 27-yard line.
“I was careless with the football,” Donnell said. “It’s not acceptable.”
A Giants defense that lost two starting players to injury during Sunday’s game — defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins and middle linebacker Jon Beason — and was already missing starting cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie trotted onto the field at AT&T Stadium. But the Giants defenders were worn out and worn thin.
Three plays later, Romo threw along the left sideline to wide receiver Dez Bryant to leave the Cowboys at the Giants’ 1-yard line. Running back DeMarco Murray bulled in for the touchdown, and Dallas led, 28-14.
The Giants mounted a minor comeback. On the ensuing possession, Eli Manning, who completed 21 of 33 passes for 248 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, threw two completions each to Donnell and wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Rueben Randle. Finally, on a fourth down at the Cowboys’ 5, Manning threw to Beckham for the touchdown that cut the Dallas lead to one touchdown.
But the fatigued Giants defense again did not seem to have the energy left for a last stand. Dallas methodically moved down the field until it was in position to kick a 49-yard field goal that sealed the victory.
“There are too many of the same things happening — we’re beating ourselves with mistakes and penalties,” said Jenkins, who had a large knee-length restrictive boot on his leg for a calf injury that appeared serious.
In addition to the two fumbles, the Giants had six penalties, some of them ill timed. The offensive line had three false-start penalties and a holding penalty. Generally, the offensive line protected Manning well, since he was not sacked, but the blockers opened few holes for the rushing game — the Giants’ running backs averaged just 3.3 yards per carry. The Giants also miss starting running back Rashad Jennings, who is out with a knee strain but could return after the bye week.
But Coughlin saw other problems regardless of who was carrying the football.
“We’ve got to block people; it’s that simple,” he said. “We’re having bad breakdowns that are costing us.”
The first half was a back-and-forth affair that ended tied, but it established some themes that persisted.
The Giants struggled to run the football when they needed it most, which frequently left them in third-down-and-long situations (and led to the Giants’ weak 38 percent third-down conversion rate). The Cowboys’ Murray, the N.F.L.’s rushing leader, did not run wild through the defense, gaining 128 yards on 28 attempts, but he was more than effective enough to make Romo’s job easier on third down (leading to Dallas’s 64 percent third-down conversion rate).
“This is the best we’ve ever been on third down, and that’s changed everything,” Romo said.
In the Giants’ locker room after the game, there was a mix of optimism and disappointment.
“I think our mind-set is still good,” said Jason Pierre-Paul, who with six tackles and two sacks continues to prove he has recovered from two injury-filled seasons. “We played hard and did a lot right, but I think we’ll gather ourselves during the bye week coming up and come back and get on a roll.”
Manning, who has played six more years than Pierre-Paul and been more seasoned by the ups and downs of a typical N.F.L. season, presented a more cautionary tone.
“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” Manning said. “We’ve got to find a way to get better and play better than we are right now.”
EXTRA POINTS
Jon Beason left the game with the recurring toe injury that has plagued him since the spring and caused him to miss several games. Beason’s status in coming games is in question. Tom Coughlin said: “We thought he had done well this week. I really wanted to put that whole thing behind him, but it cropped up again tonight.” Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who has had a leg injury, did not start the game, though he played often during the Giants’ nickel defense packages. But Rodgers-Cromartie said he was healthy enough to have started. The Giants instead started cornerback Zack Bowman, who had taken nearly all the practice snaps with the starting defense. ... Yankees infielder Alex Rodriguez was on the edge of the field before the game and was nearly run over by Tony Romo as Romo charged out of the players’ tunnel. Rodriguez shifted out of the way at the last moment.