ARLINGTON, Texas — It is one thing to lose.
It is another thing to lose, and get battered and beaten and ultimately embarrassed in the process.
The Giants had it all done to them Sunday and they are left to pick up the pieces.
“It is crazy, looking at it,’’ receiver Kenny Golladay said.
It is more than crazy.
The Giants looked on in horror as running back Saquon Barkley, quarterback Daniel Jones and Golladay went down, and out, in a debilitating first half inside AT&T Stadium. At full strength, the Giants were probably overmatched against the Cowboys. With their offense in tatters, they got left behind in a 44-20 loss that once again puts their season on the brink of irrelevance.
This is an incredibly harmful turn of events for the Giants, who fell to 1-4 and now have significant concern for their top players on offense. There was a breakout performance from rookie receiver Kadarius Toney, but also a late ejection when Toney threw a punch at Cowboys safety Damontae Kazee.
“I think all we have to do is keep fighting,’’ Mike Glennon said afterward.
That Glennon was commenting on this debacle is evidence that this was no ordinary day on the job for the Giants. They lost Barkley midway through the first quarter with an ankle injury and lost Jones late in the second quarter to a concussion when he came up woozy after getting stopped for no gain on the Dallas 1-yard line. The Giants played the entire second half without Golladay, who sustained a knee injury.
Barkley, who left the locker room on crutches, did not break his ankle — it looks more like a severe low ankle sprain. Still, this is a tough blow for a player who was just starting to regain his form after reconstructive knee surgery.
“It sucks to see him go down,’’ Devontae Booker, Barkley’s replacement, said.
Given that Jones looked out on his feet and needed assistance to get up and lift himself onto the cart to carry him off the field, there are no guarantees the 24-year-old will be available to play in Week 6. He will be in concussion protocol until he is given medical clearance to return.
Coach Joe Judge said he spoke with Jones after the game but offered no details on how that conversation went.
“I’m going to be very careful here selecting my words,’’ Judge said. “I talked to the player. I’ll leave it at that.’’
Is it really only one week ago that Giants halted the negativity swirling about them by breaking through with a victory in New Orleans? Ah, the good old days.
Moments after Jones was forced out, Booker took a handoff from Glennon and leaped into the end zone, pulling the Giants even at 10-10. Somehow. They could not keep pace, though.
Glennon actually said the players on the field with him reminded him of the preseason cast of characters he worked with.
Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes for the Cowboys (4-1) and Ezekiel Elliott ran for 110 yards. The final points for the Cowboys came on a 45-yard return of a Glennon interception by cornerback Anthony Brown.
Troy Aikman, the Fox analyst and former Cowboys quarterback, angered the Giants by saying last week the Giants “are not in Dallas’ class.’’ The truth hurts.
This was the fifth consecutive loss for the Giants in Jerry Jones’ spectacular football palace and it put on display the differences between these two NFC East rivals. The Cowboys are indeed the class of the division. The Giants? They are alone in last place in a division that is not exactly teeming with quality teams.
Barkley went down and out after he leaped for a sailing pass, collided with Golladay and landed awkwardly on the foot of cornerback Jourdan Lewis, causing Barkley’s left ankle to buckle. It swelled up immediately and he was ruled out quickly.
Late in the second quarter Jones, from the Dallas 1-yard line, tried to beat linebacker Jabril Cox and defensive end Chauncy Golston to the front left corner of the end zone. Jones got caught, though, and endured a helmet-to-helmet hit from Cox. Jones went down and nearly fell over as he tried to get back to his feet.
“Any time you see a player stumble like that, it’s a little scary,’’ Golladay said.
The Cowboys got a touchdown catch by Amari Cooper to pull ahead 17-10 at halftime. They put the game to bed with a 98-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown run by Elliott with 7:34 remaining, putting the Giants in a 34-13 hole midway through the fourth quarter.
Not long after that, Toney finished off a brilliant 10-catch, 189-yard eruption by hauling in a 13-yard pass, losing his cool, taking a swing and getting tossed.
“You guys want to get chippy and get stupid calls against you, go ahead,’’ Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch said.
With that, the Cowboys added insult to injury in what they did to the Giants.