The Dallas Cowboys got back in the win column last night with a gritty victory over the New York Giants 20-15. They certainly won’t win any style points, but a win is a win.

Touchdowns in the first half from Rico Dowdle and CeeDee Lamb really made the difference. I’m not sure about you, but I hate Thursday night football games.

Not just when the Cowboys play, every week. These games are so sloppy, normally one-sided and cause injuries to players who are not needed due to a short week.

55-YARD TD FOR CEEDEE LAM 🙌

(via @dallascowboys)pic.twitter.com/8ZXlBzbSIR

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 27, 2024

Injury to Micah Parsons

As the game came to a close, the defense was on the field trying to hold Daniel Jones and the Giants offense to zero points.

The Cowboys’ best defender, Micah Parsons, had to be carted off the field in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury. After the game, reporters asked Parsons about the condition of his injury in the locker room.

“Right now I’m just frozen, you know, I know very little. I have an MRI tomorrow and I’m going to try to come back next week,” said Parsons.

Micah Parsons said X-rays of his left foot/ankle came back negative and he will have an MRI on Friday. He said he felt good after the match but limped afterwards.

— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) September 27, 2024

The good news for the Cowboys and Parsons: X-rays were taken Thursday night, and they came back negative.

The good news for Dallas is that they now have a mini-bye and get ten days off before playing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football next week.

I’m not sure ten days is enough for Micah to recover. We’ll see how the MRI goes this morning, but I wouldn’t even consider playing him unless he’s close to 100%. You know he wants to play, but why risk it?

DeMarcus Lawrence

I was watching this as the match went on, and DeMarcus Lawrence was nursing the same foot he hurt during the pat down.

In the second half, Dlaw tried to take Jones down for a sack, but when he couldn’t, he looked like he was being rolled up. He was limping slightly as he came to the sideline.

Lawrence already has the team’s only sack of the game, his third in four games after two in the season opener against Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns.

People don’t understand how big of a role Lawrence plays. The Cowboys can’t afford to lose both of their best pass rushers at the same time. This won’t work out well for this defense that has already struggled this season.

Next man up

With both Parsons and Dlaw in some pain and unsure if they can continue next week even with the mini-bye, the Cowboys depth chart needs a new man-up mentality.

Carl Lawson was elevated for this game, and he took a terrible offside penalty that took away a Trevon Diggs interception, but he recovered and got some solid pressure in the right late in the fourth when Parsons was hurt.

My guess is Lawson would be the guy, plus someone else who would get a lot of time: Parsons is off next week, while rookie Marshawn Kneeland will be the guy called to start next week if Lawrence can’t go. He did have a sack in this game.

BAG.

DOWN WILL DIMENS.

Marshawn Kneeland, cook.

— Patrik (no C) Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) September 27, 2024

This team needed this win no matter what it looked like, but man, it came at a price. This team is already thin enough all around and the last thing they need is two key defensemen missing extended periods of time.

It seems like all is well and things are going well at this point, but I wouldn’t force Micah to play against the Steelers even with three extra days off.

This football team has so much to work on, but 2-2 is a lot better than 1-3, I can tell you that.