Once more, the New York Giants proved to be the remedy for the Dallas Cowboys' ills.
Dealing with a short week and all the discomfort that comes with back-to-back home losses, quarterback Dak Prescott and Dallas got back to winning with a 20-15 victory over New York on Thursday.
"It was huge, absolutely," Prescott said of the NFC East win. "After losing two, especially at home, coming on the road, first division game. Division wins are always tough and you're out on the road before a long weekend. Puts a better taste in our mouth."
It was Dallas' 14th win in the last 15 matchups of the one-sided rivalry, with Prescott having now prevailed in 13 consecutive starts against New York. That's the second-longest QB win streak against a single opponent since 1950, per ąú˛úÍâÁ÷ÍřResearch.
Prescott was excellent on the evening, completing 22 of 27 passes for 221 yards, touchdowns to Rico Dowdle and CeeDee Lamb, and a 125.5 passer rating.
It was hardly a work of art as victories go, though.
Prescott's 55-yard scoring hookup with Lamb looked as if it would light up the offense, but the score with 9:16 left in the first half was Dallas' last trip into the end zone.
And so it goes that Thursday's win was as much of a relief as anything else, while also an indication of plenty more work ahead.
"At the end of the day, as I said, even after those two losses the past two weeks, it's a process," Prescott said. "So, we're not going to get complacent, we're not going to get overexcited about what we've done tonight. It's about building and it's about figuring out what we can do better in all phases. But it's a lot easier to do that after a win."
It was a message mirrored by head coach Mike McCarthy: The Cowboys needed a win, and they're happy with it, but they must get better.
"I mean winning's always a great thing, especially on the road, road wins are the best, because the games are gonna add another layer to it," McCarthy said, "so I feel great about what we accomplished tonight, but I think for the fourth week in a row we realized that we have a lot of work to do."
That work will be in preparation for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 5. It's likely Dallas will find a fiercer defensive matchup and Prescott knows his offense can't simply rely on Brandon Aubrey field goals, as it did in the second half Thursday.
"It didn't finish the way we wanted to, not to our standard," Prescott said. "Left it in the hands of our defense, which credit to those guys for finishing getting it done, not allowing any touchdowns, but we're an offense that can finish better and score more touchdowns than we did tonight. So, we've got to look at ourselves in the mirror and go get that done."
