Big Blue Breakdown: NY Giants have score to settle vs. Cowboys

It may take a calculator to add up all of the elements that went awry for the New York Giants this season. There's also no question where to begin: with the improbable 40-37 overtime loss at Dallas in Week 2.

Despite a competitive effort that kept them within striking distance late into the opener at Washington, the first evidence of the Giants' hexed season--one that has featured six games lost within the final five minutes and/or overtime--came courtesy of kicker Brandon Aubrey's leg.

He hit a 64-yard field goal on the last snap of the regulation, and then a 46-yarder as overtime expired, capping a combined 47-point barrage over the final 25 minutes of play.

There were six lead changes in the fourth quarter, which began with the Cowboys up, 17-16. The see-saw appeared to have stopped with 52 seconds left when George Pickens snared a 6-yard touchdown pass to put Dallas ahead, 34-30.

But it took Russell Wilson, who threw for a career-high 450 yards, just three snaps to hit Malik Nabers for a 48-yard TD and a 37-34 edge with 25 seconds remaining.

Kayvon Thibodeaux's first-down strip-sack of Dak Prescott for no gain had Dallas at their own 33 with 14 seconds to play.

However, the Giants failed to clamp down on an 18-yard strike over the middle to Jake Ferguson, and Javonte Williams plunged ahead for three to the Giants' 46 to set up Aubrey's tying field goal. Then, he drilled the winner that capped off the first of what would become a string of gut-punch defeats that typified the season.

The Giants, however, never wavered in their efforts, and interim head coach Mike Kafka has his team in position to end the year with consecutive victories, set up by last week's win in Las Vegas.

"I think guys, they’re in the right frame of mind. They have been all season," Kafka said. "They're preparing themselves to win, they're preparing themselves to get their minds right and go out there and execute with their teammates. ...

"It's a division game, it's at home. That's important to all of us, so I think it's important that we put in the work and be detailed throughout this week to prepare ourselves to go play the game."

Where are the key matchups for the Giants against the Cowboys? We sort through that and discuss the most critical aspects of what the Giants must do to pull off a win in the latest edition of the Big Blue Breakdown podcast, available in the video above.

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