Giants takeaways from 44-20 loss to Cowboys, including injuries to Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley

The Giants lost a game to the Dallas Cowboys and a chance to stay in the early race in the NFC East. But the bad news for them is they lost a lot more than that.

In an unbelievably dark twist of fate, the Giants lost their three best offensive players in the first half of their 44-20 loss in Dallas on Sunday afternoon -- two of them with frightening injuries. Quarterback Daniel Jones left with what was a concussion off a scary helmet-to-helmet hit, and Saquon Barkley left with an ugly looking ankle injury. And while it wasn’t clear when receiver Kenny Golladay got hurt, he didn’t come out of the locker room after halftime because of an injured knee.

That left the Giants to go with Mike Glennon at quarterback and Devontae Booker at running back in the second half, and a patchwork receiving corps that was already without Sterling Shepard (hamstring) and Darius Slayton (hamstring).

And they might have to go without several of those players for a lot longer than that.

Barkley and Jones, of course, are the Giants’ two most indispensable players, and both really looked like they were finding their form in the Giants’ win last week in New Orleans. Barkley finally looked healthy and explosive for the first time since tearing his ACL a year ago. And Jones was looking like a franchise quarterback and had just thrown for a career-high 402 yards.

Barkley’s injury came with 34 seconds left in the first quarter. Jones sailed a pass over Barkley’s head for what seemed to be a harmless incompletion. But as Barkley slowed down, his left foot stepped on the foot of Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis. That caused his left ankle to bend in a way ankles just shouldn’t bend. And by the time he got to the sidelines, it had swelled up like a balloon.

The Jones injury came late in the second quarter. The Giants had a first and goal from the Cowboys two-yard line, but couldn’t get in on two runs by Booker. So on third down, Jones kept the ball and sprinted to the left sidelines. As he turned upfield to try for the end zone, he lowered his head and smacked it right into the helmet of Cowboys linebacker Jabril Cox. Jones got up, but wobbled so much an official had to help him until a Giants trainer came out to the field. He was eventually carted off to the locker room.

The Giants actually scored a touchdown one play after Jones left, and somehow managed 10 more points. Glennon was pretty good, given the circumstances, completing 16-of-25 passes for 196 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. His numbers might have looked even better if he had completed an early deep shot to receiver C.J. Board.

Of course, his day ended in seemingly appropriate fashion – with a pick-six from Anthony Brown with 1:28 to go. That literally was adding the insult to the injuries.

So basically, the badly depleted offense fought hard – especially rookie receiver Kadarius Toney (more on him in a minute) – but they clearly didn’t have nearly enough weapons to keep pace with the Cowboys. That is likely going to be the story for the Giants at least for the next few games.

Because now they are 1-4, three games back in the NFC East, and they’re not sure when they’ll get their starting quarterback, starting running back, top two receivers and starting left tackle back in the lineup. And oh, by the way, the 4-1 Los Angeles Rams come to town next Sunday.

In other words, there’s a pretty good chance things are about to get worse.

Here are some more takeaways from a truly depressing Sunday in Dallas for the Giants...

• Thank goodness for Toney, who became the Giants’ entire offense once Barkley went out – and became even more important after Golladay went out, too. He had a spectacular day, catching 10 passes for 189 yards with one dazzling play after another. His first big play came in the first quarter when Jones, under pressure, heaved the ball down the left sidelines. Toney, with a defender all over him, not only found the ball, but caught it as he tripped over the defender on the sidelines. Later, he took a short pass at the 20, avoided three defenders, and very nearly turned it into a touchdown. The kid is showing he can make plays with the ball in his hands.

• Because everything the Giants did turned bad on Sunday. … Toney’s day ended with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter after he was shoved to the ground by Cowboys S Damontae Kazee and he got up and punched him in the head. That’s an automatic ejection and will likely draw a hefty fine from the NFL – if not a suspension. Granted, the game was over and the Giants were frustrated, but that’s a stupid and costly thing to do – especially for someone who had basically become the Giants’ entire offense. Joe Judge, not surprisingly, seemed absolutely furious.

• Jones (5-of-13, 98 yards) was having a rough game before he got hurt. He actually completed just one of his first nine passes. He looked off and even a bit rattled by pressure coming through his leaky offensive line.

• Booker did basically nothing after Barkley went out, finishing with just 42 yards on 16 carries. That could be a big problem because Barkley’s injury looked like it might cost him a few weeks at least. And if the Giants can’t develop a running game in his absence, this offense is going to very quickly look a lot like it looked last year. And in case you don’t remember, that wasn’t good.

• More from the bright side: Almost exactly one year after tearing his Achilles in Dallas, Giants linebacker Lorenzo Carter got the game started right when the Cowboys went for it on fourth and two from the Giants 44 on the game-opening drive. Carter leaped up to bat Dak Prescott’s pass and caught it for the interception. It was a good thing, too, because Ezekiel Elliott was wide open behind him for an easy first down.

• Though LT Andrew Thomas (questionable, foot) was active, he was only active in case of an emergency. Nate Solder started in his place and Matt Peart took over for Solder at right tackle. It was the fifth starting offensive line combination for the Giants in five games. And it wasn’t good. Jones was under a lot of pressure early, particularly from the left side. It wasn’t all Solder, though. Left guard Matt Skura had to be replaced in the first half with Wes Martin, who was just signed by the Giants last week.

• The Giants’ secondary is a shell of what it was last year. James Bradberry has gone from a Pro-Bowler to an average corner who couldn’t keep up with Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb on his 49-yard touchdown in the first half. Later, rookie corner Rodarius Williams somehow ended up on Amari Cooper on his 24-yard touchdown. He stumbled, allowing Cooper to sneak open for the catch. Safety Logan Ryan bit on a fake pitch on Prescott’s short touchdown pass to Elliott. In all, Prescott just picked them apart, completing 22-of-32 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns. It helped that for the second straight week the Giants couldn’t mount any pass rush at all. The Cowboys finished with 515 total yards of offense – the second-most they’ve ever had against the Giants.