EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Over the last four days it was hard to imagine the defense getting beat up.

They have literally taken their lumps in the last two games. Figuratively speaking, they have been crucified by the fans and the media.

But Thursday night against the Giants, they suffered even more bumps and bruises as they watched their best players limping off the field in the medical tent and in the locker room, limping between games. But in true bend-but-don’t-break fashion, Dallas’ defense showed more grit, more fight and more heart Thursday night than we’ve seen all year.

The offense sputtered and failed to break away from the Giants, who were booming and dunking just enough to keep the game close. To me, it felt like the Cowboys defense was a wet paper bag that was soaked at the bottom, and would eventually break down – like a Giants touchdown to finally take the lead.

But it never happened because the Cowboys wouldn’t allow it. And the reason they didn’t allow it was because of the run defense.

This 32^i.e-ranked run defense took up the challenge. The Giants ran the ball 24 times… and gained 26 yards. That’s an average of 1.1 meters when you score at home – and it should be, because everyone at home has been complaining. This run defense has been rightly crucified over the past two weeks, and I knew we would really find out what they were made of in this game.

Giving up yards to Alvin Kamara and Derrick Henry is one thing, but if it happened to Devin Singletary, Daniel Jones and the Giants, we knew there would be major problems with this run defense all year.

And who knows, maybe it’s not resolved, but for this game the Cowboys wouldn’t allow the Giants anything on the ground. And other than an early big pass to Malik Nabers, the defense basically didn’t allow a deep ball over their heads.

So if you’re not giving up big plays in the passing game, and barely giving up a yard per run on the ground, it’s hard for any offense to keep the rhythm. Better yet, it’s nearly impossible to score a touchdown, and the Giants never did.

Keep teams from scoring touchdowns and you usually win. The Cowboys did both Thursday night.

But I just couldn’t get over how physical this game was for the Cowboys, who had never played a Thursday night road game on just four days of rest in franchise history. I couldn’t believe that statistic was true, but it’s amazing that they’ve never had such a short week. After a physical loss to the Ravens, and then to play that game like that with the Giants, you knew it was going to be a grind.

But it was even worse than I expected. Micah Parsons, your best player on defense, was in the medical tent twice during the game. Those might be the first two times in his career that I can remember, with the second being the most concerning as he is awaiting an MRI on Friday due to his ankle injury.

DeMarcus Lawrence suffered a foot injury and had to leave for the locker room. Trevon Diggs left the game in the fourth quarter with dehydration. DeMarvion Overshown and Marist Liufau both had to leave the game, but returned to action. Not to mention the fact that the Cowboys were already backed by cornerbacks DaRon Bland and Caelen Carson, and safety Markquese Bell was also out for the week.

Yeah, I get it, the Giants aren’t exactly going to put on clinics in offensive wizardry, but with all the injuries the Cowboys suffered, before and during the game, it was a great performance from this defense, one that had been a quite a few photos taken.

And on Thursday evening they took a few more licks. But not enough to break them.