ARLINGTON, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys remembered what it felt like to win again at AT&T Stadium with their 27-20 victory on Thanksgiving Day against the New York Giants.

You can forgive some of them for forgetting, as 334 days had passed since their most recent home win against the Detroit Lions on December 30, 2023.

“It was definitely too late,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “It was important to win on many fronts, but it was really important to get a home win.”

Before January’s loss to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round, the Cowboys had won 16 straight home games, the second-longest streak in franchise history. Before Thursday, the Cowboys had lost six straight games at AT&T Stadium and set an NFL record by trailing by at least 20 points in all six games.

With Thursday’s win, the Cowboys avoided the third 0-6 home start, happily skipping the 1960 team that went 0-11-1 in the franchise’s first year and the 1989 Cowboys who went 1-15 in Jerry Jones’ first season. years as owner and general manager.

“I hate so much that our fans are suffering this losing streak when we are so proud of our home winning streak,” Jones said. “So it’s good to get this win here at home.”

In the span of five days, the Cowboys have won two NFC East games after defeating the Washington Commanders 34-26 at Northwest Stadium on Sunday. It is the Cowboys’ second two-game winning streak of the season. They defeated the Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers in Weeks 4 and 5, improving to 3-2 before losing their next five games.

At 5-7, the Cowboys are currently out of the playoff chase, but their next two games come against the 4-7 Cincinnati Bengals on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” on December 9 and the 3-8 Carolina Panthers on 9 December. 15.

“We feel very different today than we did Saturday night when we came into Washington. That’s fair and accurate. It’s a good feeling,” McCarthy said. “This is where we deserve to be. We had to fight to get here. We are still in the valley of adversity. We have taken two steps forward, but we still have a long way to go. recognize that.”

To beat the Giants for the eighth straight time, the Cowboys ran the ball. Rico Dowdle became the first 100-yard rusher for the Cowboys since Tony Pollard in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals last season. The 26-game drought without a 100-yard rusher was the longest stretch in team history.

Defensively, the Cowboys shut down a limited New York offense that started its third quarterback of the season, Drew Lock. The Cowboys had a season-high six sacks, and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown changed the complexion of the game with an acrobatic pick-six off a Lock pass in the second quarter that gave the Cowboys a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“I knew there was a play coming and I was told all week that there was a play coming,” Overshown said. “I didn’t know when it was going to come, but it was going to come. I was just playing football. (Saw) the ball, tapped it and I was praying the whole time that it would stay put. I thought, ‘Man’ Let my speed be fast enough to get to this ball for once.'”

The defense has slowly improved this season. Micah Parsons had 1.5 sacks on Thursday and has 6.5 on the season despite missing four games with a high ankle sprain. With Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins next week, he knows the Bengals will be a different challenge.

“Right now my focus is on the Bengals, understanding how they’re going to attack us, who they have. They’ve got some guys,” Parsons said. “Hopefully we get D-Law (DeMarcus Lawrence) and maybe Trevon (Diggs) hopefully so we’re fully loaded, and I know they’ll be fully loaded. I’m looking forward to that.”

Lawrence has not played since September 26 due to a midfoot sprain. Diggs has missed the past two games due to groin and knee problems. On Thursday, the Cowboys lost safety Juanyeh Thomas and cornerback Josh Butler to knee injuries.

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb did not return after aggravating a right shoulder injury in the third quarter. He dropped three passes in the game after dropping just four in the first eleven games of the season.

Lamb suffered a sprained AC joint in the Nov. 3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons but has not missed a game despite saying Tuesday that this is the most physical beating he has experienced in his career.

With eleven days left until the game in Cincinnati, the Cowboys hope Lamb will be fine.

“The rest is perhaps the most important part of the schedule,” McCarthy said. “If you look at what we’ve been dealing with, rest and recovery will really help us. The schedule is set up so that our players have a bye week. They have some responsibility on Monday. We’ll do a later week.” I want them to get away, recharge their batteries and be ready to go.

“We will have to play our best football clearly in front of us.”