Can Giants carry refusal to panic into matchup with Cowboys?

CLEVELAND — Two plays into Sunday’s game in Cleveland and the New York Giants were already being tested. They had fumbled the opening kickoff and allowed a touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage. That is when their latest mantra came into play.

“F-it,” safety Jason Pinnock said.

This is the mindset several Giants defensive players said they took into their 21-15 win over the Cleveland Browns. Go out there, have fun and don’t let anything get you flustered — including being down a touchdown just 11 seconds into the contest.

It’s the same attitude that New York (1-2) plans to take into Thursday night’s matchup with the division-rival Dallas Cowboys. Go out, play loosely and freely and don’t panic when something goes awry.

Pinnock said the approach originated with the players, and coach Brian Daboll piggybacked on the message. It spread throughout the Giants locker room and facility to the entire team.

“I think that started last week as a defense, but as a team it was more this week we responded well to all the adversity that was going on throughout the game,” defensive captain Dexter Lawrence II said. “It’s going to be that each game and I think it’s the good teams that respond well to adversity, and that’s what we did.”

Daboll used the word “resiliency” when addressing his team after the game. It plays into what he likes to refer to as “competitive stamina” — something he believes is necessary to get through the peaks and valleys of a long NFL game. That proved to be true Sunday in a game that featured seemingly endless ups and downs.

The adversity was building for the Giants entering their matchup with the Browns. They were blown out at home in Week 1 by the Minnesota Vikings and let their Week 2 game against the Washington Commanders slip away. They needed a win in the worst way possible before facing a Cowboys team that has owned them in recent years. The Giants have lost 13 of their past 14 matchups with the Cowboys.

It’s easy in that situation to allow self-doubt to creep in. The Giants’ defense wanted to make sure that didn’t happen on Sunday. There’s still so much season left.

“That was a big emphasis throughout the week: Losers have a [losing] mentality. Losing happens because it’s the NFL, the best of the best, but we’re not going to have no loser mentality,” Pinnock said.

Pick themselves off the floor, get back on the field and correct the mistakes. Don’t let it happen again. This was a big emphasis throughout the week from Daboll. Don’t let a bad play or moment snowball.

That helps establish a winner’s mentality.

There are going to be moments Thursday against the Cowboys when something goes awry. It’s going to be imperative for the Giants to take each mishap as an isolated incident rather than a pattern.

They proved it was necessary against the Browns. The Giants could have very easily crumbled after the bad start in Cleveland. Instead, they went into halftime with a 21-7 lead. They then held on for dear life (three times stopping Cleveland with a chance to take the lead) in order to record their first victory of the 2024 season.

“Feels good to get on the board, to get off the donut,” said outside linebacker Brian Burns, who played through a groin injury and had a sack and forced fumble in the contest.

This is what the Giants want it to look like. Pressure the quarterback relentlessly. Dominate up front. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen dialed up the pressure with an uncharacteristically high 57% blitz rate, and his group produced eight sacks and a whopping 17 quarterback hits.

Nine different Giants had at least half a sack.

“The mindset this game was just going out there and having fun, enjoying every moment that you have and having intense focus every single snap,” Lawrence said. “And it kind of showed.”

The Giants will need every last bit of that approach to flip the script on the Cowboys. For all of Dallas’ struggles early this season, they are still fifth in the NFL in points per game (25.7) and rank among the top 10 offenses.

What the Giants’ defense did in Cleveland showcases what the unit was supposed to look like this season. Not the version that was on the field the previous week in Washington.

“It showed a taste,” Burns said. “I still feel there is more we can work on and get better at. … Once everything is hitting on all cylinders, I think it will be scary.”