Day 53 of the Cowboys’ 100-day countdown to kickoff takes us straight into one of the most frantic finishes Dallas has ever survived.
On Sunday, September 14, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the Cowboys and New York Giants played a Week 2 game that looked lost more than once before Dak Prescott and Brandon Aubrey dragged Dallas to a 40-37 overtime win. Both teams entered the afternoon still searching for their first victory of the 2025 season, and for long stretches it was New York that had the upper hand.
Russell Wilson got the Giants rolling early, building a 13-3 lead while the Dallas offense sputtered. Prescott finally sparked the Cowboys with a touchdown throw to KaVontae Turpin, but New York still carried a 13-10 lead into halftime.
The turning point seemed to arrive when Prescott threw an interception early in the third quarter. The Giants took over at the Dallas 40-yard line, but they came away empty on fourth down near the goal line.
That miss opened the door for Dallas, and the Cowboys marched 90 yards in six plays. Javonte Williams finished it with a 30-yard touchdown run after breaking tackles, and suddenly Dallas had its first lead at 17-13.
From there, the game turned into a full-blown exchange of punches. New York answered with a field goal, Aubrey hit from 44 yards, Cam Skattebo scored on a short touchdown, and Prescott kept the Cowboys moving by completing all five of his passes on the next drive. Miles Sanders capped that march with a four-yard touchdown run to put Dallas back on top.
The fourth quarter became the kind of finish that leaves nobody comfortable. Wilson hit Wan’Dale Robinson on fourth-and-four for a touchdown that gave the Giants a 30-27 lead with 2:44 left. Prescott answered with a 71-yard drive in under two minutes, ending it with a touchdown pass to George Pickens near the left pylon.
Dallas led 34-30 with less than a minute left, but the Giants still had one more surge in them. Wilson escaped into Cowboys territory and then launched a deep ball to Malik Nabers, who hauled it in between two defenders for a 48-yard touchdown. Just like that, New York was back in front 37-34 with 33 seconds to play.
Prescott wasn’t done. He found Jake Ferguson for 18 yards to move the ball to the Giants’ 49, then Williams picked up four more yards on a handoff.
That set up Aubrey for a 64-yard field goal attempt with five seconds left. He drilled it as time expired to tie the game at 37 and force overtime.
It was another reminder of how much Dallas can do late when Aubrey’s leg is in play.
The extra period still had more drama waiting. Neither team scored on its first possession, and Dallas later punted again.
With under two minutes left, Wilson tried another deep shot to Nabers, but Donovan Wilson picked it off at the Dallas 30-yard line. That was the defensive play the Cowboys had been missing all afternoon.
Prescott then went right back to work, hitting Pickens for 27 yards before turning in a sharp scramble for 14 more to reach the New York 28. Aubrey came out with four seconds left and calmly converted a 46-yard field goal to win it as time expired.
This game earns its place in the countdown because Dallas kept staring defeat in the face and kept finding a way out. The Cowboys gave up three go-ahead touchdowns in the fourth quarter, allowed 450 passing yards and were seconds from settling for a tie. Instead, Prescott stayed poised, Donovan Wilson delivered the interception, and Aubrey’s range changed the whole ending.
The 64-yard kick was the second-longest made field goal of Aubrey’s career. It also made him the first player to convert multiple field goals from at least 64 yards.
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