Black cat scares away Giants' offense during 'MNF'

Upon the first Monday night in November, all was well enough for the Giants, who held a six-point lead against the Cowboys.

Precarious as the advantage was, it breathed hope into a New York squad looking to cut loose from a losing streak against archrival Dallas.

And then a living symbol of bad tidings ahead streaked across the MetLife Stadium field. A black cat took the field on Monday night, changing the Giants' momentum for the worse and then disappearing into the night and reappearing in Gotham headlines in the morning.

Showcasing the quickness, agility and, most importantly, a nose for the end zone, it had all the attributes the Giants so desperately needed. New York lost 37-18, but was winning 9-3 before the black cat cameo.

Post-cat, the Cowboys went on a 34-9 run.

"The first thing that crossed my mind, no joke, is like f---, they got bad luck now, it just turned on them," Demarcus Lawrence told reporters after the game. "I was like, man, the game's over. If a black cat runs on the damn field on a Monday Night Football game, a black cat, you might as well call it quits, bro. Y'all luck is terrible."

Bad luck or bad play, who's to say.

"I'm staying away from it," offered Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, who stayed away from Giants defenders to the tune of 139 yards. "I'm allergic to cats, so I wasn't feeling the black cat in the middle of the game."

With 5:32 left in the first half on Monday night, the unnamed feline found its way onto the field and bounded about, though it appeared frightened. Understandable considering the play to that point, the bright lights, and the thousands of fans yelling at the poor thing (seriously, how would you handle it if you got lost and thousands of New Yorkers were yelling at you?).

Finding its way through a porous security defense, the cat found its way into the end zone, but with officials closing in, it found its way off the field through a tunnel.

"That's a first," Giants running back Saquon Barkley said of a cat interrupting play.

While the black cat could well have been a sign of cosmic misfortune befuddling the Giants, as noted, the cat ran into the end zone. New York on the other hand was a dreadful 1-for-5 in the red zone.

Things most certainly got worse for the Giants once the cat, four days late for Halloween, took to the field and TV screens.

Alas, the cat was nowhere to be found during the first four games of New York's losing streak.