The Dallas Cowboys have been looking for a true No. 1 cornerback since Terence Newman left in early 2012.

The Cowboys tried to cover their bases and acquire two later that offseason, giving Brandon Carr a five-year, $50 million contract in free agency while drafting Morris Claiborne with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, but both failed to live up to the lofty expectations set forth in their contract and draft positions.

The Cowboys then drafted two cornerbacks -- Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie -- inside the top 100 picks in the 2017 NFL draft, and while the jury is still out on those two, Byron Jones, the former safety, may actually be the bonafide No. 1 cornerback the Cowboys have been looking for since Newman's departure.

In the lead up to the Cowboys-Giants matchup, many questioned whether the Dallas cornerbacks could hold up in coverage against the variety of weapons New York has at its disposal. Altogether, New York's top three receivers -- Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard

Cody Latimer -- were targeted 17 times Sunday night, finishing with just nine catches for 116 yards.

Chidobe Awuzie certainly played well against New York, but Jones' efforts were the closest thing the Cowboys have seen to a shutdown performance in quite some time. Jones was targeted five times (

on the team), allowing only one catch to Saquon Barkley for zero yards, per Pro Football Focus.

It was a big test for Jones, as the Giants weren't afraid to test him in coverage, and he passed with flying colors.

In passing game coordinator Kris Richard's favorite coverages (Cover 1 and Cover 3), it's paramount that the outside cornerbacks take away any vertical routes since there is usually only a single deep safety to help. Against the Giants, Jones eliminated any opportunities for the Giants to beat him deep. This play against Beckham is a great example:

Here, the Cowboys are using Cover 1, meaning it is man coverage across the board with one safety covering the deep middle zone. Therefore, Jones is locked in man coverage with Beckham without much help.

After the ball is snapped, Jones does an excellent job jamming Beckham's release with his inside, which allows him to pin Beckham to the boundary and stay in phase, attached to Latimer's inside hip, as the Giants receiver accelerates to try and create separation. This is where Jones excels. He is too good of an athlete for any receiver to simply run behind him on a go route. As long as Jones stays in-phase through the receiver's release, he's going to be successful.

Once the ball is in the air, Jones does a splendid job of playing the ball in the air without creating too much contact with Beckham, causing the incompletion.

One of the biggest problems Cowboys cornerbacks have had in recent years is defending in-breaking routes, as they typically gave up too much separation at the break point in the route. Against New York, Jones didn't have those problems, as he effortlessly blanketed Giants receivers on in-breaking routes throughout the game. Here's an example:

On this play, the Giants are looking to take a deep shot on a play-action pass; however, Jones is having none of it. Locked in man coverage with Latimer, Jones effortlessly mirrors the receiver's release, remaining glued to Latimer's upfield hip.

After his initial inside release, Latimer tries to stem his route vertically so that he can create separation when he breaks inside at the 40-yard line, but Jones is not fooled, giving zero separation and taking away Manning's initial read, which allows the Cowboys pass rush to get home for the sack.

Even when Jones played zone coverage, he was perfect with his technique and took care of his responsibility. This play illustrates just that:

On this play, the Cowboys are in Cover 4, or quarters coverage, with the two outside cornerbacks and two deep safeties playing deep while the three linebackers play the intermediate zones (they end up drifting back near the end zone because New York sent all four receivers on vertical concepts).

After the snap, Jones takes a zone turn and sinks to his zone, initially passing off the receiver to the weak-side linebacker. Despite passing off the receiver, Jones does an excellent job of getting depth in his drop and not allowing the receiver, who is running a post-corner route, to get too far behind him.

Because he got the proper depth, Jones is in a perfect position to condense the throwing window, rally to the receiver and prevent the touchdown catch.

Richard has done an incredible job converting the former safety to cornerback while maximizing his skill set and physical talents.

For the season, Jones has been targeted nine times, yielding just four catches for 41 yards. Opposing quarterbacks have an NFL passer rating of 58.1 when targeting Jones in coverage, and the Connecticut product has allowed just two yards after the catch, per Pro Football Focus.

The sample size is small, but Jones has looked like one of the best cornerbacks in football over Weeks 1 and 2.