The night started out good and it ended even better. The New York Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys 28-20 at MetLife Stadium in front of 83,286 fans, most of whom were rooting for the home team. It was the most impressive win Big Blue has had in over a decade, and only the third time since they won Super Bowl 46 that they started the season 1-0; the other two times - 2016 and 2022 - they made the playoffs.
Cam Skattebo led the ground attack for the Giants with 81 yards on 18 carries, including a touchdown on New York's first drive. Jaxson Dart was brilliant all game. He was 23/29 for 230 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 134 and a QBR of 81.6. Going into the season, the one lingering question was how he would play under center. Based on what we saw last night, I'd say that question was answered satisfactorily.
But it was Isaiah Likely who stole the show. The tight end had 8 receptions for 78 yards, including two touchdowns. He also had two key third-down receptions late in the game that allowed the Giants to keep possession of the ball and run out the clock. Of all the offseason signings by John Harbaugh, Likely could prove to be the most consequential.
There were so many keys to this game, but I'll concentrate on three.
One: It was obvious from the opening kickoff that the Giants were the more physical, better prepared team. The grueling practice sessions in training camp paid off. Unlike past seasons, when they would run out of gas late in games, this team looked fresh in the fourth quarter. Indeed, it was the Cowboys who looked gassed.
Two: The Giants had seven possessions in the game and they scored a touchdown on four of them. No settling for field goals; no three and outs; and only one punt. The two TD drives they had in the second half took more than 16 minutes off the clock. When the Jints got the ball back with 5:21 left in the game, they never gave it up. Dallas was limited to only two possessions over the final two quarters. Overall, New York dominated the time of possession 36:40 to 23:20.
Three: Remember last year in Dallas when James Hudson committed four penalties on one possession, one of which cost the Giants a touchdown? Four penalties on one drive before Brian Daboll finally benched him. Well, after Tyrone Tracey fumbled the ball late in the second quarter with the Giants in field goal range, Harbaugh had seen enough. He benched Tracey the rest of the game. The message could not be clearer. Careless mistakes will not be tolerated. There's a new sheriff in town, and he means business.
But as wonderful as the night was for New York, there were still some red flags. Even with the bad officiating, Dak Prescott had his way with the Giants secondary. Dru Phillips, in particular, was brutal. Going into the season, my main concern with this team was its secondary, especially the cornerback position. Nothing I saw last night did anything to allay that concern. If this team is going to go anywhere, it's clear the front seven will have to carry the lion's share of the load defensively. While they did an excellent job against the run - Dallas averaged just 3.8 yards per rush attempt - they did not have a single sack on Prescott the whole game, even though they managed eleven hurries.
The fact is the Giants won this game because their offense kept the Cowboys offense on the sidelines most of the night. But that won't be the case every time. Sooner or later the pass rush and the coverage will have to pull its weight. It'll be up to Dennard Wilson to make the necessary corrections and adjustments.
In the meantime, Big Blue can enjoy the fruits of their labor. They're 1-0. They earned the win; they were the better team. Now it's on to L.A. to play a Rams team that was embarrassed by the 49ers in Melbourne Australia. You can bet the ranch Sean McVay will have his team ready by Monday. After that come two very winnable games against the Titans and Cardinals, both at MetLife. Tennessee lost to the Jets 23-10 at home. They might be the worst team in the NFL. Guess who their offensive coordinator is. Yep, that guy.
3-1 has a good ring to it, doesn't it?
