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Giants - Cowboys
Mikefan - Gamegirl Reviews

Sept 10, 8:30 PM Giants at Cowboys
Game 1
 1st2nd3rd4thFinal
Giants00303
Cowboys3130319
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Giants lose to the Cowboys 19-3.
Eli Manning was 29 of 38 for 211 yards and 1 INT.
Paul Perkins rushed for 16 yards on 7 carries, and caught 2 passes for 9 yards.
Orleans Darkwa rushed for 14 yards on 3 carries, and caught 1 pass for -1 yards.
Roger Lewis caught 4 passes for 54 yards.
Shane Vereen caught 9 passes for 51 yards.
Evan Engram caught 4 passes for 44 yards.
Sterling Shepard caught 7 passes for 44 yards, had 1 carry for 6 yards, and 1 fumble.
Brandon Marshall caught 1 pass for 10 yards.
Rhett Ellison caught 1 pass for 9 yards.
Olivier Vernon had 1 sack.
Aldrick Rosas kicked a 25 yard field goal.

"I had great expectations and it was such a disappointment to see the Giants play like that on the opening day of the season. Odell Beckham Jr. was listed as questionable, and it turned out that he did not play. I don't know how much of a difference it would have made with the way the offensive line played. I had heard so much about how things would be better than last year based on a number of factors including the players offseason conditioning, and having added blocking tight ends. They wouldn't let Will Tye go if they didn't have someone better taking his place, right?
Anyway, the Giants went three and out on their first two possessions, gaining just four total yards, and the score was 3-0 in favor of the Cowboys at the end of the first quarter. The Giants managed only two first downs in their next three drives, gaining just 35 yards while the Cowboys went on to score 13 more points making it a 16-0 game at the end of the half.
The Giants had a nice long drive at the start of the third quarter, but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal after losing ground when Eli Manning was sacked. The defense allowed one long 35 yard completion to Dez Bryant, but otherwise bottled up Ezekiel Elliott's efforts both running and catching on this drive and the Cowboys had to punt.
The third quarter ended during the Giants next drive, which stalled at their own 45 yard line with incomplete short passes to Roger Lewis and Brandon Marshall. The Giants defense held once again, and there were still eight and a half minutes left in the game. Now was the time for the Giants offense to do something if they could, but then after seeing an encouraging 31 yard pass to Evan Engram, Manning's next pass to Lewis was intercepted as Lewis fought cornerback Anthony Brown for the ball. Now with good field position, the Cowboys killed more clock time before tacking on an additional field goal.
With a little less than 2 minutes left all the Giants could come up with was two first downs, and Manning's first completion to Brandon Marshall on the next to last play of the game. Let's hope Ben McAdoo can figure something out for his offense before the Giants embarrass themselves in front of the home crowd next Monday night when they play against Detroit."

"What can you say about this game? Obviously the Giants offense needed to stay on the field longer, not only tonight, but maybe also in preseason until they could get it right. Seriously, it looked like they weren't ready to play in a regular season game. With the 'new weapons' Ben McAdoo had at his disposal, couldn't he coach them into playing together as a productive unit? As usual there was no running game, and Eli Manning was hurrying his throws.
The Cowboys had the ball first to start things off and the Giants defense did their job, holding them to 19 yards and two first downs. If they had known what their counterparts taking the field would accomplish, just 2 first downs in the rest of the entire half, they wouldn't have trotted off looking so confident.
The combination of the Giants inefficient offense and the Cowboys no huddle to limit defensive substitutions, wore down the defensive players, and they gave up three field goals and one touchdown during the course of the half. That put them on the losing side of a 16-0 score, and the time of possession in the first half was ridiculous. It wasn't helped when the Giants offense had 1:41 left at the end of that quarter and went three and out on three straight passes. In the one completion of the three, Shane Vereen was pushed out of bounds so they used up just 14 seconds of clock time before the winded defense had to quickly return.
Was the defense worn down? Yes, but to their credit they managed to hold the Cowboys to just 3 points in the entire second half, while waiting and hoping that some points might somehow show up in the Giants column. The Giants offense started off the half showing some promise and they got down to the Cowboys four yard line before Manning was sacked for a nine yard loss. After a short pass to Roger Lewis, they settled for a field goal and 3 points.
With the Giants going nowhere, I would have expected Manning to try a few more passes to Brandon Marshall, especially on that last drive where he was never targeted. Overall the running game netted less than three yards a carry and a total of 35 yards for the game. Take away that one 12 yard run by Orleans Darkwa, and well, you get the picture
.
Was this the worst performance by a Giants offense? I don't know, because my Giants history books don't go back that far. Actually they do, but I can't bring myself to look up 'worst performances by the Giants'. They were up against a real good Cowboys offense, but were not facing anywhere near the best passing defense, and they failed to capitalize on that. Next up is the Detroit Lions who were near the bottom last year in sacks, and they are not anything like what the Giants experienced tonight against the run. So with that, and if Odell Beckham Jr. makes it back, maybe things will look much brighter after next Monday night."

First Quarter

COWBOYS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Dan Bailey 21 Yd Field Goal
Drive info: 9 plays, 51 yards, 2:58
Cowboys 3-0

Second Quarter

COWBOYS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Dan Bailey 48 Yd Field Goal
Drive info: 14 plays, 41 yards, 7:38
Cowboys 6-0

COWBOYS - TOUCHDOWN
Play: Jason Witten 12 Yd pass from Dak Prescott (Dan Bailey Kick)
Drive info: 6 plays, 65 yards, 2:07
Cowboys 13-0

COWBOYS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Dan Bailey 42 Yd Field Goal
Drive info: 7 plays, 51 yards, 1:14
Cowboys 16-0

Third Quarter

GIANTS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Aldrick Rosas 25 Yd Field Goal
Drive info: 16 plays, 68 yards, 9:44
Cowboys 16-3

Fourth Quarter

COWBOYS - FIELD GOAL
Play: Dan Bailey 36 Yd Field Goal
Drive info: 11 plays, 34 yards, 5:53
Cowboys 19-3


Notes:
Giants Eli Manning made his 200th consecutive regular season start on Sunday.

Giants Brandon Marshall extended his streak with at least one reception to 160 games.

Giants scored just three points, their fewest point total in a season opener in 22 years.
Next Games:
Sept 18 - Detroit Lions at Giants.
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Sept 24 - Giants at Philadelphia.
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