Sept 10,
8:30 PM Giants at Cowboys
Game 1 | | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
Giants | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Cowboys | 3 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 19 |
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. Giants
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