Matt Meehan
Giants 17, Cowboys 35: Week 1….Cowboys -7 covers
The Giants forced a punt from the Cowboys right out of the gate before Eli Manning led a beautiful 89 yard touchdown drive that culminated with a 1 yard touchdown pass to Evan Engram. Eli was 4/4 on the drive for 24 yards and the touchdown, but the big play came from Saquon Barkley on a 59 yard run up the middle. After stopping the Cowboys the first time, the Giants defense would completely collapse, allowing Dallas to easily score touchdowns on their next 5 drives. The Kellen Moore-led offense featured a heavy dose of play action (analytically backed to be a +EV play call), and the Dallas offense thrived in it. Dak was 14/15 on play-action passes, consistently finding guys wide open.
Their first touchdown drive featured 83 yards of offense to tie the score at 7-7 off a Blake Jarwin 28 yard touchdown reception. The Giants would then move the ball fairly easily 40 yards down the field before Eli got hit with an intentional grounding call on 3rd and 1 at the DAL 35. There should’ve been a penalty on the play, but the refs never called it; Dallas got away with one as they forced the Giants to punt. On the Cowboys 2nd scoring drive, Dallas would go from their own 9 yard line in a quick 5 minutes to take the lead 14-7 on a Jason Witten 4 yard score. Dak was 7/7 on the drive for 91 yards, including two deep balls to Michael Gallup for 36 yards and 23 yards each. Following a quick Giants three-and-out at 8:00 to go in the half, the Cowboys would eat up almost the entire rest of the half before finding Amari Cooper on a 21 yard touchdown pass. Note that the Giants made a 3rd down stop on the drive, but an offsides penalty kept it alive. Giants got the ball back with a minute left for one final drive and moved the ball decently well before getting stymied at the Dallas 45. At the half, it was 21-7 Dallas.
Tony Pollard took the rest of the carries from there, and Eli led a garbage time touchdown drive before Daniel Jones came in for the final Giants drive. All-in-all, the Giants definitely left some points on the board, but when Dallas tried, they were able to score at will on Big Blue. Dak had seven 20+ yard throws, nearly all of which came to wide open receivers.
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Injuries:
Giants lineback Kareem Martin left the game and did not return
Giants safety Jabril Peppers left the game briefly with a leg injury but returned
Giants safety Jabril Peppers left the game briefly with a leg injury but returned
Week 2 opening lines:BUF @ NYG (+2.5)
DAL (-4.5) @ WAS
DAL (-4.5) @ WAS