The Cowboys welcomed new players this offseason, aiming to strengthen their defense. However, it was the same old story in their first game. Facing off against the Giants, they suffered a disappointing 28-20 defeat during “Sunday Night Football,” a game so shocking that even commentator Cris Collinsworth couldn’t hide his disbelief.
Collinsworth expressed his thoughts during the NBC broadcast, particularly after witnessing Jaxson Dart throw a touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely. He remarked, “I thought I saw some bad defense out of the Cowboys last year. That sequence was as bad as it gets.” He continued with concerns about defensive coverage, emphasizing how they left a corner completely unguarded against Likely, who had been a major threat all night.
The game spiraled out of control for the Cowboys toward the end of the first half. Dak Prescott faced a long third down and ended up throwing a poorly executed deep pass that was intercepted by Jevon Holland just before halftime.
This interception positioned Dart and the Giants to potentially score, and he adeptly led a drive that added to their momentum.
Dart’s impressive throws to Malik Nabers and Darnell Mooney, gaining 16 and 18 yards respectively with surprisingly little time taken off the clock, brought them into scoring range.
With only 20 seconds left in the half, Dart found Likely again for a touchdown, putting the Giants ahead 14-7, and they maintained that lead for the rest of the game.
The Giants displayed a classic football strategy in the second half, scoring on two long drives. John Harbaugh’s team executed a 12-play drive that covered 74 yards and took eight minutes off the clock before scoring. On their next possession, they managed to cover 65 yards in 13 plays, using another 8:11 of playtime.
In the final moments, they orchestrated another lengthy drive, spanning 13 plays over 46 yards, which consumed the last 5:21 of the game. Overall, Dallas had the worst defensive performance in the first week measured by Expected Points Added per drive.
The Giants had seven possessions during the game, successfully scoring four touchdowns, experiencing one fumble, punting just once, and running out the clock on their last drive.
According to The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia, the Cowboys’ defense had a dismal outing, performing worse than all but one of their games last season, ranking 571 out of 574 games overall.
Despite adding several new starters, including Rashan Gary and Dee Winters to the defense, it seems little has changed. After allowing 6.1 yards per play last season, they gave up 5.9 YPP in their opening game. Now, Dallas sits at 0-1, having already lost a division match-up.
