Giants lose to the Cowboys 40-37

"That was some game. The Giants lost, but they put it all out there from the start. Gunner Olszewski took the opening kickoff 67 yards to the Cowboys 32-yard line, but there was a penalty that moved it back to the Giants 30. That became a theme of sorts as Tyrone Tracy soon had a 24 yard run wiped out by a call on Darius Slayton for offensive holding.
Then, if you have trouble remembering players names along with their jersey numbers, James Hudson made it easy for you. His name and the number 55 were called out by the refs four times on the Giants first drive of the game. It was a long drive that lasted almost nine minutes and ended with the Giants taking a 3-0 lead after Graham Gano kicked a 38 yard field goal.
The Giants defense came in and did a nice job getting the Cowboys off the field with a three and out. The Giants started off with a penalty on the first play of their next drive, and I thought here we go again, but Hudson had been replaced, and this time it was a false start by Daniel Bellinger. That was it though, and an almost five minute drive ended with Gano kicking a 33-yard field goal. Soon the first quarter ended, and the Giants held the lead. When was the last time you can remember that?
At the start of the second quarter the defense greeted Dak Prescott with a sack. They added another on the Cowboys next drive, and that one held them to a field goal. The Giants then scored their first touchdown of the season, when Russell Wilson connected with a 29 yard pass to Malik Nabers for a touchdown and 13-3 lead. The next series was crazy with three or four penalties happening on just one play by both teams, and the refs said they offset each other. It still ended though with the Cowboys scoring a touchdown. At the end of the half the Giants still had a 13-10 lead.
Two plays into the third quarter, cornerback Dru Phillips intercepted Prescott's pass and soon the Giants got down to the Cowboys 10-yard line. I can't say I was happy with Brian Daboll's decision to go for it on fourth-and-three, but he got greedy for a possible touchdown instead of a sure field goal. An incomplete pass to Cam Skattebo gave the ball back to the Cowboys, and things went bad after that. They scored a touchdown, and although the Giants added a field goal, the quarter ended with the Cowboys having a 17-16 lead.
The Giants defense was totally ineffective in the fourth quarter, with the Cowboys scoring points on every drive. As bad as that sounds, the Giants offense stepped up and did the same, and with the score tied at 37-37 we headed into overtime. The Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey had nailed a 64 yard field goal at the end of the fourth quarter, and then in overtime hit on a 46 yarder to give them a 40-37 win. So now we know the Giants offense can do the job, and we know the defense can as well. Having them do it together at the same time next week, playing against Kansas City in the home opener, would be just great!"

"The Giants offense needed to show up for this game, and they did it in a big way on their opening drive which took up more than half of the first quarter. There was a lot of good to see, but also a lot of bad which were the five offensive penalties, with the last one pulling them back from a first-and-goal at the Cowboys 2-yard line. They settled for a Graham Gano field goal, and he added another on the Giants next drive. By the time the first quarter ended, the Giants had a 6-0 lead.
The Cowboys scored first in the second quarter with a field goal, but Russell Wilson was connecting well with his receivers, and he put the Giants up 13-3 with a touchdown pass to Malik Nabers. That would have been a nice score to take into halftime, but the defense let up, and the Cowboys scored their first touchdown of the game.
Aside from the penalties, the Giants offensive line was doing a great job, at least with their pass protection. Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy, and Devin Singletary had come up with just 28 yards on 10 carries. Meanwhile Wilson, though sacked twice, had completed 17 of his 20 passes for 235 yards and 1 touchdown. The offense had controlled the ball for nearly 18 minutes to the Cowboys 12.
In the third quarter the Cowboys took the lead with a touchdown, and the Giants added another field goal that had them trailing 17-16. In a wild fourth quarter, 41 points were scored. The lead changed five times before the Cowboys tied the score 37-37 on a long field goal to send the game into overtime. The Giants won the toss and wisely decided to kick off, as each team would have an opportunity under the new rules. With about two minutes left, the game looked to be headed for a tie. The Cowboys had two possessions, and the Giants were in their second, when Wilson was intercepted.
Dak Prescott had the ball at his 30-yard line, and the defense let him complete a 27 yard pass. When Prescott managed to scramble 14 yards two plays later, you knew it was over. A 46-yard field goal was easy for Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, who had kicked one 64 yards earlier to tie this game, and he continued to ruin the day for the Giants who fought so hard to win.
Wilson finished up completing 30 of his 41 passes for a career high 450 yards three of those completions going for 48, 50, and 52 yards. He threw for 3 touchdowns, and that one costly interception. Malik Nabers was the top receiver with 9 catches for 167 yards and 1 touchdown, and Wan'Dale Robinson caught 8 for 142 yards and 1 touchdown. Cam Skattebo carried the ball 11 times for 45 yards, and had one rushing touchdown.
On defense they came up with three sacks, one from Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns, and Elijah Garcia, who was just brought up from the practice squad. There was also one interception by Dru Phillips. Both units had way too many penalties totaling 14 accepted ones for 140 yards.
In the end, the Giants scored 37 points, a big jump over struggling to put up just six in their first game against Washington.
Brian Daboll is always trying to be clever. Whether it's going for it on fourth down when he shouldn't, or in this game throwing in his prize rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, when there's no need. The first time Dart took the field the Cowboys expected him to run, and a handoff to Skattebo worked very well for 24 yards. The next time Dart handed off to Tyrone Tracy, and he picked up two yards for a first down. Dart next jumped in to lose three yards on a run when he slipped on the field.
Swapping out quarterbacks can disrupt the flow of the offense when they are are the move. No doubt, Daboll will toss Dart onto the field in front of the home town fans, as if to brag how they secured a prize trophy in the draft. We'll have to see how Kansas City handles that next week. The coaches should focus more on the regular starters optimizing n their skill sets and avoiding penalties."

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