Giants (0-1) Cowboys (0-1)
The Cowboys played their season opener in Philadelphia, up against the Super Bowl winning Eagles. They held a one point lead at halftime, and added a field goal in the third quarter. The Eagles held a 24-20 lead when the game was delayed for over an hour because of lightning in the area. No more points were scored after that and the Eagles got the win.
The Giants looked good in preseason play, but it didn't carry over to their opening game in Washington. Both teams could have played better, but the Commanders, who had fallen just one game short of playing in the Super Bowl, were too much for the Giants to handle. The Commanders had strengthened some of their weaknesses and it showed with the Giants taking a 21-6 loss.

Dallas Cowboys
In 2023 the Cowboys finished in first place in the NFC East, and the way the Cowboys offense and defense had been playing, many thought they could make it to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys offense commanded a lot of respect, ranking 5th in total offense.
They were 2nd in third down percentage and most important, first in points scored. Dak Prescott had 410 completions for 4516 yards with 36 touchdowns, the most in the NFL. The Cowboys went on to lose in their Wild Card playoff game with the Green Bay Packers.
In 2024 the Cowboys numbers weren't nearly as good, and they finished fifth with a 7-10 record. Much of that had to do with Dak Prescott missing nine games due to a serious hamstring bone injury.

Dallas Cowboys Offense
Dak Prescott threw well last week, so the Cowboys are back on track as far as he is concerned. The offensive line kept him clean, and Prescott focused on getting the ball to wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. That's always a good idea, but Lamb was targeted 13 times and had only 7 catches for his 110 yards. Lamb gave up having better numbers, by dropping a few that hurt in their efforts to beat the Eagles. Prescott was also let down at times by his tight end group, missing some very catchable balls, including one in the endzone by Jake Ferguson.
The Cowboys traded with the Steelers and now have receiver George Pickens on the field. That would help take some coverage off Lamb, but only four passes came Pickens way, and he pulled in three for 30 yards. Running back Javonte Williams carried the heavy load with his 15 carries for 54 yards, and he had two touchdowns. Miles Sanders came up with 53 yards on only four carries, thanks to one 49 yard run, but he fumbled the ball away a few plays later.

Dallas Cowboys Defense
The Cowboys defense has seen how easily the Giants offensive line was moved off the ball by Washington's unit. If the Cowboys have early success, they'll be thinking, who needs Micah Parsons. At the start, the Giants will have to show they need to wipe that thought from their minds. The Cowboys didn't have Parsons for the first time last week when they were up against the Eagles, and many think it cost them the game. Their rushing defense gave up 137 yards a game last year, and last week allowed 4.2 yards per carry for 158 rushing yards.
Also, the Cowboys were third in the league with 52 sacks last year. Parsons was their top man with 12 sacks, even though he missed 4 games. Having Parsons on the field helps the other linemen reach the quarterback, like Chauncey Golston, who was second in line with 5.5 sacks. Golston is no longer on the team. Last week the defense was able to come up with just one sack.
In the secondary, the Cowboys lost cornerback Jourdan Lewis in free agency, and Trevon Diggs wasn't expected to make it for the opener, coming off a bone surgery. Diggs did make it back, and he looked good playing on limited snaps. It was just in time, because shutdown corner Daron Bland will miss a number of weeks with an ankle sprain he suffered in practice this week. The Giants could have Malik Nabers seeing some good opportunities come his way, if they can get things going this game.

NY Giants
Joe Schoen was busy during the offseason, and he signed up quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. He also added veterans cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevon Holland to improve the defense. The Giants had a good spot in the draft, and as well as addressing their needs for both the offensive and defensive lines, they traded back in the first round to select quarterback Jaxson Dart.

Giants Offense
People are looking for answers to the Giants poor offensive showing in the season opener against Washington. Of course, all eyes will first turn to quarterback Russell Wilson, who was brought in to get the offense moving with his veteran skills and leadership ability. Wilson was pressured 13 times, hit 8 times and took 2 sacks working behind an offensive line that offered no support against the Commanders defensive unit.
The Giants have a talented group of running backs, but there was poor blocking and the ground game needed that to get going. Wilson, mostly not by design, ran with the ball 8 times for 44 yards. That was more rushing yards than running backs Tyrone Tracy, Devin Singletary, and Cam Skattebo combined, as the Giants totaled just 74 yards on the day.
Wan'Dale Robinson caught 6 of the 8 passes thrown his way, but Malik Nabers facing double coverage, was able to pull in just 5 of 12. Tight end Theo Johnson was no help with two key drops and just one catch for five yards. Daniel Bellinger caught 1 pass for 11 yards and a first down. Why the Giants don't use Bellinger more in the passing game is always a mystery. Obviously, the Giants needed to establish their rushing attack. Without that, the passing game faced more challenges than the Giants could handle.
The offensive line had returned the same starting group from last year, minus Andrew Thomas, recovering from his 2024 foot injury. The Giants need Thomas back, but they want to be sure he's really ready to play. His return is valuable, but the offensive line still should not have looked as poor as it did last week. There were some thoughts that rookie Jaxson Dart should start this week, but that seems reckless with the kind of protection this offensive line is providing.

Giants Defense
The Giants pass rush was expected to be brutal heading into this season, and they did come up with three sacks, all in the first half. Losing inside linebacker Micah McFadden to an injury during that time, definitely slowed down their defensive efforts. It hurt right away when McFadden's replacement, Darius Muasau, came in and gave up a touchdown catch to tight end Zach Ertz on the very next play. It will be hard to replace McFadden's tacking abilities, and they need a plan
The Giants were up against Jayden Daniels, a dual threat quarterback, and his team finished with the third best rushing offense last year. It's tough to lose a starting lineman, and once Washington added another touchdown to go up 14-3, the defense had to focus even more on stopping the run. Having a mistake on an all out pass rush when the runner gets the ball, could lead to giving up some big plays.
For this game with the Cowboys, the Giants might be inclined to have rookie Abdul Carter play inside linebacker for a number of snaps. The Giants liked what they saw of Carter, and having him on the field more, along with Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, should be productive. Last week Burns registered two sacks, and Carter and Thibodeaux split one sack.
Thibodeaux's backup, Chauncey Golston was signed by the Giants in the offseason. Golston's coming off a year where he had career highs in both tackles and sacks. This week he'll be playing against the Cowboys, where he recorded those numbers. The defensive unit didn't get much help from their offense last week, but they still held Washington, the seventh ranked offense, to just 21 points.

Overall
Both teams have losing records and that will change for one of them. The loser will start off the season with two division team losses. It's not encouraging that the Giants lost all their division games last year, and they haven't beaten the Cowboys on the road since 2016. The Cowboys suffered last year missing Dak Prescott, but they couldn't help that. This year they're without Micah Parsons, and that's by design, so let's see how that plays out.

NFC East Games
Thursday at 8:15pm Washington (1-0) at Green Bay (1-0)  ---  Final - Green Bay 27 - Washington 18
Sunday at 1:00pm Giants (0-1) at Cowboys (0-1)
Sunday at 4:25pm Eagles (1-0) at Chiefs (0-1)
The Cowboys are the only NFC East team favored to win in these games. Check out.
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Next Games
Sept 21 Kansas City at Giants
Sept 28 Chargers at Giants