It was not a blowout loss, and it came in the opener on the road against a divisional opponent. Certainly, on the surface, there is not much panic required when it comes to the way the Dallas Cowboys played in the 28-20 loss to the Giants on Sunday night. But that’s the surface. beneath that is a different reality: This was a very discouraging performance by the Cowboys, because not only did they lose after a much-hyped offseason had many thinking Super Bowl, but the way they lost was a stark reminder that this team still has a long, long way to go.
When push came to shove in this one, the Giants pushed and the Giants shoved. The Cowboys did not put up nearly enough resistance. As coach Brian Schottenheimer said, “They shoved us around.”
‘Not Our Standard’
Schottenheimer was among those pumping up the Cowboys as a Super Bowl team, and no doubt, one loss does not preclude them from that goal–the AFC’s defending champs, the Patriots, were 1-2 to start last season. But his discouragement was palpable.
Schottenheimer said the Cowboys got pushed around on both sides of the ball: “We needed to be better on offense in the first half. They pushed us around a little bit up front. Their defensive line, our running game, there was way too much penetration early in the game. …
“Disappointed. That certainly is not our standard. It’s not what we expected to do tonight. But it’s what happened.”
Cowboys Had Ball for Just 32:20
The numbers would agree on that point. The Cowboys ran only 52 plays in the game, and possessed the ball for 23:20 in total. The Giants ran 68 plays and gained 394 yards, 165 on the ground, and had the ball for 36:40. The Giants logged 29 first downs, and were 9-for-11 trying to convert third downs.
The Giants pushed around a Dallas defensive line that was supposed to be the strength of the team’s new defense, with star Quinnen Williams and veteran Kenny Clark as the anchors. The Giants feature an O-Line with Andrew Thomas and Jon Runyan on the left side, John Michael Schmitz Jr. in the middle and rookie Francis Mauigoa and 32-year-old journeyman Jermaine Eluemunor on the right side.
That group was ranked No. 23 in the NFL among offensive line units by Pro Football Focus coming into the season. And it pushed the Cowboys around all night.
Cowboys Still Have the Same Issues
For former Cowboys scout Bryan Broaddus, now a media personality and analyst, that was the big disappointment on Sunday.
As he explained on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas: “This was just a big-time failure of a first-time coordinator, and you think, he could do this, he could do that. They’re not going to show much, they’re going to disguise this and disguise that. You have the same issues you had last year. …
“The fact, the biggest disappointment to me is yes, Dallas had their mistakes in the secondary and left areas uncovered. But just how they got beat up. That’s as disappointing as anything, that you let that offensive line, that coming into the game was having problems, throughout the year … and they go out and beat you up like that? That does not bode well for the rest of the year.”
Cowboys Called Out for One ‘Failure’ After Giants Loss