The Dallas Cowboys showed in their primetime match on Sunday Night Football in Week 1 that not only are they distancing themselves ahead of the New York Giants by a mile, but that if they can keep up play like this, they could be contending for more than just the NFC East title.
Their 40-0 throttling of their divisional foes marked the largest shutout win in franchise history, the second-largest margin of victory against the Giants, and became the 5th team to open the season with a shutout of at least 40 points on the road.
To note, the first distinction previously belonged to their 38-0 win over the Baltimore Colts in 1978. The second one was previously a 35-point margin of victory in a 35-0 win against the Giants in 1995, with the largest such margin of victory being by 45 points in a 52-7 win in 1966.
The last such team to open the season with a shutout of at least 40 points on the road was the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1999, when they defeated the Cleveland Browns in the Browns' first game back from suspension of operations, 43-0.
Dallas also sacked Giants quarterback Daniel Jones seven times, the most sacks in a season-opener by a Cowboys defense since they had nine in 1994. Running back Tony Pollard, Dallas' new lead rusher after they released Ezekiel Elliott, also became the 5th Cowboy in the last 50 years with multiple rushing touchdowns in a season opener and their first since Marion Barber in 2008.
Heading into this game, no team in league history lost a game 40-0 or worse, lost a sacks battle in a game 7-0 or worse, lost a turnover battle in a game 3-0 or worse, had a field goal attempt blocked and returned for a touchdown, and had an interception returned for a touchdown through an entire saon.
The Giants did every single one of those things in one game.
It started when Juanyeh Thomas blocked a 45-yard field goal attempt from Graham Gano, with Noah Igbinoghene returning it 58 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive.
After Brandon Aubrey kicked his first career NFL field goal from 21 yards out, Trevon Diggs forced the ball out of Saquon Barkley's hands with a big hit just as the Giants running back was about to secure possession, and it landed onto the hands of DaRon Bland, who returned it 22 yards for an interception return for a touchdown.
The Cowboys then ran away with the game, and it was never close.
They didn't need quarterback Dak Prescott to do much in this game. Two field goals from Aubrey and two rushing touchdowns from Pollard sealed the deal for any sort of comeback.
With Pollard second touchdown coming in the third quarter, the 26-0 halftime shutout margin was the fourth-most lopsided score in Week 1 for a home team. The only three teams ahead of that score were the Baltimore Colts trailing the Los Angeles Rams 27-0 in 1954, the Pittsburgh Steelers trailing the Cleveland Browns 30-0 in 1989, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trailing the Philadelphia Eagles 34-0 in 1988.
The win was Prescott's 11th straight win over the Giants in his career, having not lost to them since his rookie year in 2016, tied for the second-longest against a divisional opponent in franchise history, with Hall of Famer Roger Staubach having an 11-game win streak against the Giants in the 1970s.
It is also tied for the longest active win streak against a divisional opponent, with Patrick Mahomes riding an 11-game winning streak for his Kansas City Chiefs against the Denver Broncos. Since the 1970s merger, only Tom Brady has a longer win streak against a divisional opponent, with him and the New England Patriots beating the Buffalo Bills 13 straight times from December 27th, 2003, to December 26th, 2010.
It's really impossible to draw conclusions of the offense based on this game, especially on the passing attack, so it has yet to be seen on a larger basis to see how Prescott will work things out with new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Especially since they will go up against a very stingy New York Jets defense at home in AT&T Stadium in their Sunday afternoon matchup in Week 2.
But there is no doubt they have the pieces tooled together on a defense that looks like a juggernaut. They kept sending out pass rushers aplenty after Jones, and they are deep on their front seven and on their secondary. It could raise questions about if the defense, not the offense, will be the story of the Cowboys' 2023 season.
Interestingly, they now have 10 defensive touchdowns, tied with the Patriots for the most since Dan Quinn became the team's defensive coordinator. They also had 22 games—out of 35 in this span—with multiple takeaways, three more than any other NFL team.
And head coach Mike McCarthy now has his first win on a season opener as the Cowboys' head coach.
They will return to their home for their Week 2 afternoon matchup against the New York Jets and their rock-solid, tough-as-nails defense headlined by Sauce Gardner.
Many were thinking that this could be the game that the Giants would show they closed the gap on the Eagles and Cowboys in the NFC East.
Instead, questions are now raised if they overachieved last season, and now enhanced the belief that the gap between the Cowboys and the Giants remained a huge one.
The blocked field goal returned for a touchdown and a pick six were just the top lowlights in what is a mountain of miscues for Big Blue.
It got bad enough to where their own fans booed the team when they were heading to the locker room at halftime.
While it's just Week 1, this result is very alarming. Not only does a team get shut out in this manner at their own home or at any point.
The biggest Achilles' heel for them outside of the bad decision making was the right side of the offensive line. Right guard Mark Glowinski and right tackle Evan Neal were at fault for five sacks, allowing constant pressure during the game. The Cowboys had 12 pressures in the first half alone, and most of them came from that right side.
It made life harder for Jones on running any kind of play, and it made him very uncomfortable in the pocket as he regressed to his early form.
The G-Men need to figure this out quickly, and their next matchup when they visit the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium is their best chance at doing this. But they have to figure it out sooner than later, otherwise their Thursday night match at Levi's Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3 will turn ugly fast.
Scoring
Cowboys, 8:03 1st: Noah Igbinoghene 58-yard blocked field goal return TD (Brandon Aubrey kick no good); 6-0 Cowboys
Cowboys, 3:21 1st: Brandon Aubrey 21-yard field goal; 9-0 Cowboys
Cowboys, 2:22 1st: DaRon Bland 22-yard interception return TD (Brandon Aubrey kick); 16-0 Cowboys
Cowboys, 10:55 2nd: Brandon Aubrey 38-yard field goal; 19-0 Cowboys
Cowboys, 8:03 2nd: Tony Pollard 2-yard TD run (Brandon Aubrey kick); 26-0 Cowboys
Cowboys, 10:01 3rd: Tony Pollard 1-yard TD run (Brandon Aubrey kick); 33-0 Cowboys
Cowboys, 11:31 4th: KaVontae Turpin 7-yard TD run (Brandon Aubrey kick); 40-0 Cowboys
Passing
DALLAS COWBOYS
Dak Prescott: 13/24, 143 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 0 sacks, 72.0 passer rating
Cooper Rush: 0/1, 0 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 0 sacks, 39.6 passer rating
NEW YORK GIANTS
Daniel Jones: 15/28, 104 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 7 sacks, 32.4 passer rating
Tyrod Taylor: 2/2, 6 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 0 sacks, 79.2 passer rating
Rushing
DALLAS COWBOYS
Tony Pollard: 14 attempts, 70 yards, 2 TD
Rico Dowdle: 6 attempts, 24 yards, 0 TD
KaVontae Turpin: 3 attempts, 14 yards, 1 TD
NEW YORK GIANTS
Saquon Barkley: 12 attempts, 51 yards, 0 TD
Daniel Jones: 13 attempts, 43 yards, 0 TD
Receiving
DALLAS COWBOYS
CeeDee Lamb: 4 receptions, 77 yards, 0 TD
Brandin Cooks: 2 receptions, 22 yards, 0 TD
NEW YORK GIANTS
Darren Waller: 3 receptions, 36 yards, 0 TD
Isaiah Hodgins: 1 reception, 24 yards
Defensive
DALLAS COWBOYS
Markquese Bell: 8 tackles (6 solo), 1 TFL
Jayron Kearse: 7 tackles (2 solo)
Leighton Vander Esch: 6 tackles (6 solo)
Stephon Gilmore: 4 tackles (4 solo), 3 passes defensed, 1 interception
Osa Odighizuwa: 4 tackles (2 solo), 2 TFL, 3 QB hits, 2 sacks
Dorance Armstrong: 3 tackles (3 solo), 3 TFL, 2 QB hits, 2 sacks
Trevon Diggs: 3 tackles (3 solo), 1 pass defensed, 1 forced fumble
DaRon Bland: 3 tackles (3 solo), 1 TFL, 1 QB hit, 1 pass defensed, 1 interception, 1 touchdown
Juanyeh Thomas: 2 tackles (1 solo), 1 pass defensed, 1 blocked kick
NEW YORK GIANTS
Micah McFadden: 11 tackles (4 solo), 1 TFL
Tre Hawkins III: 7 tackles (5 solo)
Bobby Okereke: 5 tackles (4 solo)
Dexter Lawrence II: 4 tackles (1 solo), 2 passes defensed
Deonte Banks: 1 tackle (0 solo), 2 passes defensed
Team Stats
First Downs: Cowboys 18, Giants 14
Passing First Downs: Cowboys 8, Giants 5
Rushing First Downs: Cowboys 7, Giants 6
First Downs from Penalties: Cowboys 3, Giants 3
3rd Downs: Cowboys 6/13, Giants 5/16
4th Downs: Cowboys 1/2, Giants 3/5
Total Yards: Cowboys 265, Giants 171
Yards Per Play: Cowboys 4.8, Giants 2.6
Passing Yards: Cowboys 143, Giants 63
Team Passing: Cowboys 13/25, Giants 17/30
Yards Per Pass: Cowboys 5.7, Giants 1.7
Sacks—Yards Lost: Cowboys 0—0 yards, Giants 7—47 yards
Rushing Yards: Cowboys 122, Giants 108
Rushing Attempts: Cowboys 30, Giants 28
Yards Per Rush: Cowboys 4.1, Giants 3.9
Red Zone: Cowboys 3/4, Giants 0/2
Penalties: Cowboys 5—35 yards, Giants 6—72 yards
Turnovers: Cowboys 0, Giants 3
Fumbles Lost: Cowboys 0, Giants 1
Interceptions Thrown: Cowboys 0, Giants 2
Possession: Cowboys 26:32, Giants 33:28
Miscellaneous
Venue: MetLife Stadium
Location: East Rutherford, NJ
Attendance: 80,809 (Capacity: 82,500)
Weather: Rainy, 69°F (97% humidity)
Winds: Calm
Broadcast: NBC/Peacock
Commentators: Mike Tirico (PxP), Cris Collinsworth (color), Melissa Stark (reporter), Maria Taylor (reporter), Terry McAulay (rules analyst)
Officiating crew: Adrian Hill (referee), Roy Ellison (umpire), David Oliver (down judge), Brett Bergman (line judge), Mearl Robinson (field judge), Jim Quirk (side judge), Greg Steed (back judge)
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