The Dallas Cowboys demonstrated on Sunday night that they are going to be a contender for more than just the NFC East title. They have not only created some separation between themselves and the New York Giants.
Jerry Jones, the owner, may once again have a title contender if they continue to play this manner all season.
The Cowboys humiliated the Giants once more by earning a season-opening 40-0 victory on Sunday night. Noah Igbinoghene scored on a pick-6 later in the first quarter and returned a blocked field goal 58 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive.
“It’s the first game,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said. “That’s y’all’s job to write whatever statement it needs to be. For us, it’s about not getting ahead of ourselves. Continuing to stay disciplined, to show the discipline. Not only what we did through these four quarters, but taking that and making sure we use it throughout our preparation this week.”
Dallas forced three turnovers, sacked Daniel Jones seven times, and Tony Pollard scored on two quick touchdown runs to help the Cowboys defeat the Giants for the fifth time in a row and 12th time overall.
The Cowboys’ 35-0 victory in 1995 in a season-opening game at the Meadowlands was larger than the Giants’ shutout loss, which was the biggest between the two teams. In addition, it surpassed the Cowboys’ 38-0 victory over the Baltimore Colts in 1978 as the largest shutout win in any game.
This contest was meant to demonstrate if the Giants had closed the distance between themselves and Philadelphia, the NFC East’s reigning champion, and Dallas.
Prescott and the offense didn’t need to provide much for the Cowboys. New kicker Brandon Aubrey made two field goals for them, and midway through the second quarter, Pollard scored Dallas’ first offensive touchdown on a 2-yard run to increase the lead to 26-0 at the break.
Only the Buccaneers trailing the Eagles 34-0 in 1988 was more lopsided at halftime for a home team during Week 1. The other two were the Colts (27-0 vs. the Rams in 1954) and the Steelers (down 30-0 vs. the Browns in 1989).
After Ezekiel Elliott was released during the offseason, Pollard became the primary running back for the Cowboys, and he recorded a 1-yard rush in the third quarter. In the fourth, KaVontae Turpin added a 7-yard touchdown run.
On the first series, the game was altered. After receiving the opening kickoff, New York advanced to the Dallas 8 thanks to the running of Saquon Barkley and Jones. Left tackle Andrew Thomas moved early on a third-and-2, and second-round draft pick rookie center John-Michael Schmitz had a poor snap that Jones recovered back at the 27.
Juanyeh Thomas successfully stopped Graham Gano’s 45-yard field goal attempt by leaping between a gap at the end of the line. Igbinoghene took possession of the ball at the 42-yard line and scored without being touched.
Bland scored on the following series after Aubrey made a 21-yard field goal.
When Barkley caught a swing pass from the cornerback Trevon Diggs, the ball bounced into the air, where Bland snagged it and scored.
After then, the outcome was never in doubt, but to highlight how poorly the Giants played, Gano missed a 36-yard field goal with 1:05 left in the half, leaving head coach Brian Daboll in disbelief.
After the game, Daboll credited Dallas and made no excuses.
Jones completed 15 of 28 passes for 104 yards and a 32.4 quarterback rating. Prescott defeated the Giants for the eleventh game in a row by going 13 of 24 for 143.
