The Giants offense looked good, and ran the ball far better than expected, against the vanilla Cowboys defense missing several important defensive players. Eli and the receivers looked great, with the exception of the single interception, where rookie receiver Sterling Shepard took the wrong cut, and left himself behind, rather than in front of, the defender, whom he led right to where the ball was supposed to be thrown. It was great to see Victor Cruz back in action, and he caught 4 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, so contributed right away. The Giants look to have wide receivers Odell Beckam, Jr., Victor Cruz, and Sterling Shepard, tight end Larry Donnell and running back Vereen as five reliable targets for Eli. With Jennings as the feature back and Vereen as the third-down back, the Giants rushed for 113 yards. However, I do not see them doing this against a quality defensive line with all of its players. The Cowboys much reduced defensive line was able to pressure Eli pretty much all day, despite the successful running game. The four minute drill at the end of the first half resulted in a touchdown, and at the end of the game came one yard short of the third first down they needed to ice the game, while properly managing the clock, and eating up all but the last 1 minute 12 seconds of the clock.
The Giants defense looked abysmal against the short pass, getting no pressure on the Cowboys rookie QB, and continuing its longstanding inability to cover the Cowboys future hall of fame tight end. While the corner backs managed to shut down the Cowboys outside receivers, the tight ends, backs and slot receivers ate the Giants linebackers and safeties for breakfast. The Giants defense did, however, defend the run way better than last year, and looked good in the red zone, against one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. They managed to keep Dallas in bounds on the final drive, although if the Cowboys receiver had darted out of bounds, they could have attempted a 61 yards field goal (which their kicker could have made). With a little help from the Dallas wide receiver, the Giants squeaked out a win in just the kind of game they lost continuously last season.
I'd give the Giants a C+/B- overall. Most importantly, however, grades aside, they started the season with a precious road win in the division. So I guess the only grade that counts is 1-0.{sm4}
but glad to see the 2016 NFL season finally get here
