Big Blue Meltdown, Giants Wilt in Opener vs. Boys
COWBOYS 24
GIANTS 17
Talk about getting off on the wrong foot. Riding the glory of their latest Super Bowl championship, the New York Giants came out flat in their season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday night.
The Giants watched as Tony Romo picked apart a beat up secondary, as he and a virtual unknown named Kevin Olgetree lit it up all night long.
The Giants who were without Terrell Thomas (ACL, out for the season) and Prince Amakamura, badly missed them, as Kenny Phillips and Corey Webster had no answer for the Cowboys young receiver who dominated the game.
As for Romo, it was one of his best games of his career. He picked apart the Giants for 307 yards, and was nearly perfect, completing 22 of 29 passes with three touchdowns and a pick. The biggest turning point of the game in the second quarter, when Romo found an open Dez Bryant streaking down the sidelines for 38 yards to spot the ball at the Giants 15. Three plays later, Romo avoided pressure from his left, lept into the air and dipped the ball down the middle to an open Olgetree for the touchdown. 7-3 Dallas.
As for the Giants offense, they couldn't get anything going. The running attack was invisible for the entire night as Dallas stuffed running back Ahmad Bradshaw for 78 yards on 17 carries. If you take away one nice 33 yard scamper by Bradshaw in the fourth quarter, he only ran for 45 yards on 16 carries. David Wilson, the much bally-hooed running back out of Virginia Tech was ineffective. Two carries for four yards, and he was benched in the second half.
Eli Manning had a rough night. He was sacked three times, and never got on the same page with his receivers, especially Victor Cruz. Cruz, who burst onto the scene last year was targeted 11 times, and dropped five passes, including one in the endzone in the second quarter that would have been a touchdown.
It seemed like the Giants' offense was stuck in cement all night long, failing to move the ball effectively at all for much of the evening.
With Dallas up 7-3, Romo once again found Olgetree break free from coverage, and hit him in stride for a 40 yard touchdown to blow it open, 14-3.
While the Giants answered quickly with a Bradshaw 10 yard touchdown to make it 14-10, never once did you get the feeling that Big Blue was going to come all the way back in this one.
Dallas had been here before. Last season they opened the season at MetLife Stadium, in primetime, against the Jets. They held a 24-10 lead on Gang Green, before a blocked punt and a Tony Romo fumble led to a Jets 27-24 victory. Dallas blew four games last year when they led by 14 or more points, and they were determined to close it out this time around.
Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray (131 yards on the night) carried the ball for 33 yards on the next Dallas scoring drive, which led to a Romo touchdown pass to Miles Austin to extend the lead to 24-10.
While the Giants did score on the next possession, Dallas forced them to eat up seven minutes of clock, since they played in a very tight zone coverage during that possession.
After getting the ball back, the Cowboys put the game on ice, when Romo found Olgetree again on a third and 10 for an 11 yard gain to end it.
For the Giants this was a bitter disappointment. The Giants came into the season with very, very high expectations and to drop a divisional game at home was a very poor start. The Giants can rebound, they face the Buccaneers next week at MetLife, but they will have to play a lot better on offense, and have to find someone who can cover a wide receiver or two.
GIANTS 17
The Giants watched as Tony Romo picked apart a beat up secondary, as he and a virtual unknown named Kevin Olgetree lit it up all night long.
The Giants who were without Terrell Thomas (ACL, out for the season) and Prince Amakamura, badly missed them, as Kenny Phillips and Corey Webster had no answer for the Cowboys young receiver who dominated the game.
As for Romo, it was one of his best games of his career. He picked apart the Giants for 307 yards, and was nearly perfect, completing 22 of 29 passes with three touchdowns and a pick. The biggest turning point of the game in the second quarter, when Romo found an open Dez Bryant streaking down the sidelines for 38 yards to spot the ball at the Giants 15. Three plays later, Romo avoided pressure from his left, lept into the air and dipped the ball down the middle to an open Olgetree for the touchdown. 7-3 Dallas.
As for the Giants offense, they couldn't get anything going. The running attack was invisible for the entire night as Dallas stuffed running back Ahmad Bradshaw for 78 yards on 17 carries. If you take away one nice 33 yard scamper by Bradshaw in the fourth quarter, he only ran for 45 yards on 16 carries. David Wilson, the much bally-hooed running back out of Virginia Tech was ineffective. Two carries for four yards, and he was benched in the second half.
Eli Manning had a rough night. He was sacked three times, and never got on the same page with his receivers, especially Victor Cruz. Cruz, who burst onto the scene last year was targeted 11 times, and dropped five passes, including one in the endzone in the second quarter that would have been a touchdown.
It seemed like the Giants' offense was stuck in cement all night long, failing to move the ball effectively at all for much of the evening.
With Dallas up 7-3, Romo once again found Olgetree break free from coverage, and hit him in stride for a 40 yard touchdown to blow it open, 14-3.
While the Giants answered quickly with a Bradshaw 10 yard touchdown to make it 14-10, never once did you get the feeling that Big Blue was going to come all the way back in this one.
Dallas had been here before. Last season they opened the season at MetLife Stadium, in primetime, against the Jets. They held a 24-10 lead on Gang Green, before a blocked punt and a Tony Romo fumble led to a Jets 27-24 victory. Dallas blew four games last year when they led by 14 or more points, and they were determined to close it out this time around.
Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray (131 yards on the night) carried the ball for 33 yards on the next Dallas scoring drive, which led to a Romo touchdown pass to Miles Austin to extend the lead to 24-10.
While the Giants did score on the next possession, Dallas forced them to eat up seven minutes of clock, since they played in a very tight zone coverage during that possession.
After getting the ball back, the Cowboys put the game on ice, when Romo found Olgetree again on a third and 10 for an 11 yard gain to end it.
For the Giants this was a bitter disappointment. The Giants came into the season with very, very high expectations and to drop a divisional game at home was a very poor start. The Giants can rebound, they face the Buccaneers next week at MetLife, but they will have to play a lot better on offense, and have to find someone who can cover a wide receiver or two.
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