Week One 2016: Giants at Dallas

The Giants kicked off their 2016 season in a big way with beating Dallas in Jerry World. It wasn’t the best win, but it was great to beat the Cowboys in their house again.

About Last Sunday
To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from the Giants during week one. I didn’t know how the offensive line was going to protect Eli and open the running game, I wasn’t sure how well the defensive line was going play against Dallas’ offensive line, and I was excited to see what Victor Cruz could do in his first game back.


What Went Right
The Giants offensive line played well. Manning only got sacked twice, and wasn’t running for his life the entire game. Plus when the Giants needed to run the ball to close out the game, they gave Jennings room to eat up the clock like the Ninja Turtles devouring a pizza.
Speaking of the running game, it was streamlined and effective. Last year, the running game was pieced together like a platypus, but this year it looks like they are using Jennings as the main back and Vereen as the passing down’s back.
It looks like Victor Cruz is back to form. He didn’t put up stellar numbers, but it was great to see him score the 4th quarter touchdown to give them the lead, and it was even better to see the salsa dance.

I can't believe I forgot how much I missed this. I also can't believe they got fined for this celebration.

Sterling Shepard made a real tough catch for his first NFL touchdown. He's looking very promising.  
The defense was solid. You’d expect them to play well against a rookie making his first regular season start ever, but the defensive line was able to get the best of Dallas’ vaunted offensive line. They held Ezekiel Elliott and Alfred Morris to under 100 combined yards, and towards the end of the game they were able to put pressure on Dak Prescott.
Landon Collins didn’t give up on a jump ball against Dez Bryant in the end zone. Because of that hustle, Dez couldn’t complete the catch, and there was no touchdown.
The defense only gave up one touchdown to the Cowboys. Their red zone defense was on point.


What Went Wrong
Eli Manning threw a really bad interception while trying to connect with Sterling Shepard. I’m not sure what happened, it looked like Shepard gave up on the curl route when Brandon Carr cut it off. I don’t know if Eli was already throwing his way before it happened, or if it was a T-Rex brained play by Eli. Either way, it was ugly.
Despite plugging the run, it took the Giants a while to get after Prescott, and even then, they couldn’t get a sack.
Even though the Cowboys scored only one touchdown, the Cowboys still dominated time of possession and were able to drive the ball downfield at will.



This was very close to going to Cowboys’ way. While trying to approach field goal range for Dan Bailey, Cowboys’ receiver Terrence Williams didn’t run out of bounds to stop the dwindling clock. Because of this, Dallas never got the opportunity to kick a game-winning field goal. Maybe this is an issue that slips the mind of the rookie Prescott, but it would’ve been discussed by Romo in the huddle.
That seemed like a crunch-time mistake that would’ve been made by Big Blue last year. Luckily, the Giants appeared to have fortune on their side, or at very least, Ben McAdoo drank Harry Potter's Felix Felicis potion.

Harry doesn't need a good luck potion, he's got all the luck he needs from J.K. Rowling and the screenwriters. In other words, Harry doesn't earn a damn thing. 

On To The Next One
Victor Cruz and Janoris Jenkins have their eyes and words set on Josh Norman this week. They’re calling him out for only covering one side of the field. This is certainly shaping up to be a great rivalry. The only thing is that someone forgot to tell them they’re playing Washington next week, not this week.

To be fair, you don't give a cornerback $75 million to only sometimes cover your opponents top receiver.

This week, however, the Saints are parading towards us. (Sorry, there must be a better way to phrase that.) This looks to be another barn burner, maybe not to the extent of a combined score of 101, but it still has the potential of being a shootout.
This will be the first real test for the defense. Drew Brees is better than Dak Prescott, and New Orleans' receivers as a whole might be better than Dallas'. Let’s see if Big Blue can contain this C-4 offense that the Saints have.
I have no doubt that Giants' offense will be able to dominate the Saints’ defense. If the Saints have a C-4 offense, they have a sparkler defense.
The fact that this game will be played outdoors and in possible rainy conditions also gives the G-Men a really big advantage. These dome babies from New Orleans might have trouble in these adverse conditions. Will it be enough to tip the game into the Giants favor? Maybe they won't need nature's help, or a liquid luck potion.