Game Recap: Week 1 Dallas Cowboys v New York Giants

What a game we had in Dallas, with the Giants coming away with the win 20-19. Both rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, showed good promise, yet they were not enough to tip the balance in favour of Dallas.

Elliott wasn’t as effective as was hoped, finishing the day with 20 attempts for only 51 yards, and one eight-yard touchdown run. It was evident that the Giants came into the game with the mentality of stopping Elliott, he never looked like breaking any large runs, and could never get away from the relentless line backing corp.

All eyes were on Dak Prescott in this one, with the rookie looking very comfortable at times in the pocket. He scanned the field and took shots when the opportunity arose. He finished the day with 25 completions from 45 attempts, totalling 227 yards in the air. Whilst the Giants did get some pressure on Dak he looked calm in the face of the pass rush, and capitalised on poor coverage. Yet it was evident that Dak is not a game changer yet, his inability to connect with Jason Witten on a few drives showed his lack of experience.

The Giants capitalised on a very thin and suspect defence, gashing the Cowboys in the running game. Totalling 113 yards between Jennings and Vereen, from only 24 carries. The run game from the Giants was a deciding factor in this one, starving the Cowboys of the ball late in the game. Eli Manning looked good at times as well, not elite by any stretch but he did throw three touchdowns and ended up passing for 207 yards. Although he did throw a lazy intercept that put the Cowboys in excellent field position.

In an impressive debut back to the game Victor Cruz caught a touchdown and looked dynamic in the aerial attack. Hopefully this is just a sign of things to come, for when Cruz is healthy he is a true football star. Odell Beckham was also effective in the passing game hauling in four catches for 75 yards, he was also targeted numerous times in the red zone but failed to bring one down.

The final few minutes of the game had Dallas fans holding their collective breath, with Dak leading and impressive drive down the field. Unfortunately for the Cowboys a costly mistake from Terrance Williams not getting out of bounds to stop the clock, finished the game for the Cowboys. If Williams had got out of bounds, then the Cowboys would have at least had a shot at a long field goal to get the game winning lead.

All in all, a very good game of football to watch. Both Elliot and Prescott looked good in their first NFL starts, but in the end it was the veteran Eli Manning and the Giants who took home the win.