By: Anthony Miller
The Dallas Cowboys proved their dominance early in the season as they shut out the New York Giants on the road Sunday night 40-0.
It was a comedy of errors for the Giants as they saw a field goal blocked return for a touchdown and an interception returned for a touchdown in just the first quarter alone. Dallas had a 26-0 halftime lead with full control of the game throughout. They finished with a 40-0 win to have a 1-0 record to start the season.
In terms of the sheer dominance of the series with New York of late, the Cowboys have won 12 of the last 13 matchups against the Giants. They are currently riding a five-game winning streak against New York.
Dallas had 100 total yards of offense more than New York did outgaining them 265-171. The most telling stat though was the turnover difference between the two teams as the Giants had three turnovers to the Cowboys’ zero for the game. An even bigger telling stat was the Cowboys sacked Daniel Jones seven times.
Top offensive performers go-to running back Tony Pollard and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Pollard had 82 total yards and two touchdowns while Lamb had four catches for 77 yards to lead the team in both categories. Dak Prescott went 13 of 24 passing for 143 yards in the win.
Markquese Bell was the leading tackler with eight total adding one tackle for loss. Stephon Gilmore was truly a shutdown corner in his first game with Dallas recording four tackles and a team-high three pass deflections. Osa Odighizuwa and Dorance Armstrong each had two sacks.
Not much, if anything, went wrong for the Cowboys in the win. There is a lot to take away from the win as it gave fans a glimpse into the future of the season.
Biggest Takeaways from Dallas Cowboys Win
Defense Rules the Day
This has become no surprise to any Dallas Cowboys fan since Dan Quinn took over as defensive coordinator, but the defense is good. Like really good.
Zero points allowed, three turnovers created, and seven sacks in the game make it pretty easy to say they had the best defensive performance of the weekend in the league.
The biggest contribution comes from the performance of the front seven against the Giants’ offensive line. Five different Cowboys had sacks in the game as guys like Micah Parsons had no trouble manhandling the offensive linemen. This unit was in the top five in the league last year in sacks and appears to be pacing to take the top spot.
Gilmore and Trevon Diggs appear to be a deadly duo at the corner positions as both guys had great nights. The Cowboys’ secondary allowed just 110 yards passing and two interceptions in the game so nothing more to add to it other than they took care of business.
Tony Pollard is More Than Ready for the Leading Back Role
Granted, it wasn’t a 100-yard game for Tony Pollard in the backfield, but he did perform well and handled the starting role well. Pollard had 70 yards rushing on 14 carries with two touchdowns. He also added two catches for 12 yards in the win as well.
His biggest play of the game came on a 25-yard run in the game to help the Cowboys out. He looked explosive and made the plays he needed to despite the offense only running 55 plays in the game.
Even without Ezekiel Elliott on the team, Pollard proved that he is ready to be the featured back and seems to have earned his $10 million franchise tag deal. With more consistency in the passing game, he could be in for more money coming his way next season and beyond.
Dak Prescott Didn’t Wow in Win
It wasn’t the best night for Dak Prescott as it was one of those games where he didn’t really need to do much but could have been better. A big factor in the contest was the rain that came especially in the second half when it was at its heaviest. It made it tough to throw the football, so the stats look worse than it seemed.
No touchdowns in the game for Prescott and couldn’t reach 150 yards passing in the game. It helps that the offense had very little time on the field in the first quarter thanks to the blocked field goal for a touchdown and the pick-six. The rain also made it hard to push the ball down the field through the air. Plus, the Cowboys had control of the game by the third quarter so there was no reason to keep throwing the ball.
Prescott wasn’t impressive, but he didn’t do anything to hurt the team as well. It’s one of those games where his performance can be overlooked and chalked up as the beginning of the season. We saw many players not perform well in week 1 so things should only improve from here for Prescott.
Featured Image via AP Photo/Adam Hunger