But the New York Giants fought their way to a 20-19 win at the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon in a game they seemingly tried to find ways to lose.
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The Giants lost six games last season when they were either winning or tied late in the fourth quarter.
There is many things you can point at in this defeat, but the blame falls exclusively on the shoulders of the veteran receiving corp and their inability to capitalize and help our their rookie quarterback. “We got in the red zone a lot, but we just didn’t finish”. This feat was impressive considering they were forced to start rookie fourth-round pick Dak Prescott at quarterback as veteran Tony Romo is out with a broken bone in his back. The 2.5 average per rush wasn’t special, but Elliott had the team’s lone touchdown. The rookie had two touchdowns dropped by his veteran wide receivers, and looked savvy going through his reads. He didn’t turn the ball over.
What they’re sayingDRC ” I was telling myself that I can’t let him get out of bounds.
To see the defense be able to get a stop to end the game, even if it was largely due to a mistake by the offense, was great to see as many feel that it would have been different previous year.
The New England Patriots finding a way to win a game without star quarterback Tom Brady and tight end/party boy Rob Gronkowski also was cause for much amusement – and some disdain – online.
Terrance Williams didn’t single-handedly lose the Cowboys’ game, but his decision to remain inbounds in the final seconds did single-handedly seal his team’s loss.
The biggest disappointments today were the Cowboys defense and how poorly Prescott and Dez Bryant connected. He was starting to lose some accuracy as the game went on. He was joined by Beckham and the players shared a long embrace. Dallas had an overwhelming advantage in time of possession, but the Giants countered by moving down the field in chunks. They preached finishing and playing a full four quarters, but couldn’t practice what they were preaching.
Last season, in the Giants’ heartbreaking 27-26 loss here, Rashad Jennings and the offense failed to put the game away in the closing minutes, in part because Manning told Jennings not to score. Meanwhile Elliott, who was oftentimes facing a defense set on shutting him down, managed just 51 rushing yards on 20 carries with one score. For a team that boasts three all-pro caliber offensive linemen, and a fourth overall pick at running back, this is completely unacceptable. “You just couldn’t make up a story any better than that”. With 12 seconds left, Dak rolled to his right and hit Terrence Williams for a first down that brought them down to the 42 yard line. If you’d heard that the Cowboys would earn points on every first-half series and dominate the time of possession, 22:04 to 7:56, you’d probably be feeling pretty good about things. “We’re all brothers and will continue to make plays”. Then, with the game in the balance he grabs a dump off from Prescott, and heads up field. I can’t take up for you after that one.
Be sure to enjoy this fantastic NFL Week 1 live stream and witness the start of another great NFL season.
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It remains to be seen how good Prescott and Elliott will be, but they, and the rest of the Cowboys, will have to be more consistent if they hope to compete for an NFC East title.
