Dallas Cowboys 40-0 New York Giants: Cowboys cruise past Giants in mammoth shutout victory
The Cowboys have beat the Giants 12 times in the last 13 meetings; Week Two begins on Thursday when the Vikings take on the Eagles from 1.15am on Friday, before the Kansas City Chiefs face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Sunday's 6pm kickoff, live on Sky Sports
Monday 11 September 2023 12:47, UK
Riding a dominant defense, the Dallas Cowboys embarrassed the New York Giants 40-0 in Sunday night's season opener.
In the pouring rain, the Cowboys returned a blocked field goal and an interception for touchdowns during the first quarter alone, with Tony Pollard running for 70 yards and two touchdowns as Dallas recorded the largest shutout win in franchise history.
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The Cowboys held Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to 15-for-28 passing for 104 yards, sacking him seven times and intercepting him twice. It was Jones' first game since signing a four-year, $160 million contract this past off-season.
Osa Odighizuwa and Dorance Armstrong each had two sacks and Trevon Diggs had a key pass breakup and a forced fumble. The swarming Dallas defense was so dominant that Dak Prescott only had to provide 143 yards on 13-of-24 passing in the demolition.
Amid the wet conditions, the Giants fumbled five times, losing one, while the Cowboys fumbled once but recovered it.
The Cowboys' party started after the Giants advanced to the Dallas 8-yard line on their opening drive and after a false-start penalty and a low snap cost the Giants 19 yards, Graham Gano's field goal was blocked. Juanyeh Thomas bounded through untouched to make the block, and Noah Igbinoghene returned it 58 yards to pay dirt.
Stats Leaders:
Dallas Cowboys:
- Passing: Dak Prescott, 13/24, 143 yards
- Rushing: Tony Pollard, 14 carries, 70 yards, 2 TD
- Receiving: CeeDee Lamb, 4 catches, 77 yards
New York Giants:
- Passing: Daniel Jones, 15/28, 104 yards
- Rushing: Saquon Barkley, 12 carries, 51 yards
- Daniel Jones, 13 carries, 43 yards
- Receiving: Darren Waller, 3 catches, 36 yards
New Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey missed the extra point but the Cowboys then forced a three-and-out and Aubrey made a 21-yard field goal at the end of their first possession for a 9-0 lead.
Three plays later, Jones found Saquon Barkley in the flat, but Diggs landed a big hit to jar the ball into the air and DaRon Bland snagged it for a 22-yard pick-six.
Aubrey made a 38-yard field goal with 10:55 left in the half, and on the very next play from scrimmage, veteran corner Stephon Gilmore celebrated his Dallas debut by making a diving interception.
That set the Cowboys up at the Giants 38, and Pollard later capitalized with a two-yard touchdown run to make it 26-0.
Dallas carried that lead into halftime and opened the second half with a 10-play, 75-yard drive culminating in Pollard sweeping right for a one-yard score.
Wide receiver KaVontae Turpin took a pitch left on third-and-goal from the 7 for his first career touchdown to make it 40-0 with 11:31 remaining in the game.
Jones then completed a pass to Isaiah Hodgins on the next play, Hodgins gaining 24 yards before Diggs stripped him from behind and Dallas recovered.
This is the Cowboys' fifth straight victory against the Giants, the 12th in 13th meeting, but the shutout loss was the largest between the teams, topping the Cowboys' 35-0 win in 1995, also in a season opener at the Meadowlands.
What did they say?
Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons: "I saw this before anybody. I said I can't wait to get to New York. I knew it was coming. With execution meets preparation, there is no one that can beat it. We've already felt this. We've been to war before. We knew the standard."
Giants head coach Brian Daboll: "I'm focused on trying to improve, and there's a lot to improve. It's one game. It wasn't a good game and I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It was a bad game and it's on me."
Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard: "One loss is not going to define the season for us. This is a fix-it quickly and we've got to get back to work as soon as possible."
What next?
The Giants head on the road to face the Arizona Cardinals (0-1), while the Cowboys host the New York Jets live on Sky Sports NFL from 9.25pm next Sunday.
Week Two begins on Thursday night when the Minnesota Vikings take on the Philadelphia Eagles from 1.15am in the early hours of Friday, before the Kansas City Chiefs face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Sunday's 6pm kickoff, live on Sky Sports, followed by Jets at Cowboys.
