2 Winners & 3 Losers From Cowboys’ Embarrassing Week 1 Loss to Giants

The Dallas Cowboys’ offseason of hype hit a wall as they lost to the New York Giants 28-20 in embarrassing fashion.

While losing to a divisional rival is something that happens often, the Cowboys were completely outmuscled in this one. The New York offense controlled the game all day, which is something Brian Baldinger predicted before the two teams took the field.

It was so bad that Dallas got the ball just two times in the second half and lost the time of possession battle 36:40 to 23:20. With that said, here’s a look at who stood out as winners and losers in the defeat.

Winner: Quinnen Williams, DT

The Giants’ offense was moving the ball with ease late in the second quarter, ready to reclaim the lead. With the score tied 7-7, New York was set to take the lead on a drive that had covered 64 yards. That didn’t happen, however, thanks to Quinnen Williams.

Williams fought through his block and chased down Tyrone Tracy, punching the ball out of his hands. The ball flew right into the arms of cornerback Shavon Revel Jr., giving the Cowboys their first turnover of the game. The offense failed to take advantage, but it was still a huge win for Williams.

Loser: George Pickens, WR

There was a lot that went wrong in the first half for Dallas, and George Pickens was a part of the problem. Pickens had two dropped passes, and while one would have been negated due to a penalty, the second was an absolute killer.

Dallas had just recorded their first turnover of the season and could have gone into halftime with a lead. Dak Prescott was looking for the home run and dropped a dime into the hands of Pickens, who had a step on his defender and would have put them in field goal range, but Pickens let the ball go through his hands.

Prescott threw an interception a couple of plays later and the Giants responed by scoring a touchdown to go up 14-7. They scored again after receiving the second half kick off. Had Pickens caught the pass, the Cowboys might have taken the lead. Instead, they were down by two touchdowns in the blink of an eye.

Winner: CeeDee Lamb, WR

The Dallas offense had a lot of struggles throughout this one, but CeeDee Lamb did everything in his power to keep them moving. He not only scored their first touchdown of the game on a one-yard pass, but he also gave them a clutch performance after the Cowboys fell behind 21-7.

Lamb had two catches for 26 yards and drew two pass interference calls on their first possession of the second half. His performance set up a one-yard touchdown run from Javonte Williams, making it a one-score game again.

Loser: Dallas Cowboys secondary

The defense was supposed to be better this year, but in Week 1, that wasn’t the case. Jaxson Dart had pass-catchers running free all night, and it had gotten so bad that Cris Collinsworth laid into the defense during the broadcast for their lack of coverage.

Dart finished with 230 yards on 23-of-29 passing with three touchdown passes and no interceptions. Malik Nabers did damage, catching six passes for 69 yards, but it was tight end Isaiah Likely who had the best game. The former Baltimore Raven had 78 yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions. It was fair to expect growing pains with Christian Parker taking over, but this was hard to watch.

Loser: Javonte Williams, RB

This game should have gone down as a “winner” for Javonte Williams, who scored two touchdowns for the Cowboys. Unfortunately, he made a massive mistake while scoring his second of the night.

Williams took a short pass from Prescott into the end zone for a 17-yard score. That should have made it a seven-point game, but Williams was flagged for taunting. That forced Brandon Aubrey to kick a 48-yard extra point, which was missed. While Aubrey normally knocks those in, the extra 15 yards shouldn’t have even been an issue. Throw in the fact that New York had been dominating all night, and taunting from Dallas made even less sense.

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