The New York Giants surrendered 432 yards to the Washington Commanders in their Week 1 21-6 loss in Landover, Md. New York will now travel to Dallas for their Week 2 matchup against Dak Prescott and the Cowboys.
Dallas receives extended rest, having played on the opening Thursday night, where they lost a close game to the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-20. This Week 2 matchup will be Dallas’ home opener, and the second consecutive divisional road game for the New York Giants.
Dallas is 9-1 since 2020 against the New York Giants, who have not defeated the Cowboys in Dallas since 2016, which was also the last time the Giants swept the Cowboys. New York has one win against Dallas since 2016 — ONE! And that one win came against Andy Dalton, not Dak Prescott. Suffice to say, and I hate to admit it, but Dak Prescott owns the New York Giants.
Since Brian Daboll was hired as head coach in 2022, the Cowboys have outscored the Giants 187-88. The Giants managed to score just six points in Week 1 vs. the Commanders, and the offense remained hapless.
The defense, however, was outcoached significantly by Kliff Kingsbury. Attempting to defend Jayden Daniels is a difficult task for many reasons, as the Giants found out for the third time in the Shane Bowen era.
The Giants’ defense had some bright spots where they were able to get Daniels off the field, but as the young quarterback stated after the game, Washington was sloppy. The Commanders dropped multiple third-down passes, committed 12 penalties for 89 yards, and Daniels’ decision to throw it out of the back of the end zone at the end of the first half took points off the board for the Commanders.
Washington was helping the Giants’ defense make the game competitive, but the Giants’ offense could not pick up their end of the couch.
Defensive issues: Week 1
The problems that we feared all offseason manifested in Week 1 against the Commanders. The Giants struggled to fit the run, especially from two-high defenses. Washington rushed for 220 yards on the ground with a 6.9-yard per carry average. Deebo Samuel had a beautiful end-around touchdown for 19 yards, and rookie seventh-rounder Bill Croskey-Merrit had 10 rushes for 82 yards with a touchdown (8.2 yards per carry).
The spine of the Giants’ defense remained weak against Washington — will it stay weak against Dallas? I fear it will, although Daniels’ ability to force backside defenders to remain honest through the mesh point proved burdensome, as Kingsbury and Washington devised several creative running plays to manipulate the Giants’ defense.
Dallas won’t enjoy the same luxury with Prescott, who lacks Daniels’ rushing threat. Still, the Cowboys’ offensive line can bully New York up front, and their Week 1 ground game showed plenty of variety. However, what Prescott can do with his arm and his mind should strike fear in the Giants.
And, similar to Week 2 last year against Washington, the Giants seemed WORSE when placed in advantageous situations. The Giants had 10 different instances where the Commanders found themselves in second-and-10 or longer, and the Commanders averaged 15 yards on those plays, per Justin Penik. That is inexcusable.
The Giants didn’t blitz or twist much either, which is understandable, in theory, given Daniels’ legs. However, Jayden Daniels was 16 of 21 with 204 passing yards and a 121.9 passer rating against a four-man or less rush. Against the blitz, Daniels was 3 of 9 for 29 yards with a career low 43.3 passer rating, per NextGenStats.
New York did have a conservative and rather unimaginative defensive game plan to contain Daniels and keep the top on the defense, but the box was vulnerable, and the Giants failed to lean into pressuring Daniels to force more negative plays. The second-and-long were self-inflicted wounds and mistakes by Washington.
The Giants’ defense, while not the ultimate culprit in the loss, failed to maximize their talent on the football field. The Giants had a 7.9% pressure rate in Week 1, with that pass rush?! I understand Washington curated their offense to avoid the pass rush; every smart offensive coordinator is going to attempt to do that. Shane Bowen has to find a way to do a better job.
Cowboys, Week 1
Brian Schottenheimer called a good game against the Philadelphia Eagles, although it doesn’t bear out in the statistics. Dallas ran motion on 42% of their snaps, and the team only took four penalties for 42 yards. Dallas had a 29% motion rate last season. His rushing attack was fresh and assisted by presnap motion to identify and displace defensive players.
Dallas incorporated many power/gap concepts and had a physical nature to their running game. Motioning H-Backs toward the hole with momentum at the snap, followed by a full-back to help clear out; TRAP/WHAM blocks to keep defenders honest and get blockers to the second level. It was a smashmouth effort that yielded 119. yards on the ground against Vic Fangio’s defense with running backs that were castaways by their prior teams.
The Cowboys were +0.05 in rushing efficiency, which ranked in the 73rd percentile in Week 1. They had 21 designed runs, and two went for scores, both to Javonte Williams. A devastating Miles Sanders fumble might have cost Dallas the game.
Prescott finished with just 188 yards and no touchdowns, but he was in rhythm all game. He had a +5.7 EPA (Expected Points Added), despite his lack of statistical success. PFF credited Dallas with four drops — a number that feels conservative. CeeDee Lamb alone had three costly drops in high-leverage spots, including two on elite throws from Prescott, who at this point even many Giants fans begrudgingly respect.
Dallas also got the explosive KaVontae Turpin involved with two carries and two targets that he secured. If the Giants’ defense is as vulnerable in the middle of the field when in zone coverage, I would expect the receivers and tight end Jake Ferguson to have success; the former Wisconsin tight end caught five passes for just 23 yards in Week 1.
Another tight end who stood out on tape was second-year blocking tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford. He received one target in the game, but he was using his massive frame to contain Philadelphia edge defenders, while also acting as a lead blocker.
The Week 2 matchup
I presume the Giants will attempt to run their two-high defense against CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Their ability to fit the run will be tested early and often by Javonte Williams and the Dallas rushing attack, for the Dallas offensive line is no joke when it comes to run blocking. The Dallas offensive line had success against Philadelphia. What will they do against a Giants team that struggles to fit the run?
The Giants surrendered 220 yards on the ground; 102 of those rushing yards were gained on first down. I expect Dallas to run the ball and set up the play action, which will allow Dak Prescott to pick through the Giants’ secondary in the intermediate area of the field. New York will likely have their safeties deep to remove the deep ball.
I’m unsure how the Giants plan to defend Lamb and Pickens. Adebo mostly plays on the defensive right side, but he followed McLaurin to the left on a few occasions, especially in the red zone. Adebo may cover Pickens when Lamb is in the slot — Lamb had a 27% slot rate; when that happens, Dru Phillips will be in a position to earn his money, likely with eyes from adjacent defenders.
Lamb is an exceptional zone beater, and the Giants were abysmal in the short and intermediate parts of the field in Week 1. The Giants’ spatial awareness in zone must improve if they’re going to have a chance vs.Dallas.
When both Lamb and Pickens are outside, the Giants may look to assign Adebo to Lamb and then see how Flott holds up against Pickens. Flott wasn’t terrible in Week 1, but he had issues, and Pickens against Flott is a massive mismatch in size. Tae Banks played 11 snaps in Week 1 and looked fine. I wonder if the Giants plan to start Banks in this matchup or at least give him more snaps against a player like Pickens. I get that it’s a different defense, but Dak Prescott has averaged 272 yards and two touchdowns against the Giants since 2022.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Firstly, the Giants don’t have to game plan against Daniels, but Prescott is still a very gifted quarterback. However, the Giants’ pass rush may be able to generate pressure and force the veteran out of rhythm.
Secondly, Dallas left tackle Tyler Guyton surrendered five pressures in Week 1. Shane Bowen should target the second-year player, and I expect more twists/games up front from the Giants now that they don’t have to contain Daniels. We should see more of Abdul Carter rushing, rather than spying as well. Schottenheimer also did a good job changing Prescott’s launch point with rollouts and other designed move-the-pocket plays.
Dallas’s offensive line is a successful and physical run-blocking unit, but the Giants’ pass rush should be able to generate pressure on Prescott. Unfortunately, I don’t believe it will be enough to overcome all the other issues with the Giants.
Final thoughts
The Dallas Cowboys are entering this game angry and hungry. The New York Giants have been hangry since 2022, but find themselves in a desolate cycle of insanity, devoid of hope. This season could get ugly fast, and for the third consecutive season, the Giants enter Week 2 in a near must-win situation.
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