Big Blue Review: Week 1 vs. Cowboys; W; DAL: 20, NYG: 28
I have a question for you, if I might!
Who has it better than us?!
NOOOOOOOO-BODY!
It’s unbelievable! The Giants are 1-0! This is truly a new era of Giants football.
The John Harbaugh effect is real. So is his secret weapon: his father, Jack.
John has three key advantages most other NFL head coaches lack. First, he has 19 seasons of experience. Second, coaching is in his blood. Third, he uses his blood to motivate his team. And it works.
Before Sunday’s game, Harbaugh invited his father to practice, and Jack recited his famous question, to which the team emphatically responded, “Nobody!” Then, after the game, John gifted his parents the game ball from Jack’s 2002 championship with Western Kentucky – a gift for the people who gave the Giants theirs.
Somehow, the Giants defeated the Dallas Cowboys 28-20 on Sunday night. For just the second time in a decade, the Giants are 1-0. For the first time since 2010, they won their home opener. And for the first time since the end of the 2022 season, they are over .500.
Every player on this Giants team said this year’s training camp was the hardest of their career. But in Jaxson Dart’s first full season, a year in which establishing an identity is the top priority for a new coaching staff and a young core, every second of training paid dividends in Week 1.
The Giants seldom have competitive seasons, but Harbaugh arrived at the perfect time. Dart is the franchise quarterback, a massive checkmark on Big Blue’s laundry list. Behind him, everybody is healthy. At the last minute, even Malik Nabers was dressed for Sunday’s contest… because Harbaugh tackled him before the game.
“It just kind of evolved into an opportunity to tackle,” Harbaugh joked. “I couldn’t pass it up.”
Said Nabers, who tore his ACL in Week 4 last season, “I’ve been fighting a battle. You fight a battle alone. So just coming out there, feeling the energy, having everybody glad to see me back, just being in the dark, being on the side, being not in the light.
“Nobody knew what I was doing. Nobody knew how I felt. […] I had to feel the energy.”
The atmosphere at MetLife Stadium was louder than ever. The pregame ceremonies were electric. Because the Giants scored on their opening drive, the energy stayed strong. Cam Skattebo, back in blue for the first time since his season-ending injury in Week 8 last year, tumbled into the end zone for a touchdown.
“The parking lot – the parking lot! – was off the chain,” Harbaugh exclaimed. “Driving in here, it was packed. I’m talking 4 ½ hours before the game. The stadium was absolutely electric from beginning to end. The whole thing was just an incredible environment.”
Skattebo muscled 28 carries for 81 yards. The Giants managed 96 more yards on the ground than Dallas, thanks to fullback Patrick Ricard, whose 300-pound frame opened door after door on the floor. Most of the time, when Skattebo ran, he would follow the Yellow Brick Ricard.
Ahead of Dart, the offensive line was also strong. Nobody was better than rookie guard Sisi Mauigoa. In his NFL debut, he played 36 pass-blocking snaps without allowing any quarterback pressures or hits.
But the Giants’ rushing success was just one small part of the equation. They also converted 82% of third-down chances, their highest rate since 1991. Dart threw for 229 yards, ran for 54, and threw three touchdown passes. He completed 23 of 29 attempts.
“I thought his accuracy was really good,” Harbaugh said of Dart. “His on-time, the rhythm passing, if you want to call it that. Getting the ball out on time was really good. Numerous times against the zone, he was able to put the ball right where it needed to be, right on time.”
Newly acquired tight end Isaiah Likely was Dart’s favorite target. Likely spent four seasons learning from Mark Andrews, one of the greatest tight ends of all time. This year, he followed Harbaugh to New York and quickly worked his way into the heart of the offensive scheme.
Likely caught all eight of his targets. He leaned back in the end zone to retrieve his first touchdown pass in the waning seconds of the first half, and dove in for his second. That catch helped the Giants take a commanding 21-7 lead halfway through the third quarter.
Likely’s first touchdown catch came after Jevón Holland picked off Dak Prescott. Thanks to Kayvon Thibodeaux’s pressure, Holland lunged toward the sideline and slid for the grab. That helped the Giants take a 14-7 lead with 20 seconds remaining in the opening half.
“When you spend hours [watching] film, talking ball all the time, talking on the field, off the field, trying to keep talking to a minimum, really just playing, letting your talent shine,” Likely said. “Day in and day out, we’ve been practicing since training camp.
“Getting out there and finally showing the world what we’ve been practicing.”
Holland’s interception was part of the Giants’ authoritative defensive performance. Last season, the team was best known for blowing leads in the fourth quarter. But on Sunday, they allowed just 244 yards, including 69 on the ground. Penalties were their biggest obstacle, accounting for 114 yards against, but the Giants shook that off.
Holland wasn’t the only effective member of the Giants’ secondary. Former first-round pick Deonte Banks finally started a season on a high note, showing why he earned top corner duties out of training camp over Paulson Adebo. CeeDee Lamb did score a touchdown off Banks, but on a Cowboys team filled with talented wideouts, none had more receptions (five) or yards (44) than Lamb.
Powered by Tremaine Edmunds (7 solo tackles) and rookie Arvelle Reese (5 solo tackles, 1 for loss, 1 pressure), the Giants’ remodeled defensive line held Dallas to 3.8 yards per carry. It’s a different look down there without Dexter Lawrence II, but after last year’s poor defensive numbers, the unit can only improve.
It’s true, the Giants are 1-0, and one thing is certain:
NOBODY
Has it better
Than
Us!
The 1-0 Giants’ next game will be on Monday Night Football (MNF) at 8:15 PM (7:15 PM CDT) in Los Angeles against the 0-1 Rams (ESPN, ABC, ESPN App).
