Dallas Cowboys Hold Off Giants 24-17 in NFL Opener

The Dallas Cowboys weren’t about to let the critics get them down, and that was very evident in their impressive season opener against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

DeMarco Murray had a great night, rushing for over 100 yards helping the Cowboys drain the Giants defense in the second half, and allowing Tony Romo to get the defensive secondary discombobulated for most of the game. The Giants were already starting from behind in the secondary after losing Prince Amukamara for a month, and later Michael Coe putting New York in a bind in terms of defensive backs.

But even with Coe in the game, Kevin Ogletree went off and had the best game of his career thus far, catching two huge touchdown passes early in the game which helped the Cowboys take a 7-3 into the half.

But all credit is funneled back to the man of the night, Tony Romo. Romo has come under harsh criticism lately with many Cowboys fans putting him on final notice. But Romo has put those concerns on the back burner for at least a week after arguably one of his most masterful games of his career. Romo bounced back form his first interception of the year with three touchdowns and over 300 yards through the air in the win — one that Romo commanded the entire time.

On the other side, the Giants have weapons all over the defense, but they looked sluggish most of the game. The defense got to Romo and the Cowboys early, but their lack of depth in the secondary was exposed and exploited to the fullest extent it could be. Guys like Miles Austin and Dez Bryant were kept in check for most of the game, but the lack of depth showed it’s ugly face when it came to Ogletree.

As for the offense, Eli Manning was his typical so-so self through the first three quarters, but when he was called upon to lead a comeback in the fourth, he only slightly broke out of his shell. It wasn’t all Manning’s fault; numerous times he zipped balls brilliantly in-between double coverage, but Hakeem Nicks and most notably Victor Cruz, let him down with gigantic drops all through the game.

The story was completely different for Romo and the Cowboys and accolades must be given to Dallas’ frontline. They paved the way for over 400 total yards of offense and with a few penalties and plays where Romo had to scramble, they held up great especially considering the revamped look.

Eli Manning was able to make the game close, bringing New York within a score with under 3:00 left in the fourth but after putting their fate in the hands of the defense, the Giants weren’t able to hang on as the Cowboys closed out late. After a game-ending first down was negated by a holding penalty, the combo of Romo-Olgetree came up huge with a first down, allowing the Cowboys to run out the clock.

Across the board, the Giants must admit they didn’t put up their best effort and it has to be conceded that the Cowboys were the better team. New York failed to take advantage of momentum when they had it while Dallas took full advantage. Rob Ryan’s shut down corner combo of Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne made an excellent debut and allowed Dallas to get creative late with blitz packages to put pressure on Manning.

Although it’s just the first week of the season, it appears the Cowboys are back. There was drama late, but overall Dallas out played the Super Bowl champs and for the kind of pressure Dallas is under they couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.