Cowboys vs. Giants: Full Report Card Grades for Dallas
The Dallas Cowboys are officially 0-1. In what was quite the contest, the Dak Prescott-led Cowboys could not get it done against the New York Giants. The game started out well when the Cowboys had consecutive 15-play drives. However, each drive ended in just three points.
On the Giants' third offensive drive, Eli Manning came out firing and New York took the lead by just four points. Dallas answered back with another field goal. Then the Giants scored a touchdown before the end of the half to make it 13-9 after kicker Randy Bullock failed to connect on the extra point.
After the half, the Cowboys looked much improved. They made adjustments on the defensive side of the ball and started finding ways to get pressure on Manning. After an interception from Brandon Carr to start the half, the Cowboys then forced three consecutive punts from the Giants.
Dallas got the ball with around 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter up six points in position to put the game out of reach. Instead, the offense failed and the Cowboys went four-and-out. On the following possession, the Giants marched down to field to put seven on the board to go up 20-19. Dallas responded with six yards on eight plays.
While the Cowboys managed to get the ball back, they were without any timeouts and had only 1:05 left in the game. Prescott was able to get the offense down the field. However, with no timeouts, the Cowboys simply ran out of time after Terrance Williams failed to get out of the bounds and the Cowboys failed to clock it in time.
Dallas' loss against New York marks the first time the Cowboys have lost to Giants in Week 1. This loss will sting, but there were some things to be happy about.
Read on for full grades and analysis from the Cowboys' first loss of the season.
Pass Offense
1 of 6
Dak Prescott had his moments in the first game of his professional career. In the absence of Tony Romo, Prescott performed much better today than Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel and Kellen Moore performed in Romo's absence last season. Prescott displayed the same traits we saw out of him in preseason: intelligence, accuracy and the ability to make plays on his feet.
Despite some bright spots, there were a fair share of growing pains as well, some of which were expected out of a quarterback playing in the league at such a young age. When the pass rush came in from the exterior, there were times when Prescott should've stepped up in the pocket. But for the most part, he was mature and made a ton of good decisions.
At the end of the day, Prescott threw 45 passes, much more than he was expected to throw. He completed 25 of those passes. Yes, he failed to score a touchdown, but Prescott showed enough to prove he is on track to become Romo's successor once Romo decides to retire. It will be interesting to see whether Prescott can improve upon this game next week on the road against the Washington Redskins.
Grade: B
Rush Offense
2 of 6
Let it be known that the Giants went out and spent a ton of money to stop the Cowboys' rushing attack. No, seriously, Olivier Vernon and Damon Harrison were brought in to sure up their defensive line. In his first professional game, Elliott had some nice runs but for the most part, he failed to break free or find a rhythm.
A lot of this stems from the fact the Giants loaded the box on the early downs. However, the offensive line needs to improve for this offense to reach its full potential.
On the other hand, Alfred Morris had some success in limited opportunities. Morris rushed for 35 yards on seven carries. As a spell back for Elliott, I'm excited to see how Morris can make an impact on a week-to-week basis. Towards the end of games, the hard-hitting duo of Elliott and Morris is going to be tough to stop.
If the Cowboys can get a quality rushing game going, it will open doors for Prescott. But it makes for things to be much more difficult when Prescott has to face 3rd-and-8s. This department will be something the Cowboys need to work on before next Sunday.
Grade: C-
Pass Defense
3 of 6
Defensive lines and secondaries are interchangeable. If one unit has a good performance, the other will likely follow suit and vice-versa. Without starting defensive ends Randy Gregory and Demarcus Lawrence, it's hard to ask for much out of this cast of defensive linemen. However, there were some bright spots. Terrell McClain looked good for the majority of the night. Benson Mayowa improved in the second half which led to some good plays from the secondary.
Brandon Carr was able to get his first interception since 2013. Morris Claiborne looked good for the most part. Sure, there were some plays near him he gave up, but those completions came mostly because the Cowboys were in zone for a majority of the night. It's hard to analyze Orlando Scandrick's performance because he didn't have a complete night. Scandrick left the game in the second quarter because of a hamstring injury.
It seems Cowboys fans everywhere believe Byron Jones is the second coming of Darren Woodson. Besides getting beat by Odell Beckham Jr. on a deep ball, Jones performed well in his first game at free safety. If the Cowboys' defensive line can generate a consistent pass rush, I'm a firm believer that this secondary can surprise people.
Grade: B-
Rush Defense
4 of 6
I know I shouted Benson Mayowa out on the last slide, but I'm going to shout him out again. The Cowboys have had their eyes on Mayowa since he was with the Seattle Seahawks. He impresses with his motor and physical tools. In the place of Gregory and Lawrence, Mayowa fit in well as a starter. However, Jack Crawford, who started across from him, did not impress the same.
Terrell McClain looked comfortable in the interior. It seemed that whenever there was a play in the backfield, McClain was there making a play. The Cowboys missed him last season, and his performance in this game was the reason why. Other defensive tackles, such as Cedric Thornton and David Irving, had their moments, but both struggled with consistency throughout.
Sean Lee wasn't bad, but there were areas where his vision and filling ability could've improved. Anthony Hitchens was benched halfway through the night for Justin Durant. Hitchens is in the third year of his rookie contract, and his play will need to improve if he wants to keep a starting job.
The combination of Rashad Jennings and Shane Vereen ran for 113 yards on 24 carries. They continued to find success against the Cowboys using the same play where a guard would pull and the running back would run behind him. Adjustments weren't made to stop this play, and it continually hurt the Cowboys. If the Cowboys can't stop the run, it will lead to even more problems for a pass defense which is susceptible to getting beat if there isn't any pressure.
Grade: C-
Special Teams
5 of 6
You may view these grades each week and you may see the same results from this unit. The Cowboys' special teams is truly one of the best units in football. Dan Bailey is automatic. He hit four field goals tonight, two of which were beyond 54 yards. Remember the days of Martin Gramatica? David Buehler? Mike Vanderjagt? Bailey continues to prove his worth to the Cowboys. The scary thing is that he feels like he continues to get better.
Punter Chris Jones is also good. In only four punts tonight, Jones averaged just a tick under 50 yards per punt. He even booted one 56 yards. On top of the impact from Bailey and Jones, it's worth being mentioned how good long snapper L.P. Ladouceur is. Since taking over for struggling rookie Jon Condo in the middle of the 2005 season, Ladouceur has been nothing but consistent for the Cowboys.
Grade: A
Coaching
6 of 6
I'm going to preface this by saying I'm a Jason Garrett fan. I love what he has done with the franchise over the past couple of seasons. However, this game was a failure on the offensive side of the ball. I understand Scott Linehan's play-calling was supposed to be vanilla, but I felt at times the play-calling was too vanilla.
In the preseason, Prescott was having success once he got outside of the pocket. He's the type of player that can dazzle and make plays with his feet. But by keeping him in the pocket, the Cowboys limit him from reaching his full potential. The reality is that he isn't that experienced with throwing in the pocket, which is something the Cowboys have been familiar with over the years with Romo.
The idea is to simplify the playbook for Prescott. But when you simplify things too much, it can lead to a ton of offensive problems. These offensive problems were felt when the Cowboys got near the end zone. I expect the playbook to expand next week so Prescott and Elliott can get different looks.
Grade: C+
Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @RyanRattyNFL. I'm always willing to talk football.
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