New York Giants: Same Old Problems Lead to Defeat in 2012 NFL Season-Opener

It may only be one game, but the New York Giants have to be concerned that, despite a new campaign, the same old problems doomed them to defeat in the 2012 NFL season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.

The same issues that blighted the G-Men in 2011and condemned them to a lacklustre 9-7 mark were still present in Wednesday night's 24-17 reversal. Their new additions did nothing to rectify the problems and last season's stars failed to shine.

The main difficulties were present in the offensive line. The inability of the front five to control a powerful Dallas defensive front meant the Giants struggled to cleanly execute many offensive plays of any kind.

In particular, there seems to be no improvement in the blocking for a running game which ranked last in the NFL a season ago. Things don't look much better this term as holdover Ahmad Bradshaw was contained all night.

The Cowboys' defensive line was able to penetrate the interior and string plays wide. No matter what kind of combinations the Giants attempted to pull and have lead in space, they were simply no match for the speed of the Dallas linebackers.

Another problem is that Bradshaw ran tentatively, and rookie David Wilson never recovered from a first-quarter fumble. Fixing the ground game was an offseason priority for Big Blue, but based on this game, the new-look run offense is no better than the porous unit that took the field for most of last season.

Poor play up front also meant Eli Manning was harassed all night. He was the victim of three sacks and faced constant pressure. Having Sean Locklear match up with DeMarcus Ware was always going to spell trouble, and so it proved, as Ware dominated the first half and spent most of the game causing Manning to flee the pocket.

However, Ware wasn't the only Cowboys defender New York's front five failed to contain. Jason Hatcher and Anthony Spencer both harried and chased Manning on a regular basis.

Pressure and hits on Manning were an issue last season, and the star quarterback appears to be in for more of the same this year. Unfortunately for Manning, he wasn't given much help by his usually superb wide receivers.

Last season's standout, Victor Cruz dropped a clutch of easy catches, in scenes reminiscent of Manning's 2010 season, where deflected balls usually ended up as interceptions. With Hakeem Nicks obviously still slowed by injury and Mario Manningham gone, the Giants' passing game can't afford a drop in production from Cruz.

Defensively, the Giants once again showed off a rugged pass rush. However, they still couldn't stop a thing the Cowboys tried, despite a litany of procedure penalties from Jason Garrett's team. Last season's habit of surrendering touchdowns in the dying embers of a half, made an unwelcome return.

Communication in the secondary was clearly an issue. The group seemed to miss the sanctity of the three-safety, "big-nickel" packages favoured last season.

2011 taught the Giants that indifferent regular-season form can be overcome. However, the fact all of last season's worst failings showed up as prominent as ever, won't inspire much confidence regarding Big Blue's hopes for a Super Bowl repeat.