New York Giants: Studs and Duds in Week 1 Loss to Dallas Cowboys

Just when you thought the New York Giants have found every conceivable ugly way to lose a football game in their 91-year history, along comes another unpleasant surprise that’s certain to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of their faithful.

Poor clock management and the offense's inability to sustain drives, thus forcing the defense to carry the load, contributed to Big Blue's latest colossal collapse, a 27-26 disappointment to the Dallas Cowboys in a critical NFC East matchup.

The irony of this heartbreaking loss is that the Giants, whose offense was supposed to carry this team while the banged-up defense bought time to find its way, was the primary culprit.

New York’s offense held the ball for 22:50, forcing its defense to gut out a long, hot evening. In the end, missed opportunities—and there were plenty—snatched what should have been a well-earned victory, leaving the Giants’ mood to match their jersey color.

Let’s now turn the focus to some of the studs and duds of this week’s heartbreaker.

Stud: CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

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Take away the defensive-pass-interference call against Giants cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie—a call that Rodgers-Cromartie told Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post that even the official who threw the flag thought was “iffy”—and Rodgers-Cromartie had a pretty good game.

He finished third on the team in tackles with six, contributed one of the team’s five pass breakups and had the big 57-yard fumble recovery late in the second quarter that gave the Giants their first lead of the game.

Also credit Rodgers-Cromartie, who along with Prince Amukamara took turns at limiting Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant to five receptions for 48 yards, for shaking off an earlier, undisclosed injury in which he had to leave for a few snaps.

Dud: WR Preston Parker

Winslow Townson/Associated Press

Receiver Preston Parker: Three third-down pass targets, three drops  

If that’s not bad enough, two of the drops forced the Giants to settle for field goals, those coming in the first half, while the third drop prevented the Giants from getting into field-goal territory, points that in retrospect might have meant the difference between a win and a loss for the Giants in this game.

Victor Cruz, get well soon; Giants nation needs you.

Stud: K Josh Brown

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Thirty-six year-old Josh Brown, the Giants’ ageless wonder accounted for four field goals, including conversions of 40 and 50 yards, and made all of his extra point attempts.

Brown’s stellar kickoffs, combined with the kickoff coverage, resulted in the Cowboys averaging 19.2 yards per return, which is pretty darn good.  

On a night where the offense was about as reliable as the weather forecast, it was nice knowing that the Giants had a secret weapon in their back pocket who was able to make the score more respectable looking than it really was.

Dud: QB Eli Manning

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

After inking a four-year, $84 million contract extension Friday, the offense’s captain, who finished 20 of 36 for 193 yards with zero touchdowns (and no interceptions, so there’s always that) had a critical brain lapse late in the game that one might argue cost the Giants this game.  

To recap, on 3rd-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Manning, under heavy pressure from Cowboys inside linebacker Sean Lee—the very same Sean Lee whom Manning and the Giants exploited earlier in the game—attempted a pass instead of simply falling down on the ball. 

The pass, by the way, was chucked out of the back of the end zone as tight end Daniel Fells, believed to have been the target, was unable to disengage from safety Barry Church’s block.

Manning, who probably saw this, should have simply fallen on the ball to keep the clock running. Instead, the Giants settled for a 19-yard field goal by Josh Brown for a slim 26-20 lead.

To make matters worse, Manning’s brain lock gave Tony Romo, the new king of the fourth-quarter comebacks, giving Romo 1:34 to work his magic against a clearly gassed Giants defense that was on the field for 37:10 in this game.

“That’s 100 percent on me,” Manning said after the game, per Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. “That can’t happen. I’ve got to take the sack.”

Manning’s best attribute—his competitive spirit and his thirst for making plays—is also a curse, as the nation saw this week.

Stud: LT Ereck Flowers

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Normally a veteran player takes a rookie to school in games like these.

Not so for rookie tackle Ereck Flowers, who shook off an ankle injury to finish the game and who proceeded to school defensive end Jeremy Mincey, who was credited with just one assisted tackle all game.

Flowers so frustrated Mincey that the veteran defender took a swing at the rookie, knocking his helmet off and drawing a very stupid 15-yard penalty in the process that gave the Giants a fresh set of downs.

Beside that play, Flowers, teaming up with left guard Justin Pugh, delivered some solid play on the left side of the Giants' offensive line.

That duo didn’t allow a sack, and the Giants managed to get some decent runs behind them.

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.

Follow @Patricia_Traina.