Giants vs. Cowboys – Monday Morning Manning: Week 1
By: Marco Imperati
It is fair to say that there aren’t many who expected week 1 in Dallas to come down to a last play, once in 10 years, Matt Dodgeish/DeSean Jackson like heart-breaker. Anything is possible in the NFL, however, I did think the Giants offense would have been clicking while the defense struggles.
The Giants had several opportunities to put this game away and steal a huge division game. We could only speculate which direction this loss propels the Giants. Eli Manning’s game will be judged by the huge third down where instead of running the ball or taking a sack, both would have taken more time off the play clock, decided to throw the ball and stop the clock. It’s week one and there are many games to be played, but this one certainly hurts.
Some goods:
The left side of the offensive line. Welcome to the NFC East, Erreck Flowers! Outside of allowing Randy Gregory to get by him on some speed moves, Flowers held his own with the Justin Pugh anchoring inside as a guard. He showed poise late to not retaliate to a personal foul. The rookie and Pugh will continue to grow as the season goes on.
I thought Rashad Jennings bounced back from an early fumble. He was ripping off runs in the 4th quarter. Going forward, I’m ok with a committee of backs getting carries. I am not OK with the backs not being used to highlight their individual strengths. Jennings, Andre Williams, and Shane Vereen all have a variety of strengths. Offensive Coordinator, Ben McAdoo needs to do a better job of distributing those strengths.
Some bads:
Preston Parker. I appreciate this guy’s toughness. I know his story,how he fought back to get in the NFL, and props to him for sticking on a pretty loaded offense and wide receiver group this off-season. However, he had three key drops on 3rd down.
The throws could have been better but if the ball hits you in the hands, you have to catch it. When is Victor Cruz coming back? The offense does not look crisp. Eli should be moving this group and getting into plays faster.
I would like to see more out of Dwayne Harris. Outside of a tricky end around play, Harris was an east to west directional runner.