After a sluggish start that saw two first-half turnovers, the Dallas Cowboys found their grove scoring 27 second-half points in a 44-20 win over the New York Giants. With the win, Dallas moves to 2-0 in the division and 4-1 on the season. Below are our four biggest takeaways from this evening’s win.
Kellen Moore
What gets lost when talking about the success of the Cowboys’ offense is the man calling the plays. Moore has put himself in the conversation for head coaching jobs so far this season, as his offense is clicking on all cylinders. The balanced attack has kept defenses on their toes, with the only thing stopping it is the offense itself. Against the Giants, we say a fake pitch touchdown pass to running back Ezekiel Elliott and a wide receiver pass from Cedrick Wilson to Noah Brown. The 515 yards of offense is the most against the Giants in series history. As long as the offense continues this pace, Dallas will be hard to beat.
Ezekiel Elliott
Elliott notched his 47th game with over 100 total yards, tieing him for third-most in team history with Hall of Famer Michael Irving. Perhaps nobody has benefited more from the return of quarterback Dak Prescott than Elliott. He racked up 110 yards rushing and 2 yards receiving with a touchdown. Along with fellow back Tony Pollard, the Cowboys not only have one of the best rushing offenses in the league but one of the best backfields in the league.
Trevon Diggs
Unfortunately, this isn’t a contract year for the second year corner from Alabama because he’d put himself in position for a big payday. In the win, Diggs notched his sixth interception in five games tops in the league. With Daniel Jones among the many Giants out in the second half, backup quarterback Mike Glennon tested Diggs with a deep ball and came away with another pick to his career total. At some point, teams are going to stop testing him locking down one side of the field. Proof of that came in the final minutes with Glennon threw a pick-six to corner Anthony Brown trying to avoid Diggs. With the pass rush and rookie hybrid Micah Parsons turning in strong outings, the Dallas defense is quietly becoming one of the most improved units in the league.
Slow Start
Moving forward, the Cowboys are going to need to come out better against lesser teams. A red zone trip ended in a field goal, another in a lost Prescott fumble. Rounding out the slow start was a tipped interception on a fourth and two, along with allowing the Giants to tie it up late in the half, at 10, before a last-second touchdown drive by Dallas. Despite the 4-1 start, this is an issue Dallas has to fix moving forward because it’s hard to keep overcoming starts like these.
