The New York Giants opened the 2019 regular season with a humiliating loss at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys, having gone down to AT&T Stadium and walking away with a 35-17 beat-down.
Here’s a look at the winners, losers and everything in between from Sunday’s game.
Winners
Saquon Barkley: Although Barkley was wildly misused on Sunday, he still put up the incredible numbers that we’ve all come to expect from him. He played sound football on nearly every single snap, finish the game with 139 total yards.
Evan Engram: The expectation this offseason had been that Engram will break out and have a huge year. So far, so good. Save for one or two small hiccups, Engram played a great game, finishing with 11 receptions for 116 yards and one touchdown. His blocking was also noticeably improved.
Offensive line: As ugly as the game was, the offensive line clearly showed strides in their first game as a unit. There were times where they flashed while run blocking, and overall, they did an admirable job keeping defenders away from the quarterback. It wasn’t perfect, but it was dramatically better than years past.
Others: Cody Latimer, Bennie Fowler, Wayne Gallman and Riley Dixon
Losers
Antonio Hamilton: Hamilton drew the start over Deandre Baker and everything went downhill from there. The veteran was repeatedly picked on, getting beat by several receivers, while compounding his own issues by missing multiple tackles and appearing out of sorts on nearly every play.
Alec Ogletree: Ogletree said he lost weight this offseason in an effort to better cover tight ends. So much for that theory. It’s unclear how many of the tight end coverages issues fell to Ogletree, but there were certainly a few. The film is likely to be uglier than the eye test.
Secondary: These spots are usually reserved for individual players, but it’s hard to pinpoint just one or two. The Giants’ secondary was out of sorts from the jump, looking confused on almost every play, busting several coverages, missing multiple tackles and just generally getting pushed around like it was an XFL team against an NFL team.
Pass rush: Again, these spots are usually reserved for individuals, but the collective unit failed the organization on Sunday. The Giants once again have major pass rush issues, failing to register a single sack of Dak Prescott. In fact, they barely put any pressure on him whatsoever.
James Bettcher: Bettcher was humiliated by a rookie offensive coordinator and there’s no way around that. His schemes were lacking creativity, he failed to make necessary adjustments and simply had no answer for the Cowboys offense.
Officials: The referees are not the reason why the Giants were beaten down on Sunday, but to say they were fair and balanced would set your pants on fire. The sheer number of bad calls or missed calls should sound alarms in the league offices.
Others: Pat Shurmur
Mixed
Eli Manning: Had Manning not lost a highly questionable fumble, he easily would have been in the “winners” category no matter how much his haters would cry. All things considered, Manning had a strong game, completing 30 of his 44 passes for 306 yards and one touchdown. He had a second touchdown dropped by wide receiver Sterling Shepard on a contested play.
Tae Davis: Davis was one of the few defenders who flashed on Sunday, especially on an early run when he burst through the line and delivered a crushing blow on Ezekiel Elliott. However, he also showed inconsistency at other points, including a horrendous holding penalty that gave Dallas a first down in the second quarter.
Others: Aldrick Rosas and Daniel Jones
