ARLINGTON, Texas _ Same old Giants.
A season that held promise because of all the changes, especially offensively, and the optimism that swept through the franchise in the months following the arrivals of new general manager Dave Gettleman and new head coach Pat Shurmur crashed into an embarrassing wall of negativity Sunday night.
Never mind the fact that the Giants had few answers in their 20-13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, their second in as many weeks, but all those improvements produced nothing close to expectations. If anything, these Giants looked far too much like the team that got Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese fired last December.
The lack of production from the offense is stunning. The Giants didn't cross midfield once in the first half, and they could not get anything going.
The third quarter opened and it got even worse when Eli Manning was sacked by Damien Wilson, who ran right past rookie left guard Will Hernandez for the strip sack.
The Cowboys recovered the fumble, and the Giants forced another field goal that put Dallas ahead 13-0, but at that point, with no offense to speak of, it was as if they were down four touchdowns and playing on a field that seemed 400 yards long.
The Giants were grinding their gears and coming up empty. Manning has no trust in his protection. He was sacked six times in the game, the most for the Cowboys (1-1) against the Giants (0-2) since 2008.
The Giants have now opened 0-2 for the fifth time in six seasons.
At times, it looked like the Giants had options downfield and Manning either didn't have the time or was not allowing things to develop.
Manning converted a pair of fourth-and-shorts on quarterback sneaks on the same first-half possession, and the Giants still were unable to cross midfield. It's been that kind of night so far.
Things went from bad to worse in the third quarter when starting center Jon Halapio had to be carted off the field late in the third quarter with a significant right leg injury.
Halapio's right leg was immobilized in an air cast, forcing guard John Greco to come off the bench and replace him in the lineup at center. The Giants finally got things going and reached the doorstep with first-and-goal chance at the 3 before everything fell apart.
Manning missed opportunities on that drive, airmailing a throw to Odell Beckham Jr. when Sterling Shepard raced up the field uncovered. Then he did not see Beckham running open to the corner of the end zone on another play.
By the time Manning was decked by Jaylon Smith on the final play before Aldrick Rosas' 28-yard field goal, the Giants were back to going nowhere.
Manning threw his first touchdown of the season with 1:27 left to Evan Engram, and then the Giants recovered an onside kick. It was too little, too late. Saquon Barkley caught a staggering 14 passes in the game, but the lack of consistent production across the board continues to be baffling.
In addition to the Halapio injury, the Giants lost cornerback Eli Apple to a groin injury.
