The New York Giants fell to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday and it was definitely not pretty. At certain points, it was embarrassing and hard to watch.
After waiting almost nine months for the regular season to return, the Giants has their faces kicked in and rubbed in the dirt by Dallas.
There’s always something to learn from a loss. When the Giants look at the film from Sunday afternoon’s disaster, they’ll have a lot to learn and things they’ll want to avoid before next Sunday’s home opener at MetLife Stadium.
With that said, whose stock was up and down following the game on Sunday?
Stock up: Saquon Barkley
Let’s start with the obvious and the best player on the field Sunday. Barkley started off his 2019 campaign with another fine performance, rushing for 120 yards and also had 19 receiving yards, giving him 139 total yards in the game.
Some wondered why Barkley only got 11 carries and just four reception, especially when it was clear that the Cowboys couldn’t stop him. We’ll leave that for another discussion here.
Either way, Barkley is already off and running towards another tremendous season for the Giants.
Stock down: Pat Shurmur
So, why did Saquon Barkley only get 11 carries and four receptions when he was already having success in the game?
Shurmur got away from using his second-year back, and it was a major mistake. What was worse was Shurmur saying that Barkley’s use was just fine in the loss to Dallas.
That’s a bit concerning, especially since Barkley is the focal point of the offense. Maybe we’ll chalk it up to a bad performance early on in the season, but going forward, Shurmur needs to have better game plans for the offense and get more touches for Barkley.
Stock up: Evan Engram
With Odell Beckham Jr. in Cleveland, Golden Tate suspended for four games and several injuries to other receivers, Engram needed to step up in the offense and he did just that.
Engram lead the way with 11 catches for 116 yards and had the Giants lone receiving touchdown early on in the first quarter.
Engram has always had the talent to succeed and be a really big part of the offense. With some of the receiving options limited early on this season, Engram has to take on an even bigger role in the offense.
So far, he’s done that and if he has games like he did on Sunday in Dallas, he could be in for his best season as a pro.
Stock down: James Bettcher
The Giants’ second-year defensive coordinator was flat-out out-coached by Kellen Moore and Jason Garrett on Sunday.
Almost 500 yards and 35 points were given up and his schemes and game plan were extremely ineffective.
For someone who was once considered a top coordinator and must-have assistant coach, his defensive unit has not looked the part and part of that falls on Bettcher.
Last year, the defense surrendered over 400 points to opponents and the Giants are already on the pace again. It won’t end well for Bettcher if this becomes a common theme.
Stock up: Eli Manning
The people who want to run Eli Manning out of town will not like this, but Manning was not the issue on Sunday.
Aside from the one turnover, Manning still threw for over 300 yards, had a touchdown pass and didn’t get picked off once. Plus, he completed 68 percent of his throws on Sunday (30-for-44).
Granted, Daniel Jones got in the game on Sunday to get his feet wet, but it wasn’t an indication that Manning needed to be sat down and benched, because Manning is still the starter of this team heading into Week 2.
Manning still gives the Giants a chance to win when he’s on the field. And until he can’t do that, he’ll remain on the field as the starting quarterback.
Stock down: The entire defense
It’s hard to single out just one player who didn’t have a good performance, so we’re grouping the entire unit into this.
Not one single player was able to sack Dak Prescott on Sunday. Not one. At times, Prescott had all day to throw. And he punished the Giants for doing so.
The secondary looked lousy and got picked apart by Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, both of whom had over 100 yards receiving.
The Giants defense also struggled to stop either tight end; both Blake Jarwin and Jason Witten both had touchdown catches.
It was not a game to remember for the defense, and one where they’d likely want to forget even playing in.
