The Giants.com crew members give their takeaways from a jam-packed trip to Dallas. We also gave them a bonus question about where the game ranks in the wild factor since they have been covering the team.
John Schmeelk: The Giants lost a gut-wrenching game on Sunday against the Cowboys to fall to 0-2. Close games often come down to one or two plays and the Giants did not execute well enough in a few of those instances to win the game. My colleagues will touch one many of those, but I feel obligated to look at something the Giants did on offense, since I have so often written about it in this same space.
Last season, the Giants finished the year with only 46 plays of 20 or more yards. Only the Dolphins and Patriots finished with fewer. In the past two seasons combined, the Giants’ 78 completions of 20 or more yards also ranks third-fewest in the National Football League. It’s why, despite the loss, I smiled so wide when I looked at the big play totals after the Cowboys game and saw the Giants had eight. The total led the league in Week 2. Seven of those came through the air, including four of 30 or more yards. Both of those numbers also led the league.
So far this season, the Giants are tied for second in the NFL in both plays and completions of 20 or more yards. It is finally happening. The Giants have been a station-to-station offense that required long, sustained drives to score touchdowns for years, but it seems like Russell Wilson has unlocked their downfield passing game after years of it being dormant. The only way teams can consistently score points is by creating chunk plays. The Giants seem to be doing it finally, and it means they will have a real chance to win a lot more games this season, even if their defense does not play well and gives up a lot of points like it did Sunday in Dallas. It might lead to more wild games like the ones we saw in Week 2.
Craziest regular-season game since covering the Giants (began in 2006): The Giants’ loss to the Cowboys reminded me a lot of the 52-49 loss to the Saints on Nov. 1, 2015. Eli Manning threw for 350 yards and six touchdowns, but Drew Brees went for 505 yards and seven touchdowns. Those two teams combined for 31 fourth-quarter points, still trailing the 41 that the Giants and Cowboys combined for in Week 2.
Trumaine McBride intercepted Drew Brees and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown with 7:11 to play to give the Giants the one-touchdown lead. The Saints tied to the game on their next drive, but the Giants couldn’t score after starting a drive on their own 20 with 36 seconds to play. The Giants lined up to punt with 20 seconds on the clock when Brad Wing punted to Marcus Murphy, who returned the ball to the Giants 47 before Craig Dahl forced a fumble, which was recovered by Willie Snead. The game would have likely went into overtime but Wing was called for a facemask penalty on Snead and the ball was moved to the 32, where Kai Forbath connected on a 50-yard field goal as time expired to win the game for the Saints.