The first week of the 2023 season of NFL is now behind us and there were some shocking games in the first week. Of course my own team got edged out with an "L" but honestly, I have been disappointed so many times in a row by Carolina Panthers that this doesn't even surprise me. The worrying thing is that our division is one of the weakest in the entire league so losing your first game doesn't bode well for the future. They keep saying things like needing to "find their legs" and all that but we've heard this excuse before. It's probably too early to get completely pessimistic but I expect to be disappointed by my team.
Now for a Giants fan, this pessimism might be a bit more of a strong feeling that they have after week one.
src
better get used to that position. You are going to be spending a lot of time in it this year
It's bad enough losing the first game of the season, but imagine getting beaten on your home turf in front of a sold-out crowd 40-0 by one of the most hated teams in the sport. That can't feel good. The NY fans didn't have much to cheer about during this game as the Cowboys wasted no time showing the home fans what the day's experience was going to be like when they went up 16-0 in the first quarter. By halftime it was 26-0.
By the second half the Cowboys kind of stepped off the gas and while this isn't anything official, most teams will normally do this when they get ahead by enough points to make it nearly impossible for the opposing team to win. This is also a wonderful way to expand the life of your very expensive fielded team and avoid injury. This didn't change much about the outcome though because even with the Dallas side not going for it on every play, the Giants couldn't manage to put together anything that resembled something that could be called offense. At least the kicking team got a workout and I am sure they will be very busy boys in the 2023 season.
Let's look at what the Giants did wrong and it started very early. 16-0 is a terrible deficit to find yourself in during the first quarter of a game but both touchdowns were actually scored because of NY mistakes. The first touchdown was off of a blocked field goal attempt from "downtown" by the Giants who honestly should have just punted and the second touchdown was a runback off an interception. The Cowboys wouldn't score a TD that they "walked down the field" until nearly the end of the first half. This just goes to show that it is very important to protect possession of the ball even if this means sacrificing potential gains in the process. I don't know what inspired NY to "go for it" on that field goal from 45 yards which is a very low percentage field position to actually score from, but it was a bad decision that they paid for immediately.
The offensive line could be problematic for the Giants as NY Quarterback Daniel Jones was sacked 7 times in a single game. This should never happen. Should this continue Jones is going to get injured and things could end up even worse for the Giants.
I saw this written about the game and it made me laugh:
After being one of the NFL's biggest surprises last season and making the playoffs for the first time since 2016 under new coach Brian Daboll, the New York Giants came into the season looking to take that next step.
They did in the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys, and it was a major step backward.
From a gambling standpoint the Cowboys were a favorite going into this game but on the moneyline they were a mere -175 favorite and on the spread they were favored by a mere 3 points. Well, they certainly exceeded those expectations.
For any Cowboy haters out there just know this: Dallas has an almost systematic approach to the early season in that they seem to regularly start out with a sprint, get all optimistic, then fizzle out by week 5. For Giants fans, don't lose hope because nobody really expects anything from you anyway.
Next week the Giants will face the Cardinals in Phoenix and they will have a lot to prove then. Considering that NYG only have one win thus far including the preseason (against Carolina smh) I wouldn't get my hopes up about them turning it all around in that game either.
To answer my own question from the title of this article I would say that Dallas is decent and the NY Giants are likely one of the worst teams in the NFL this year. If I was a betting man (I am) I would say that neither one of them are going to end up being a powerhouse this year.