Cowboys vs Giants: What went right and what went wrong…

The Dallas Cowboys opened the season against the New York Giants once again. Here are the Game notes and observations

Dak Prescott started the game noticeably off-target. He sailed a lot of passes that could have altered the course of the game. His value lies in his ability to still move the ball with his feet and his avoidance of turning the ball over. His ball security cannot be understated. As the game progressed, so did Prescott, eventually finding a groove, throwing for 268 yards. But the point is, this came could have been a much bigger blowout than it was.

As the rumors indicated this past week, Chaz Green got the first start at left guard for the Dallas Cowboys. Under contract for two more seasons, Green is clearly the Cowboys preference at this position. I watched the game twice, focusing on Green (among others) the second time, and he looked strong in his first start here. He will certainly be a guy to watch in film review this week.

I’ll be reviewing the All-22 film on the game, but initially it appears Zack Martin did well against “Snacks” Harrison while Travis Frederick struggled. As expected, La’el Collins was up and down in his regular season career debut at right tackle, and Tyron Smith was his usual strong self, reliably representing as an All-Pro LT. He collected two penalties in the fourth quarter which can be attributed to conditioning. He didn’t play much in the preseason and appeared to wear down during the game, resulting in lazy penalties. No cause for concern.

Another thing I’ll be watching in film review is the play of Maliek Collins. I tried to follow his play during the game but he was continuously swallowed up and neutralized. Many people predict big things from the second year man so it’ll be interesting to see why he was so quiet in Week 1.

On the Cowboys’ first third down of the game, Tank Lawrence was able to get to Eli Manning for the sack following a stunt inside. Eli was looking deeper downfield than normal, giving the stunt time to develop.

DeMarcus Lawrence didn’t stop there. He stayed active throughout, relying on secondary pass-rush moves rather than speed around the edge. Tank may never develop into the dynamic edge rusher the Cowboys thought he was when they moved up to draft in the second round, but he’s going to fill a critical role on this team in 2017 and rates as one of their top-2 pass rushers this season (I’d put David Irving and No. 1 and Maliek Collins at No. 3)

I’ve been calling for a huge season for

Cole Beasley

for quite a while now. After watching the first game play out, it’s safe to say my thinking has been reaffirmed. Unlike last season, you could see Dak often had an eye on Bease. The Cowboys moved away from him during the middle of the game for some strange reason but I wouldn’t expect to see that again next week. The offense works so much better with Beasley operating underneath.

More from Dallas Cowboys

1^st and goal at the 2 yard line and the Dallas Cowboys threw three incomplete passes. Armed with the best running game in football, they never attempted to run the ball once. I hate questioning play-calling in hindsight but that can’t happen.

Another thing that can’t happen is only walking away with three points in the first quarter after absolutely dominating the game. 26 plays = 3 points? The Cowboys have to find a way to deliver points when holding the ball that long. With that said, getting in the endzone before halftime took an enormous burden off the team.

There is a lot to look at this week in film review. The Cowboys dominated play but they didn’t execute particularly well. So much to improve on offensively.

Defensively, the team played fantastically. The secondary took away the deep ball and gave the Giants the short passes. The Giants refused to accept the short passes and kept pressing for the big play. And we all know how that ended.

Next: Why this player will lead the Cowboys in receptions in '17

The defensive line was excellent against the hapless Giant line. The true test will be against some of the better fronts in upcoming weeks…

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