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The Dallas Cowboys opened the 2015 campaign on Sunday Night Football against the NFC East-rival New York Giants and failed to do only one thing well in the first half. The one thing they didn’t do was finish.
Whether it was finishing a catch, a run, a series or the half in general, the Cowboys consistently failed in the first two quarters of the season.
The Cowboys took the opening kickoff and preceded to run 14 plays for 77 yards to set up 1st-and-goal at the New York 5-yard line. Three pass plays and a penalty later, Dan Bailey converted a 22-yard field goal to give Dallas the early 3-0 lead.
The first Giants possession of the game featured two near fumbles, and quite possibly the softest 15-yard penalty in history on corner Brandon Carr, leading to a 50-yard Giants field goal to tie the game. From that point, with 1:58 left in the first quarter through the end of the first half, the Cowboys would out-gain the Giants 123 to 48, yet they managed to be outscored 10-3 due to two miscues by typically reliable members of the Cowboys offense.
First, with 56 seconds left in the second quarter, Cole Beasley fumbled after a 15-yard gain, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie recovered for the Giants and took it back 57 yards for a touchdown, giving the Giants their first lead of the game at 10-6.
On the very next play from scrimmage, Tony Romo escaped the pocket to his right and threw a short pass to Jason Witten. However, the ball was behind the trusty tight end, who tipped it up in the air into the waiting arms of Giants linebacker Uani Unga for the interception at the Dallas 36-yard line. The Cowboys defense held, forcing a 40-yard field goal and a 13-6 Giants lead.
Overall, the Cowboys held the Giants offense to only 88 first-half yards, held the ball for almost 22 minutes offensively and moved the ball at will, but they failed to finish and went into halftime down seven.
The Giants opened the second half with their best offensive drive of the game, going 68 yards in 12 plays, culminating in a 30-yard field goal and a 16-6 lead for New York. But Tony Romo and his crew answered with a long drive of their own, capping off a nine-play, 80-yard march with a Romo-to-Escobar touchdown pass, bringing the team back within three.
The teams rounded out the third quarter exchanging punts, but with eight minutes left in the game—and with Dez Bryant in the locker room with what was later diagnosed as a fractured bone in his foot—Tony Romo hit Devin Street on a slant pattern on 3rd-and-6.
Street was immediately hit by veteran safety Brandon Meriweather, which popped the ball out right in the direction of Giants corner Trumaine McBride, who returned it for what appeared to be a touchdown before instant replay ruled he had stepped out of bounds at the 1. Rashad Jennings took the handoff on the very next play and was able to get into the end zone, putting the Giants back up 10 with about eight minutes left in the game.
On the ensuing possession, Tony Romo hit Jason Witten, Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley twice each, going 76 yards on six plays, hitting Jason Witten for the one-yard touchdown to bring it back to within three.
The Giants got the ball back with just over five minutes remaining in the game with an opportunity to try to put the game away. They ran 13 plays and gained 79 yards, getting all the way to the Dallas 1-yard line, with some help from a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty from veteran defensive lineman Jeremy Mincey.
However, because of some notable clock-management mistakes by the Giants, combined with the Cowboys’ use of timeouts as well as the two-minute warning, only 3:34 ran off the clock on that drive. The possession culminated with a 3rd-and-goal decision to attempt a pass when Dallas had no timeouts left and only about a minute and 45 seconds on the clock. An incompletion stopped the clock, and the Giants’ field goal put them up six.
The Cowboys took the ensuing kickoff and, in vintage Tony Romo fashion, drove 72 yards on six plays, jump-started by two completions to running back Lance Dunbar, and capped by a Romo-to-Witten connection for an 11-yard game-winning touchdown.
Read on for all the Cowboys grades, notes and quotes you need for the game.
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Whether it was finishing a catch, a run, a series or the half in general, the Cowboys consistently failed in the first two quarters of the season.
The Cowboys took the opening kickoff and preceded to run 14 plays for 77 yards to set up 1st-and-goal at the New York 5-yard line. Three pass plays and a penalty later, Dan Bailey converted a 22-yard field goal to give Dallas the early 3-0 lead.
The first Giants possession of the game featured two near fumbles, and quite possibly the softest 15-yard penalty in history on corner Brandon Carr, leading to a 50-yard Giants field goal to tie the game. From that point, with 1:58 left in the first quarter through the end of the first half, the Cowboys would out-gain the Giants 123 to 48, yet they managed to be outscored 10-3 due to two miscues by typically reliable members of the Cowboys offense.
First, with 56 seconds left in the second quarter, Cole Beasley fumbled after a 15-yard gain, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie recovered for the Giants and took it back 57 yards for a touchdown, giving the Giants their first lead of the game at 10-6.
On the very next play from scrimmage, Tony Romo escaped the pocket to his right and threw a short pass to Jason Witten. However, the ball was behind the trusty tight end, who tipped it up in the air into the waiting arms of Giants linebacker Uani Unga for the interception at the Dallas 36-yard line. The Cowboys defense held, forcing a 40-yard field goal and a 13-6 Giants lead.
Overall, the Cowboys held the Giants offense to only 88 first-half yards, held the ball for almost 22 minutes offensively and moved the ball at will, but they failed to finish and went into halftime down seven.
The Giants opened the second half with their best offensive drive of the game, going 68 yards in 12 plays, culminating in a 30-yard field goal and a 16-6 lead for New York. But Tony Romo and his crew answered with a long drive of their own, capping off a nine-play, 80-yard march with a Romo-to-Escobar touchdown pass, bringing the team back within three.
The teams rounded out the third quarter exchanging punts, but with eight minutes left in the game—and with Dez Bryant in the locker room with what was later diagnosed as a fractured bone in his foot—Tony Romo hit Devin Street on a slant pattern on 3rd-and-6.
Street was immediately hit by veteran safety Brandon Meriweather, which popped the ball out right in the direction of Giants corner Trumaine McBride, who returned it for what appeared to be a touchdown before instant replay ruled he had stepped out of bounds at the 1. Rashad Jennings took the handoff on the very next play and was able to get into the end zone, putting the Giants back up 10 with about eight minutes left in the game.
On the ensuing possession, Tony Romo hit Jason Witten, Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley twice each, going 76 yards on six plays, hitting Jason Witten for the one-yard touchdown to bring it back to within three.
The Giants got the ball back with just over five minutes remaining in the game with an opportunity to try to put the game away. They ran 13 plays and gained 79 yards, getting all the way to the Dallas 1-yard line, with some help from a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty from veteran defensive lineman Jeremy Mincey.
However, because of some notable clock-management mistakes by the Giants, combined with the Cowboys’ use of timeouts as well as the two-minute warning, only 3:34 ran off the clock on that drive. The possession culminated with a 3rd-and-goal decision to attempt a pass when Dallas had no timeouts left and only about a minute and 45 seconds on the clock. An incompletion stopped the clock, and the Giants’ field goal put them up six.
The Cowboys took the ensuing kickoff and, in vintage Tony Romo fashion, drove 72 yards on six plays, jump-started by two completions to running back Lance Dunbar, and capped by a Romo-to-Witten connection for an 11-yard game-winning touchdown.
Read on for all the Cowboys grades, notes and quotes you need for the game.
Begin Slideshow
Continue reading...