The two biggest reasons the New York Giants were blown out by the Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys pummeled the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon 35-17. In a game that was expected to be more competitive, Big Blue failed to stop Dak Prescott and Dallas’ offense at any point during the contest. Jason Garrett beat Giants head coach Pat Shurmur at every turn, especially in regards to the secondary. However, that failure was more relevant to defensive coordinator James Bettcher who couldn’t put Prescott under pressure if his life depended on it.

Dialing up blitzes and unique packages didn’t work against a dominant Cowboys offensive line. The Giants needed to win in man coverage and stay consistent in zone coverage…needless to say, they didn’t.

Here are the two biggest reasons for the New York Giants loss:

1.) Blown coverages

To start this topic, I’m going to post a string of blown coverages.

Overall, the rookies were a mess in coverage — DeAndre Baker was torched multiple times, but Antonio Hamilton, fourth-year player, was picked on regularly throughout the game. Bettcher was unable to find a way to get to Prescott and force him to make mistakes, which is why he finished the day with 405 passing yards and four scores.

Veteran Antoine Bethea, a quality safety that was expected to make an impact on the defensive secondary, was unable to provide any quality. He was beaten badly on a touchdown pass to Randall Cobb in the third quarter (last video). The secondary was extremely questionable the entire night and needed to find a way to bounce back after a severe loss in Dallas. The Giants have a chance to bounce back against a weaker Buffalo Bills wide receiver corps in week two at MetLife.

2.) The pass rush

The Giants’ defensive front was non-existent for week one of the regular season. Finishing the game with just two quarterback hits and zero sacks is very telling of their performance. Rookie Dexter Lawrence was unable to get any push up front, and B.J. Hill/Dalvin Tomlinson disappeared before the game even started.

Both Oshane Ximimines and Lorenzo Carter were not called once. The latter has a ton of expectation on his shoulders as a second-year player with impressive tangible traits. He was unable to beat Dallas’ tackles and contribute in any way except for a pass breakup downfield early on.

Moving forward, the Giants are in desperate need of a pass rush and must find ways to get after the quarterback. Bettcher needs to do a much better job utilizing Jabrill Peppers in coverage and at the line of scrimmage. Peppers isn’t as effective as Landon Collins was against the run in recent years, but he’s capable of being an impact player.

The Giants still have a long way to go and the season is still young, but a ton of deficiencies was put on display against Dallas.

EXTRA:

Saquon Barkley only ran the ball 11 times, a mind-blowing number that should be questioned. Pat Shurmur needs to activate his best player more frequently, especially against a highly touted defense. On 3rd-and-2, Shurmur ran the ball with Elijah Penny rather than Barkley in the red-zone, a ludicrous move that was followed by an Eli Manning fumble on 4th-and-1.