bruisin’ texas

WON-0 !

If you had told me before last night's game the Giants were going to handle Dallas with relative ease, I would have assumed the defense lived up to the preseason hype, holding Dallas to two touchdowns or less. I would've never guessed that the Giants' offensive domination would be the reason.

The play calling in this game was some of the best I can remember seeing from a Giants offense. It was the perfect combination of Matt Nagy's creativity and Greg Roman's smashmouth style. The Harbaugh influence was clear too: slow the game down and methodically work the ball down the field. To put that in perspective, the Giants won the time-of-possession battle 36:40 to the Cowboys' 23:20.

We saw a heavy dose of everyone's favorite bruser, Cameron Skattebo, especially in the first half. He carried the ball 18 times for 81 yards and a score, but Devin Singletary also made his presence felt. He totaled 38 yards and added a receiving TD while giving Cam some much-needed rest during the longer drives. 

The running game was clicking from the get-go, but the passing game had me worried early on. Dart missed a few throws and was dangerously close to a pick in the first quarter. Things quickly turned around as the play action opened things up for ‘Uno,’ Malik Nabers’ new moniker. After being a game-time decision, Nabers looked to be back healthy, and on a snap count, he finished the game with 6 catches for 69 yards.

This may feel like I'm burying the lede, because in my eyes the story of the night was the connection between Jaxson Dart and Isaiah Likely. Dart targeted Likely eight times on the night, with Isaiah coming down with all eight passes, amassing 78 yards and two touchdowns. During training camp, it was clear Dart favored Likely, but I don't think anyone thought the connection would look this strong this early. 

While the two touchdowns obviously made a major difference on the scoreboard, Likely's two sure-handed third-down catches late in the game truly sealed the victory for Big Blue. And with that, I'm officially coining a new phrase in New York: Third and Likely.

(image via nygiants.com)

On the other side of the ball, the defense didn't get to Dak, but they were able to pressure him just enough to force him to miss some open receivers and even throw an interception. He looked uncomfortable all night, partially due to the pressure, but some of the credit has to go to me and the other 80,000 in attendance, who had the stadium shaking and made MetLife as loud as I can ever remember hearing it.

The secondary deserves its share of the credit, too. As Greg Newsome and Tae Banks held their own against arguably the league's best wide receiver duo in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.

Now, while just about every media outlet you see today will tell you the Giants are back, we as fans have to pace ourselves. This win wasn't perfect; the Giants fumbled twice, had plenty of costly penalties, and didn't record a sack. 

That said, I mentioned before the season that if the Giants could win one of their first two games, my expectations would shift. What I initially viewed as a seven-to-nine-win team suddenly becomes an eight-to-10-win team with an outside shot at the playoffs.

Next Monday, the Giants will have a chance to ride this high as they remain in the national spotlight, heading to Los Angeles to take on the Rams on Monday Night Football. 

And DomWithABlog is heading to Tinseltown with them.

See you in LA.