EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Dallas Cowboys defense took one possession to wake up. They came out a bit sluggish, and let the New York Giants offense run the football with success on the first possession of the football game.
And then they woke up, and started to dominate the football game.
A bad snap to Daniel Jones on a 3rd & 7 wrecked the Giants' first drive and forced a field goal attempt. And the Cowboys capitalized on the opportunity, as Juanyeh Thomas crashed through to block the field goal attempt and Noah Igbinoghene scooped up the loose ball and carried it 58 yards for the first touchdown of the Cowboys season.
That ignited the Cowboys defense, and they came out with an entirely different vibe from that point forward. Micah Parsons had a sack to end the second Giants possession, leading to a Cowboys field goal drive to take a 9-0 lead. Demarcus Lawrence had a sack to start the next Giants possession, putting New York behind the chains.
On 3rd & 19, the Giants went to the air. Daniel Jones flipped a pass over the middle to Saquon Barkley, who was immediately blown up by Trevon Diggs. The ball shot up in the air, right into the waiting arms of DaRon Bland, who returned the interception 22 yards for another Cowboys touchdown.
Dallas leads 16-0, as the first quarter comes to a close. And 12 of those 16 points have come directly from their special teams and defense.
