Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants
Giants' offense rolls over the Cowboys to give coach John Harbaugh a 28-20 win in his debut
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- — Several months before coaching his first game for the New York Giants, John Harbaugh told fans he wanted to build a team that could beat the Dallas Cowboys.
It took one game to accomplish that feat.
Jaxson Dart connected with Isaiah Likely for two touchdowns and Devin Singletary on another, Cam Skattebo ran for one in his first game back from injury and the Giants opened the season by rolling over Dallas 28-20 on Sunday night in Harbaugh's New York debut. It's just one victory, but it was a promising start of a new era.
“We took steps in that direction,” Harbaugh said. “I think we’re on our way.”
Dart made one smart throw after another, mixing in a series of well-timed runs to keep the defense off balance. He finished 23 of 29 for 230 yards passing, plus 54 rushing, including a couple of slides and a dive to avoid the unnecessary hits that punctuated his rookie year.
“Just seeing his arm talent, just seeing how he takes over the game — using his legs, making the right decisions, knowing the coverages,” No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers said. “He was not backing down. He was not going to lose, and I was right behind him.”
Likely made eight catches on eight targets for 78 yards in his New York debut after following Harbaugh from Baltimore, extending the training camp trend when he was consistently Dart's top option. Nabers, playing for the first time since going down with a torn ACL in his right knee 350 days ago, had six catches for 69 yards.
“He's just a guy where no matter what the coverage is, no matter who they put out there on him, you have all the confidence in the world that he's going to make a play,” Dart said.
Back on the field more than 10 months since breaking his right fibula and dislocating his right ankle in gruesome fashion, Skattebo rumbled for 81 yards on 18 carries. After getting in hot water for doing a backflip earlier this summer, Skattebo brought back his signature celebration after running into the end zone untouched for the Giants' first points of the season.
Dak Prescott threw a costly interception just before halftime but otherwise played well for Dallas, completing 22 of 34 passes for 175 yards and TD tosses to CeeDee Lamb and Javonte Williams, who also ran for a touchdown. Dallas benefitted from a series of defensive pass interference calls that extended drives.
The Cowboys hurt themselves with penalties — eight of them for 85 yards, not counting an early intentional delay of game. That included a taunting call on Williams after he scored that contributed to Brandon Aubrey missing the ensuing extra point from farther out and a face-masking flag on Donovan Ezeiruaku just before the two-minute warning.
“It comes down to discipline, and we had some self-inflicted wounds," coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “I own that, and they own that.”
Their defense also did not look as improved on defense as they had hoped, at least in Week 1. After allowing the most points in the NFL last season at 30.1 a game, this was not far off, despite a new coordinator and some additional talent.
“Overall as a football team, we were pretty poor,” Schottenheimer said. “That’s certainly not our standard. We certainly didn’t come out of the gate fast enough on either side of the ball. This is a humbling business, and we got humbled.”
The Giants fumbled four times but only lost one: by Tyrone Tracy, who also put the ball on the ground during the preseason and missed a block that got Dart hit to go into Harbaugh's doghouse. Fullback Patrick Ricard fell on Likely's in the first quarter, guard Jon Runyan caught Dart's in the second and Skattebo recovered his own in the fourth.
The Giants honored 9/11 victims 25 years later in a pregame ceremony, and Harbaugh paid tribute on the sideline. He wore an NYPD hat in the first half, then switched to an FDNY cap for the second.
Cowboys: Safety Malik Hooker hurt a forearm making a tackle on the final play of the third quarter. ... Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown left with a hamstring injury early in the fourth.
Giants: Cornerback Deonte Banks was in and out during the second half while cramping up. ... Fellow cornerback Greg Newsome was evaluated for a concussion and cleared.
Cowboys: Host Washington next Sunday.
Giants: Visit the Los Angeles Rams on Monday, Sept. 21.
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