Their worst fears were realized

Grading the Giants after their 35-17, season-opening loss to the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Sunday:

Offense

There were 25 first downs and 440 total yards and it all added up to … not much. The offense directed by Eli Manning (30 of 44, 306 yards, 1 TD) managed only 17 points and was dreadful when it counted most, on third down (2 of 11 conversions). Saquon Barkley (11-120) was not stopped by the Cowboys — his own lousy defense kept him off the field and created too large a deficit to run the ball. This team cannot come close to winning with Barkley getting only 11 rushing attempts. Big game for Evan Engram (11-116, 1 TD). Two-minute drill at the end of the first half was a dink-and-dunk disaster.
Grade: C.

Defense

The worst fears were realized. No pressure at all, no sacks of ultra-comfortable Dak Prescott (25 of 32, 405 yards, 4 TDs). Cowboys did not even need much from rusty Ezekiel Elliott (13-53, 1 TD) because their passing game completely dominated an alarmingly shaky secondary. CB Antonio Hamilton’s “what the heck was he doing?’’ non-tackle of Randall Cobb will not look good Monday in the film room. If rookie CB DeAndre Baker goes on to have a good career, he will look back at his NFL debut as an aberration. The Giants hope that is the case, as his first game was a dud. LB Tae Davis committed a terrible holding penalty to give the Cowboys a first down on what would have been a third-and-13. Markus Golden got to Prescott — only because Golden got a head start and was called for an offside penalty.
Grade: F.

Special Teams

Rookie Corey Ballentine got a shot at kickoff returner and averaged 23 yards on the two he took out of the end zone. Michael Thomas was called for a holding penalty on the opening kickoff of the second half. Cody Core, signed because of his prowess in kick coverage, was called for a blatant fair-catch interference penalty in the third quarter. Punter Riley Dixon was solid, putting three of his four kicks inside the 20. Aldrick Rosas made his only field-goal attempt.
Grade: B.

Coaching

Pat Shurmur has never won on opening day and this one got out of hand early. He has to get Barkley more than 15 touches, but the lopsided score made it tough to run the ball. Coordinator James Bettcher is going to have to figure out a way to generate heat on the quarterback. His guys did not get a sniff of Prescott, but this might be the best offensive line the Giants will see all season. At times there was complete disarray in the secondary and, despite the youth, that cannot happen.
Grade: F.

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