'This is just wild': Super Bowl contender 'destroys' rival in historic ...

11 Sep 2023

Fox Sports

It looked like it would be a dream start for the Giants. Instead, it was a nightmare and it only got worse from there as the Dallas Cowboys ran out 40-0 winners on Monday [AEST].

It was a historic night for the Cowboys, who recorded their biggest shutout win in a season opener while inflicting the heaviest shutout defeat on the Giants in the first game of a season.

The Giants went into the locker room at halftime down 26-0 after the Cowboys dominated them through the first half of the game.

New York was held to just 81 total yards of offense by the suffocating Cowboys’ defense.

Dallas’ defense was so confident that Trevon Diggs had an “announcement” for the Giants offense, Melissa Stark reported on the “Sunday Night Football” broadcast.

“Trevon Diggs, he is trash-talking,” Stark reported. “He gathered the guys and said ‘I have an announcement to make to the Giants, do not throw the ball anymore.’”

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KaVontae Turpin celebrates with teammates. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

The Giants went 48 yards down the field, led by their ground game, on their first drive only to come up empty in the end.

The Cowboys got the first touchdown of the game after blocking a Giants’ field goal attempt on the Dallas 27-yard line to take a 6-0 lead.

Juanyeh Thomas was able to get his hands in front the 45-yard attempt by Graham Gano.

Corner Noah Igbinoghene recovered the ball and ran it back 58 yards for the score.

The Giants did catch a break with the Cowboys missing the extra point, but still trailed early in the game.

The drive had started off with much more optimism as Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones showed off their running prowess to march into the offensive zone.

Barkley ran the ball four times on the opening drive, with his longest attempt being a nine-yard carry on second-and-10.

Jones’ longest run of the drive was an 11-yard scramble that got the Giants down to the Cowboys’ 16-yard line.

Things only continued to spiral from there as things went from bad to worse for Big Blue.

The Cowboys’ defense completely shut them down on the next drive forcing a three-and-out and then on the Giants’ third drive of the game, they were crushed again.

It was a rough night for Daniel Jones. Mitchell Leff/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP

Jones went looking to hit Barkley with a short pass with the Giants backed up in their own end.

Barkley looked like he made the catch, but when he got hit by a Cowboys defender the ball popped out.

It flew into the air and right into the arms of cornerback Daron Bland, who took the ball the 22 yards into the end zone to make it a 16-0 Cowboys lead after the extra point.

The turn of events quickly erased the excitement that had been in the air at MetLife Stadium and there was little reason to celebrate as the Cowboys went on with the job from there.

Starting Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott didn’t have to do much in the end, completing 13 of 24 passes for 143 yards without a single touchdown.

Dallas running back Tony Pollard, meanwhile, had two scores in the win.

“This is wild... just wild. They are destroying the Giants. Some of these hits tonight have been extraordinary,” Cris Collinsworth said in commentary.

The Cowboys defence finished the game with two touchdowns, two interceptions, seven sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one block.

— with New York Post

49ERS, PURDY SEND SUPER BOWL STATEMENT WITH BIG WIN

It came after the San Francisco 49ers produced a statement victory of their own with an emphatic 30-7 crushing of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Cincinnati Bengals and their high-earning quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a surprise 24-3 defeat at divisional rivals Cleveland while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started life after Tom Brady with 20-17 victory at Minnesota.

The 49ers, beaten in the NFC Championship game last season by the Philadelphia Eagles, made the perfect start with a convincing victory in Pittsburgh as quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns.

Brock Purdy and the 49ers taught Kenny Pickett and the Steelers a lesson. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

After grabbing the starting role in his rookie season, Purdy underwent elbow surgery during the off-season but showed no signs of any lingering issues as he completed 19 of 29 passes.

Running back Christian McCaffrey also enjoyed a dominant opening day as he rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown.

San Francisco got themselves underway with Purdy’s eight-yard touchdown pass into the endzone to Brandon Aiyuk and the same combination delivered again in the second quarter with Aiyuk brilliantly pulling in an 18-yard pass into the corner despite the close attention of Patrick Peterson.

The Steelers narrowed the deficit at the end of the first half when Pat Freiermuth collected a three-yard scoring pass from Kenny Pickett at the end of a 12-play, 95-yard drive.

But the 49ers defence held firm in the second half and McCaffrey’s magnificent 65-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter crowned an excellent win.

It was a reality check for the Steelers and quarterback Pickett, who was one of the preseason’s best performers but threw two interceptions in the loss.

BENGALS STUNNED AS BURROW HAS CAREER-LOW OUTING

The other defeated conference championship team from last year, the Bengals -- who lost out to eventual Super Bowl winners Kansas City in the AFC Championship -- had a very different start.

Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, who missed the first 11 games of last season after he was suspended following an investigation into sexual harassment allegations, threw one touchdown and ran for another in an impressive display from Cleveland.

Burrow signed a five-year contract extension with the Bengals that made him the league’s highest-paid player, with the 26-year-old due to earn $275 million ($A430m) from the deal, but he was held to just 82 yards passing, the lowest return of his career.

Joe Burrow struggled. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

Watson got the Browns rolling with a 13-yard touchdown run at the end of the second quarter and then sealed the victory with a three-yard pass to Harrison Bryant in the fourth, with the quarterback then running in the two-point conversion.

Tampa Bay had turned to Baker Mayfield to replace the retired Brady and after a sticky opening in Minneapolis he made a winning start for his new club.

Mayfield threw for 173 yards and two touchdowns - tying the game at 10-10 with a 28-yard pass to Mike Evans late in the second before a seven-yard pass to Trey Palmer, at the end of a 16-play, 75-yard drive in the third put Tampa ahead.

The Vikings fought back, with Kirk Cousins finding Alexander Mattison for a touchdown early in the fourth, but Tampa won the game on a career-long 57-yard field goal from Chase McLaughlin.

The Bucs defence then stood firm on the final two possessions for Minnesota.

‘UNREAL’ DOLPHINS DUO EXPLODE, BELICHICK DEFENDS BIG CALL

In later games, the Philadelphia Eagles, beaten in last season’s Super Bowl by the Kansas City Chiefs,won 25-20 at the New England Patriots while Tua Tagovailoa led the Miami Dolphins to a thrilling 36-34 win at the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Eagles didn’t sparkle or shine against the Patriots but managed to grind out a win on a day in which their usually potent offense was mis-firing.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts through 22-for-33 for 170 yards and a touchdown and the Eagles only had 251 total yards offense.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick surprisingly decided to go for it on a few occasions on the fourth down instead of kicking a field goal that could have changed the complexion of the game.

Head coach Bill Belichick. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

Belchick defended the tactic post-game, telling reporters he “did what we felt was best for the team”.

“If we kicked, you would’ve asked why we didn’t go for it,” Belichick added.

He had a point too, given the New England’s offence has often been criticised in recent years for lacking creativity but Belichick clearly has more confidence in his playmakers this season.

Miami’s offence, meanwhile, was certainly firing on all cylinders with Tagovailoa throwing for 466 yards and three touchdowns while Tyreek Hill caught two of those touchdowns and had 215 yards receiving.

Tagovailoa connected with Hill for what proved to be the game-winner with 1:45 remaining.

Jason Sanders missed the point after, leaving the Chargers with the chance to win the game with a field goal, but Miami defenders Jaelan Phillips and Justin Bethel sacked Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on fourth down.

Jordan Love, the new Green Bay Packers quarterback replacing longtime star Aaron Rodgers, shined in a 38-20 win at Chicago, throwing for 245 yards and three touchdowns.

Elsewhere, in the biggest upset of the day the rebuilding Rams stunned the Seattle Seahawks 30-13.

Later , the New York Giants host NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys while on Tuesday Rodgers makes his debut for the New York Jets against the Buffalo Bills.

CRUSHING INJURY BLOW FOR STAR RUNNING BACK

Elsewhere, the Baltimore Ravens got off to a winning start as they defeated the Houston Texans 25-9 but the victory looks to have come at a serious cost.

The Ravens’ starting running back J.K. Dobbins tore his Achilles during the team’s Week 1 game against the Texans on Sunday, head coach John Harbaugh confirmed.

The season-ending injury is a crushing blow for Dobbins, 24, who missed the entirety of the 2021 season with a knee LCL tear in August of that year.

The Ohio State product had already punched home a touchdown for the Ravens on Sunday, taking eight carries for 22 yards and a score in a promising early development.

He appeared to roll his ankle while getting tackled near the sideline with about 10 minutes to play in the third quarter and was taken to the locker room shortly after.

J.K. Dobbins before he suffered his injury. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

Dobbins was selected No. 55 overall in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft and has been unable to seize the starting running back role since his standout rookie year in 2020.

That season, he rushed for 805 yards in 134 attempts with nine touchdowns, appearing to emerge as a promising running option in the Ravens’ attack.

Following Dobbins’ knee injury in 2021, he returned for eight games in 2022, taking 92 attempts for 520 yards and two touchdowns.

Backup running back Gus Edwards figures to assume starting duties if Dobbins is indeed sidelined for the rest of the season.

Edwards has served as a backup for the Browns since 2018, running for at least 700 yards in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Dobbins’ injury was one of 28 injuries in early carnage on Monday, with Seattle losing offensive tackles Abraham Lucas (knee) and Charles Cross (toe) in a shock loss to the Rams.

Matthew Stafford threw for 334 passing yards in the 30-13 win, with rookie Puka Nucua and second-year wideout Tutu Atwell stepping up in Cooper Kupp’s absence.

This article first appeared on The New York Post and was reproduced with permission.

NFL SCORES — WEEK 1

Chiefs 20 Lions 21

Browns 24 Bengals 3

Ravens 25 Texans 9

Vikings 17 Buccaneers 20

Falcons 24 Panthers 10

Commanders 20 Cardinals 16

Colts 21 Jaguars 31

Steelers 7 49ers 30

Saints 16 Titans 15

Broncos 16 Raiders 17