The Dallas Cowboys came into the 2023 season with a chip on their shoulder. They wanted to prove that they should be mentioned amongst the best teams in the NFC along with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. After Week 1, they have certainly put teams on notice.
The Cowboys went on the road to face off against their NFC East rivals, the New York Giants. While things started slowly for Dallas, as New York ran the ball efficiently with running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones, they quickly took control of the game.
A false start on Giants’ left tackle Andrew Thomas and a bad snap from center John Michael Schmitz led to the field goal unit coming on the field. It was at that point the Cowboys’ onslaught began.
They blocked the field goal attempt by Graham Gano and returned the ball for a touchdown. It was the first of many big plays that occurred in the game as the Cowboys scored in virtually every way possible.
On the Giants’ third offensive drive of the game, Jones threw an interception after Barkley had the ball jarred out of his possession by cornerback Trevon Diggs. It landed in the arms of cornerback Daron Bland, who returned the ball 22 yards for a touchdown.
That was the first of three turnovers that the Cowboys forced, as they were running up the score without much impact from their offense. Eventually, they got in on the act, as the team’s offense scored their first touchdown about halfway through the second quarter.
At that point, the Cowboys accomplished something that hadn’t been done in years. They became the first team since 2009 to record an offensive, defensive and special teams touchdown in a season opener.
It was a truly dominating performance by Dallas, as they blew the doors off of New York. The Cowboys delivered one of the worst beatings in NFL history as they look like legitimate juggernauts after the first week of the season.
