The 2023 season could not have gone much worse for the New York Giants. They hosted their NFC East rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, in their home opener. Coming off of a surprisingly successful 2022 campaign, optimism was high for New York heading into the game. It took all of seven game minutes for those feelings to disappear.
The Giants had a strong first drive going, running the ball well. But an untimely false start penalty by left tackle Andrew Thomas and a bad snap from rookie center John Michal Schmitz Jr. led to the drive unraveling.
The Cowboys blocked the field goal attempt from Graham Gano and the bad things began snowballing on the Giants. That is how the entire game went as Dallas destroyed New York, winning 40-0.
To make matters worse for the Giants, they could be without a key offensive piece moving forward. According to Charlotte Carroll, a Giants beat writer for The Athletic, Thomas has to undergo imaging for his hamstring.
The severity of the injury is currently unknown. He said that there is some soreness and that he stuck it out in the game for as long as he could. There is a belief that the injury occurred during the blocked field goal when he was attempting to run down Noah Igbinoghene.
That would be a catastrophic loss for the Giants in what is already a disastrous start to the season. Thomas is one of the best young left tackles in the NFL; replacing him would be virtually impossible to do.
On top of that, the Giants’ offensive line was a mess against the Cowboys. Dallas does have a fearsome pass rush, abusing right tackle Evan Neal throughout the night. Without Thomas, things would actually get worse for New York in the trenches, which is hard to imagine after Sunday night’s display.