New York did its damage on the ground as much as through the air — Cam Skattebo opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, part of an 18-carry, 81-yard night that helped an offensive line anchored by newcomer Francis Mauigoa convert 9 of 11 third downs and control two Giants scoring drives that ran roughly 15 minutes combined. Malik Nabers, still working back from the knee injury that ended his 2025 season, played through it and caught 6 of 9 targets for 69 yards, the kind of clean availability outcome that had been an open question all week.
None of that showed up as a blowout on the scoreboard — Dallas actually trailed by a single score into the fourth quarter — but the shape of the game matched almost exactly what the health notes and depth charts pointed toward: a Giants operation with answers at every level, and a Cowboys defense that is going to need more than one Sunday before it resembles the unit its offseason additions were supposed to build. Rashan Gary finished his Cowboys debut with just 2 tackles, and it's now happened 11 times since the start of last season that Dallas has allowed 28 or more points in a game, the most in the league over that stretch.
Javonte Williams made Dallas' backfield concerns look overblown for a night, catching all 5 of his targets for 31 yards and a touchdown to go with 41 rushing yards and a score on the ground — exactly the two-way workload the Cowboys needed after moving Malik Davis to injured reserve over the weekend. George Pickens was a non-factor by comparison, held to 3 catches on 6 targets for 28 yards, and CeeDee Lamb's touchdown was the loudest thing about an otherwise quiet 44-yard, 5-catch outing.
The health picture got worse for Dallas as the game wore on: Malik Hooker didn't return after a forearm injury that head coach Brian Schottenheimer said could be a fracture, and DeMarvion Overshown left with a hamstring issue late in the fourth, with PJ Locke and rookie Jaishawn Barham stepping into a secondary and front seven that had zero live reps together to begin with. Rookie safety Caleb Downs was the lone bright spot on that side of the ball, finishing with 8 tackles and a sack in his own debut.
The final board split almost evenly by quarter, with Dallas' 6 fourth-quarter points arriving too late to matter — the Giants led from the opening drive and never trailed, closing out a night the Cowboys' new coordinators will be studying long past Week 1.