Offensive Game Ball: DeMarco Murray
The numbers were not huge, but every carry and catch that DeMarco Murray had was vital to the success of this win against the New York Giants tonight. Murray finished the game with 20 carries for 86 yards, along with 8 catches for 39 more. Each time that Murray touched the ball he was finishing runs. He was physical and he ran with a purpose. Maybe the most important note on Murray was that he was outstanding protecting the football, and for head coach Jason Garrett, that was his most important trait.
Defensive Game Ball: Defensive Line
Coming into this game, there were plenty of questions about how the defensive line would play with all the injuries that they had suffered through training camp. No Anthony Spencer, Jay Ratliff, Tyrone Crawford or Ben Bass in the lineup, but this group didn't let that become an excuse. George Selvie, Nick Hayden and Landon Cohen played like they had been here their entire careers. Jason Hatcher was outstanding at the 3-technique inside, and with DeMarcus Ware was able to not only control the Giants rushing attack, but also provide enough pressure on Eli Manning to cause him issues.
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Special Teams Game Ball: Dwayne Harris
There was no other way around this, but the Cowboys special teams unit in the preseason was awful when it came to kickoff and punt coverage. Even with a lineup minus Danny McCray, Alex Albright and Eric Frampton, though, that was all forgotten. Dwayne Harris was able to lead a group of newcomers, such as Jeff Heath, J.J. Wilcox, Edgar Jones and Kyle Bosworth, in holding the Giants returners in check. The mistakes and blown assignments were a thing of the past as Harris led the special teams with three tackles. He was not only outstanding beating the double-team blocks down the field, but in also being a secure tackler in the open field. His play was textbook.
