ARLINGTON, Texas – Sunday night's opener will go down as a classic as the Cowboys rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to win 27-26 over the Giants.
On Saturday, the staff writers gave their gut feeling for Sunday's game. Check out the instant reactions from the staff of DallasCowboys.com.
David Helman: Not only did I say Dallas would win comfortably – I also said the Cowboys would win the turnover battle. I guess that goes to show what I know. What a ridiculous game. So much bizarre stuff happened, it's hard to even process it all. And that's not even including the postgame knowledge that the Cowboys will be without Dez Bryant for what looks like several weeks. All of that aside, you've got to be impressed with the resolve of this team. The defense didn't give up in what looked like a hopeless situation down on their goal line, and the offense showed some major resiliency to put together two huge scoring drives after a night marred by mistakes. There's no shortage of questions and concerns about this team, but dealing with them will be much more palatable after a win.
Rob Phillips:I felt this would be a closer game than many expected due to Eli Manning's poise, but the Cowboys kept him relatively in check (193 yards no touchdowns) and it was their three turnovers that made Sunday night such a nail biter. The Cowboys' running game didn't have a big night – the longest run was 15 yards by Joseph Randle – but as Romo said, the backs ran hard and appeared to do what they could with the openings they had against a Giants defense that was up for the challenge. Romo was spectacular – it was a vintage performance and one of the best in his career – and it's amazing to think how far he's come from last year's season opener against San Francisco when he looked rusty and a little sluggish coming off the back surgery. While Dez Bryant (foot) is out the next few weeks, they'll have to lean on their veteran leader even more.
Bryan Broaddus: I have to admit I was surprised that these Giants cornerbacks played as well as they did against Dez Bryant. Coming into this game I just didn't give Dominic Rodgers-Cromartie and Prince Amukamara enough credit and that was a mistake on my part. I thought that Bryant would have just been too physical for them but they were able to hang in there and not let Bryant take over this game. I think if Bryant would have had a shot at that back shoulder fade that was too high on the first drive - it would have got him going early in this game and we would have seen him have the type of game I called for in my Gut Feeling.
Nick Eatman:Maybe I should've stopped while I was ahead. Yes, I did put a 27-26 prediction on Friday but I wrote in the Gut Feeling that I was starting to see a scenario where the Cowboys would win a little easier. And there's no doubt, the Cowboys should've won this game more convincingly than this. They were clearly the better team all night long but kept giving the Giants too many gifts. It only fitting that Tom Coughlin and the Giants would return the favor late in the game. Other predictions of mine didn't pan out so well and thankfully so, considering I thought we might see a missed extra point. I did expect some nice plays from Jason Witten, who scored twice in the fourth quarter to win. Overall, it was a nice win for a Cowboys team that suffered some big losses injury-wise.
For the initial gut feeling predictions of the staff writers posted on Saturday, click here:
http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/09/12/dallascowboyscom-writers-share-their-gut-feelings-cowboys-giants
