Much Has Changed Since Giants Beat Cowboys in Week One

The Giants (8-4) host the first-place Cowboys (11-1) in a key game for Big Blue on Sunday Night Football on NBC. A lot has changed since Week One when New York traveled to Dallas and handed the Cowboys their only loss of the season. Let’s look at how things stood Then and how they stand Now as a preview of this important NFC East matchup. 

Then: A lot of people assumed the Cowboys were doomed after Tony Romo went down with a back injury in the preseason and Dallas had to pin its hopes on a rookie quarterback, Dak Prescott, and a rookie running back, Ezekiel Elliot. 

Now: No one, not even Romo, says he should get his job back now that he’s healthy. 

Then: In his first game played after missing nearly two years with injuries, Victor Cruz caught the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Giants’ 20-19 victory. 

Now: Cruz hasn’t caught another touchdown since and in last week’s game against Pittsburgh he had zero targets.

Then: The Giants came into the season with high expectations for their offense, which was returning its entire offensive line, had Cruz returning from injury, and added rookie wide receiver Sterling Shepard. 

Now: The offense has been inconsistent all season and head coach Ben McAdoo refuses to relinquish play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan. 

Then: An offensive coordinator typically calls the team’s offensive plays, because otherwise what the hell is the use in having one? 

Now: We ask the same question. 

Then: The Giants were eager to see if high-priced free agent additions Olivier Vernon, Snacks Harrison and Janoris Jenkins would improve a defense that ranked last in the NFL in 2015. 

Now: The Giants have definitely gotten their money’s worth, as the new faces –- especially Vernon, who is among the league leaders in defensive pressures -– have rejuvenated a defense that has often kept the team in games that the offense is incapable of taking over. 

Then: The game ended when Terrance Williams pulled a boner on the game’s last play, cutting upfield and not heading out of bounds. The Cowboys had no timeouts remaining and the clock expired. 

Now: People have largely forgotten Williams’ gaffe. 

Then: Dez Bryant only had one catch for 8 yards. 

Now: Bryant has 37 catches for 634 yards and six touchdowns on the season, squelching any doubts that he is still the Cowboys’ best wide receiver. 

Then: Jason Witten was starting in like his 1,000th straight game. 

Now: He’s shaking his head continually in those poorly edited NFL Shop commercials. 

Then: Greg Hardy was wondering why no one wanted to sign him. 

Now: He’s wondering why no one believes him when he says the cocaine found in his wallet during a traffic stop had to be planted there by someone when he was passing his wallet around at a party. 

Then: The Giants (1-0) were in first place after beating the Cowboys. 

Now: The Giants trail Dallas by three games and have little hope of catching them in the NFC East. 

Then: No one expected the Cowboys to be very good. 

Now: They’re the NFC favorites to reach the Super Bowl. 

Then: Randy Bullock was the Giants’ kicker while Josh Brown served a one-game suspension for domestic violence-related issues. 

Now: Bullock kicked for the Steelers in last week’s win over the Giants and Brown is out of the league. 

Then: The Giants held Elliott to 51 yards on 21 carries for a 2.5 YPC average. 

Now: Elliott hasn’t had fewer than 83 yards rushing in any game since and leads the NFL with 1,285 yards on the ground, nearly 250 yards more than the next highest rusher (former Cowboy DeMarco Murray, 1,043). 

Then: Most of the talk about Dallas was about Prescott and Elliott, with less attention paid to the Cowboys’ awesome offensive line. 

Now: Not much has changed.