As superbob has said, the Cowboys won.
Here's a few quick observations as I watched the first game of the 2012 regular season kick off with two historic rivals...
Offensive Line Play It was pretty bad on both teams. Dallas has revamped and moved everyone around on their O-line. To make matters worse, Phil Costa played only a few snaps before taken out with back spams. Dallas received 5 or 6 false start penalties (3 of those being on their best lineman, Tyron Smith). Neither team was getting push from their O-line in the running game in the first half.
Tony Romo delivers big As Cris Collinsworth said, Tony Romo may have had arguably one of the best games of his career. He was redirecting, calling many audibles, spinning out of pressure from the likes of Jason-Pierre Paul, and despite the very awful line play, was only sacked once. He eclipsed over 300 yards and 3 TD's.
Kevin Ogletree steps up to the occasion Going into this game, this team was still questioning who their third receiver might be. It was a tiring question all summer long, and had you watched the game, you'd think Kevin Ogletree eliminated those questions (at least for now). The guy came out and played phenomenal. Outplaying both superstars Dez Bryant and Miles Austin, Tony found him twice in the endzone. Oh and by the way, he caught the game-clinching catch. Not bad for a guy who was fighting for a roster spot just a month ago.
Comparing Secondaries The Giants were already plagued with secondary issues and injuries coming into this game. With Terrell Thomas out for the year with a knee injury and Prince Akumaura out for the game with a sprained ankle, the Giants were forced to start Michael Coe at cornerback opposite Webster and put rookie Jayron Hosley on the slot receiver. Coe played pretty decent, but he was injured on the tail end of the third quarter. The Giants were forced to put in fourth option Just Tryon. Tony Romo and the rest of the Dallas offense recognized it, and went after him for the rest of the game. And it worked.
As for Dallas, with their revamped secondary, played very well, to say the least. Brandon Carr and even rookie Mo Claiborne kept stars Victor Cruz (although he dropped some key passes) and Hakeem Nicks in check. The not-so-big name safeties Sensabaugh and Barry Church both also played very well.
The jist of it You've gotta feel pretty darn good right now if you're a Dallas fan. The defense showed promise and have seem to upgraded huge from a season ago. Tony Romo looks like..well.. Tony Romo. But maybe even a little bit better. DeMarco Murray eclipsed 100 yards rushing despite the O-line and they may have found their number three receiver. The only thing, right now, that Dallas fans should have angst about is their O-line. But for now, it doesn't get any sweeter than beating the defending champs on their own turf to start the 2012 NFL season.
