Giants reached level of futility never seen in NFL history

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. Kevin R. Wexler / USA TODAY NETWORK

Giants reached a level of futility that no team in NFL history has before

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 9/12/23

The New York Giants 2023 season opener was one for the record books.

The problem, however, is that they were on the wrong side of history in their 40-0 shellacking at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on “Sunday Night Football.”

New York averaged just 2.6 yards per offensive play, made it to the red zone once in 12 drives, and crossed midfield only twice — both resulting in missed field goals. The Cowboys defense logged 37 pressures, 24 hurries, seven sacks and six QB hits, per Pro Football Focus, including 28 pressures and all seven sacks of starter Daniel Jones.

"It's embarrassing,” Giants safety Xavier McKinney said, via NFL.com. "We got a long way to go. It's that simple. This was a wake-up call for us. It's definitely humbling but we'll figure it out. We'll be a lot better next week. We won't look like this next week."

Pass block win rates for Giants vs Cowboys: (rate + ranking)

LT Andrew Thomas 88% (32nd)
RT Evan Neal 70.6% (59th)
LG Ben Bredeson 90.0% (32nd)
RG Mark Glowinski 75.8% (56th)
C JM Schmitz 90.3% (18th)

Neal was 59th out of 60 qualifying tackles in Week 1. Glowinski was 56th out…
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) September 11, 2023

In one game, the Giants lost by 40 points, were out-sacked by seven, lost the turnover battle by three, had a field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown and threw a pick-six.

Per OptaStats, no team in NFL history had ever had all five things happen in the same season until Sunday when the Giants had them all happen in the same game.

New York Giants possessions against the Dallas Cowboys:
- Blocked Field Goal
- Punt
- Interception
- Punt
- Interception
- Missed Field Goal
- End of half
- Punt
- Turnover on downs
- Fumble
- Turnover on downs
- End of game
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) September 11, 2023

It was the worst home shutout loss in Giants history, the largest shutout win in Cowboys history, and it was the largest margin of victory in the series between the two teams since 1995 when Dallas won 35-0 at the Meadowlands. It’s also New York’s most lopsided loss since a 42-0 defeat to the Raiders in 1973.

"It's a humbling league,” Giants coach Brian Daboll told reporters after the game. "When you play a game like that and coach a game like that, there's nothing that's good enough. Our job is to go back and look at it with a critical eye, just like we would do in any game, but 40-0 is not a good score, obviously. So, a lot to work on, and that's what we'll do."

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