WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE OFFENSE

Andrew Thomas, the Giants’ starting left tackle, has not played since he suffered a season-ending foot injury on Oct. 13, 2024. Thomas continues to do more in practice each week, including taking team reps, but was listed as doubtful on the final injury report – and ultimately ruled out on gameday – in Weeks 1 and 2.

His replacement, James Hudson III, was called for four penalties on the opening possession in Dallas and held back an otherwise promising drive.

Devin Singletary took the first carry of the game and Cam Skattebo had the second. Tyrone Tracy Jr. handled the third for nine yards before breaking a 24-yarder, but it was called back by a holding penalty on wide receiver Darius Slayton. A 10-yard run by the rookie Skattebo was then called back on a personal foul by Hudson, who followed it up with a false start. Then Russell Wilson connected with wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson for a 50-yard gain (longest of Robinson’s career), minus 15 yards due to an unnecessary roughness penalty on Hudson.

In total, the Giants’ first drive – which began with a negated 67-yard kickoff return due to a holding penalty and ended with a short field goal – included six penalties. It spanned 16 plays for 60 yards in just under nine minutes.

Rookie Marcus Mbow, a fifth-round pick out of Purdue who had an impressive preseason, replaced Hudson on the Giants’ second drive, which began with a false start penalty on tight end Daniel Bellinger. Similarly, it ended with another short field goal and a 6-0 Giants lead.

The Giants pushed through the penalty problem and scored their first touchdown of the season on a 29-yard pass from Wilson to Malik Nabers, who made a sensational catch over two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs in the end zone with 5:37 left in the second quarter.

The Giants totaled just 231 yards in Week 1 but eclipsed that mark by halftime against the Cowboys.

Wilson completed 30 of 41 passes for a career-high 450 yards and three touchdowns with one interception and a 123.0 passer rating.

The 235 yards in the first half were the most by a Giants quarterback since Eli Manning had 236 against the Eagles on Nov. 25, 2018. Last week, Wilson completed just 45.9 percent of his passes with a 59.3 passer rating.

Robinson posted a personal-best 142 receiving yards on eight catches (17.8-yard average) and a touchdown.

Not to be outdone, Nabers finished with nine receptions for 167 yards, second-most of his career, and two touchdowns.

Despite all the yards, the Giants did struggle again in the red zone as they couldn’t find the end zone on four of their five drives inside the 20.

Jaxson Dart made his NFL debut with 12:51 left in a game that had the Cowboys leading 20-16. From the Dallas 25, Dart handed the ball off to Skattebo, who burst straight up the middle for 24 yards down to the goal line. The fellow rookie then punched it in on the next play as the Giants regained a three-point lead.

After the Cowboys retook the lead, Dart returned for two more plays on the Giants’ next drive. He handed the ball off to Tracy for a first down on second-and-short. Dart then lost three yards on a run. Nabers couldn’t hold onto a third-and-four pass that would have provided a fresh set of downs with 2:50 left in the game. Nevertheless, on fourth-and-four, Wilson then threw a 32-yard touchdown to Robinson on the very next play to put the Giants back up by three points.