The Dallas Cowboys began the 2023 season with a 40-0 thrashing of the New York Giants on Sunday night in New Jersey, fighting through the rain to come up with the biggest shutout in franchise history.
While Dallas’ offense was more methodical and did not light the world on fire, largely due to the elements, the Dallas defense shined to start Year Three under coordinator Dan Quinn, blocking a field goal, making life difficult for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, forcing three turnovers, holding New York to just 171 yards of offense, and giving its own offense chances to gain the edge.
“The defense was relentless all night [with] the takeaways,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told the media after the game. “Just what a great job in the return game and the offense for taking care of the ball. There were some tough conditions.”
Dallas jumped on the board with two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the first quarter, the first from newcomer Noah Igbinoghene and the second from defensive back Da’Ron Bland, and took a 16-0 lead into the second quarter.
Running back Tony Pollard added the first of his two touchdown runs of the night in the second, and new kicker Brandon Aubrey made two field goals.
Wide receiver KaVontae Turpin added the final score on a seven-yard run with 11:31 left on the clock, which Dallas’ defense followed with a turnover, stopping the Giants on downs to preserve the shutout.
Quarterback Dak Prescott added 143 yards in the air, while Jones was the only Giant to surpass 100 yards.
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WHAT TO KNOW
— The Cowboys start the season 1-0 for the first time under McCarthy.
— Dallas’ previous record shutout was a 38-0 win over the then-Baltimore Colts in 1978.
— According to ESPN, the Cowboys became the first team to start the season with a shutout while scoring at least 40 points on the road since the 1999 Pittsburgh Steelers.
— Dak Prescott did not throw a touchdown pass for the first time since last season’s opening game against Tampa Bay, which he left with an injury. It was the first time he finished a game without a touchdown pass while still healthy since Week 2 of the 2021 season.
— New kicker Brandon Aubrey missed his first extra-point attempt but made every following kick.
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BY THE NUMBERS
— Dallas sacked Jones seven times throughout the game, the most since it sacked Kirk Cousins seven times in a win over the Minnesota Vikings in November.
— The Giants averaged just 2.6 yards per play.
— The Cowboys were 6/13 (46.15%) on third-down conversions and 1/2 on fourth downs.
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WHO SAID
— McCarthy on his return to playcalling: “It was good. Because of the weather, you had to adjust. I thought the offensive staff and communication of players was excellent tonight. There’s always going to be things that I’m going to want to do better, and that’s no different tonight … but it was a relatively clean game.”
— Pollard on the defense’s scoring contributions: “They made it easy for us today. They kind of took our job from us. They put up probably just as many points as us, but any time the defense is scoring like that, it’s good for everything.”
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NEXT UP
— The Cowboys (1-0) host the New York Jets (0-0) in their home opener at AT&T Stadium at 3:25 p.m. CT on Sunday.
