Get the offense going
The offense totaled just 17 first downs against the Commanders as they averaged 3.7 yards per play. To put that into perspective, the Commanders averaged 6.6 yards per play. The game finished with the Giants having only 157 passing yards, 74 rushing yards, and 3.2 yards per carry. But the most damaging stat was the team going 0-for-2 in the red zone.
"I'd say it was a collective effort," Daboll said Monday about the offense's struggles. "Again, we just we never got into a rhythm in the early part of the downs, which affected it. The line of scrimmage, there was a play here, a play there, a block here, a read there, that we just kept getting behind the sticks and could never get into a good enough rhythm. And then down in the red zone we had plenty of plays down there, it's a close game. It's a 14-6 game with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. Had two opportunities down there in the red zone, really low red zone and just didn't punch the ball in. So, have to do a better job in those areas. I'd say early down production, and that's everybody, and then red zone."
The Cowboys did a relatively good job on defense in Week 1, limiting the Eagles to just 302 total yards of offense. However, Dallas struggled to come up with stops in key situations. The Eagles converted on eight of 13 third down attempts and found the end zone on all three trips inside the red zone. While Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for only 144 yards, he did complete 19 of 23 pass attempts for a 94.2 passer rating. Hurts also added 62 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
O-line's next test; update on Thomas
Going up against a revamped Commanders defensive front, the Giants had a tough time establishing the line of scrimmage. Washington recorded 24 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, which played a big part in Russell Wilson completing only 17 of 37 passes for 168 yards. It didn't get much better in the run game as running backs Tyrone Tracy Jr., Devin Singletary and Cam Skattebo combined to have 30 yards on 15 rush attempts.
"You're going to go out there and you're going to fix them, but let's give credit to Washington and how they played as well," Daboll said when asked about the struggles up front. "But again, there was a number of plays where one play it was this, the next play it was this, the next play it was this. They made some good plays too, credit them, but overall just not consistent in terms of the execution part of the phases that we needed to have. And we're going to fix it."
The Giants played without their starting left tackle as Andrew Thomas continues to rehab last year's foot injury. Thomas participated in team drills last week but had a scheduled off day on Wednesday. Daboll said Thomas is getting closer to a return.
"Andrew Thomas will not practice today, that is part of the plan," the head coach said Wednesday. "Making progress, hoping to get him out here the next two days and see where he's at, at the end of the week."
The head coach later added, "The trainers have the plan for how we're rehabbing Andrew and today is one of these days they're going to run him and do some things. I know he feels better, he felt better last week, he feels better this week than he did the week before. We'll see where he's at. I don't want to speak one thing, but he's making good progress. We'll see where he is at after Friday. But this was just part of the rehab plan relative to this Wednesday workday."
The Cowboys were able to get after Hurts last week as they finished the game with 20 quarterback pressures, although only one resulted in a sack. Defensive end Sam Williams led the way with five, while defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (four) and defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. (three) were not far behind.