The Cowboys started the season full of hope and confidence. Immediately, that confidence was gone, starting with not going for it on 4th-and-inches. For a team that was coined the greatest offense in the league, it showed no confidence in what is supposed to be the strength of the team. This showed the Cowboys started on the wrong foot.

The offense was a mess for the rest of the first half. Drops from CeeDee and Pickens, along with Dak throwing a back-breaking interception on a ball he was trying to throw away, made things even worse. They eventually woke up in the second half, scoring on both of their drives, but it was too little, too late.

The bigger issue was the Cowboys’ defense. With a similar mindset to the old Cowboys DC, Christian Parker went with the “bend but don’t break” strategy on defense. The Cowboys’ defense was completely bent in half and broken by the end.

Based on EPA per drive, the Cowboys had the worst defensive performance by any team in Week 1. Among 574 games since the start of last season, it ranked 571st.

The Cowboys let the Giants go 10-for-11 on third down. The Cowboys’ soft-zone coverage gave the Giants easy completions, and Jaxson Dart was able to cruise to the best game of his career.

The Cowboys let the Giants manhandle them for back-to-back eight-minute drives.

The Cowboys looked like the same old team in Week 1—a team that is too conservative and not playing to win, but playing not to lose.

This was a horrid start to the Christian Parker era.