Jaxson Dart passed for 230 yards and three touchdown passes and the New York Giants excelled in John Harbaugh’s debut as coach, beating the Dallas Cowboys 28-20 on Sunday night in the season opener for both teams at East Rutherford, N.J.
Isaiah Likely caught eight passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns as the Giants defeated the Cowboys for the second straight time after losing 16 of the previous 17 meetings. Cam Skattebo rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, Devin Singletary caught a touchdown pass and Jevon Holland had a key interception for New York.
Dak Prescott was 22-of-34 passing for 175 yards, two touchdowns and the costly pick for Dallas. Javonte Williams accounted for two touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving) and CeeDee Lamb had a scoring grab for the Cowboys.
Giants star receiver Malik Nabers caught six passes for 69 yards in his first contest since sustaining a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee 11 1/2 months ago.
Dart completed 23 of 29 passes and also rushed for 54 yards as New York controlled the ball for 36 minutes, 40 seconds in a strong performance under Harbaugh, a former Super Bowl-winning coach with the Baltimore Ravens.
Holland made a momentum-changing sliding interception in which he was narrowly inbounds at the New York 45-yard line with 49 seconds left in the first half.
The payoff came 29 seconds later as Dart hit Likely on a 15-yard scoring pass to give the Giants a 14-7 lead with 20 seconds to go.
New York received the ball at the outset of the second half and put together a punishing 12-play, 74-yard drive that lasted 8:01. Dart again hit Likely, this time from the 2, to give New York a 14-point advantage.
Dallas then mirrored the Giants with its own 12-play drive, traveling 75 yards in 6:22, to pull within 21-14 on Williams’ 1-yard run with 37 seconds left in the quarter.
New York again worked the clock and drove 65 yards on 13 plays in 8:11. Dart capped the excursion with a short pass in the left flat that Singletary converted into a 9-yard touchdown with 7:26 remaining in the game.
The Cowboys answered as Prescott tossed a 17-yard scoring pass to Williams to cut the New York lead to 28-20 with 5:21 remaining. However, Williams taunted New York safety Tyler Nubin, turning the point-after into a 48-yard attempt and Brandon Aubrey’s ensuing boot was wide to the right.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter as the Cowboys couldn’t force New York to punt or get a turnover down the stretch. Dallas had just two possessions in the second half.
The Giants struck first when Skattebo scored on a 3-yard run with 6:40 left in the opening quarter. Dallas tied the game when Prescott threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Lamb with 5:44 remaining in the first half.