Halftime Notables: Cowboys 7, Giants 3

The New York Giants kicked off defense of their Super Bowl title and the 2012 season against the Dallas Cowboys tonight at MetLife Stadium.

Cowboys 7, Giants 3 Halftime

Here are some Halftime Notables:

Both offenses struggled to find their rhythm on offense for most of the first half. Dallas finally got their offense cranked up late in the 2nd quarter as Tony Romo was able to drive the Cowboys 73 yards on 7 plays and cap it off with a 10 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Ogletree, giving Dallas the lead.

Both teams had a difficult time getting the running game going in the first half. Ahmad Bradshaw only has 12 yards on 8 carries for the Giants. It wasn’t any better for the Cowboys. The Giants defense limited Demarco Murray to 20 yards on 8 carries. Giants rookie David Wilson had a fumble in the 1st quarter that was recovered by Dallas. The knock on Wilson coming in was that he is fumble prone. The Giants were fortunate that the Cowboys were unable to captilize on Wilson’s fumble, thanks to a brilliant 4th down stand by the defense.

If the Giants were concerned about Michael Boley’s troublesome hamstring, he may have put those worries at ease in the first half. Boley intercepted a Tony Romo pass and then returned it 51 yards before he was forced out at the two yard line on a horse collar tackle that was called by the replacement referees. However the Giants could only get a field goal from Lawrence Tynes after Dallas got away with a hold on Victor Cruz that the referees appeared to have missed.

The first sack of the season for the Giants defense goes to …  DT Rocky Bernard.

Victor Cruz 4 catches for 46 yards, however he also dropped a couple that should have been caught.

The Giants are going to have to find their rhythm on offense in the second half. If they can’t get the running game going, look for Eli Manning to look to open things up in the air with the passing game