Bob Donnelly asks: It\u2019s great to see the Harbaugh era start with a W and there\u2019s certainly a lot to get excited about.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure there are some in the glass half empty crowd that will say that the W is nice and John is 1 and 0 in one score games, but there remains some of the latent issues that often derailed this team last year with ball security (4 fumbles , 2 turnover-worth plays) and penalties (#1 penalty yards) leading the list.<\/p>\n
As you reflect on the first game performance under Harbaugh what areas concern you most?<\/p>\n
Ed says: Bob, absolutely nothing has changed from my preseason evaluation of the Giants. The biggest areas of concern entering the season were cornerback play and defensive line depth. Nothing about Sunday changed that.<\/p>\n
Tae Banks was OK. I thought he got pushed off on the touchdown he surrendered. I didn\u2019t think Greg Newsome was that good against the Cowboys, but he was a lot better than Paulson Adebo. Colton Hood still isn\u2019t ready for full-time duty.<\/p>\n
DJ Reader and Shelby Harris were fine. When they were replaced by Darius Alexander and C.J. Okoye, Dallas had more success running the ball. If they can find a run-stuffing veteran defensive tackle who can help them get through this season that would be great.<\/p>\n
Adam Jacobs asks: I have an offbeat question about the taunting penalty by Javonte Williams. Every penalty that occurs in the field of play is marked at the spot of the foul unless it occurs behind the line of scrimmage. Except the Williams penalty. Why was this enforced after the play was finished, and not from the spot of the foul? I am not sure I have ever seen this before. Do you have any idea how this works?<\/p>\n
Ed says: Adam, taunting is treated as a dead-ball foul. Thus, the result of the play stands. The penalty is assessed after the play.<\/p>\n
K\u00f6lnerbigblue asks: Ed, I know teams can request a review of penalties after the game. Not that it will change any results, can you explain how this process works?<\/p>\n
Ed says: The NFL audits every snap during the days after games, looking at calls and non-calls. That is both to assess the performance of the offcials, and to determine discipline when it comes to handing out fines.<\/p>\n
NFL teams can send a maximum of 10 plays to the league office each for review, clarification, explanation. Sometimes, the league will admit that a mistake was made. That, though, will not affect an outcome or result in a do-over.<\/p>\n
James Pauloski asks: For me, the most amazing statistic from the Cowboys game was that Dallas only had two possessions in the second half. Yes, they scored two touchdowns, but that was it. That seems almost impossible. Did the Giants tie (or set) a record for allowing only two possessions in one half?<\/p>\n
Ed says: James, I have been unable to find anything to answer that directly. What I can say is that each team had only seven possessions on Sunday, making 14 total (yes, I can do math!). That is an incredibly low total. There was a 2023 game between the Denver Broncos were there were only 12 possessions, six for each team. It speaks to efficiency by both offenses as there were five drives in the game that took more than six minutes, two of those by the Giants lasting more than eight minutes.<\/p>\n
Todd Kuehn asks: Ed, I really like looking at box scores when the game is over because the information and numbers in them are all objective instead of subjective except for two of them. Maybe I\u2019m wrong about that but when you look at the QBR and the RTG for quarterbacks from the Dallas game it seems to me maybe they are subjective. Dart got a really good RTG 134.2 and Prescott only had 84.8. But when you look at the QBR Dart received 81.5 and Prescott had an 89. How can that be? There is no doubt in almost everyone\u2019s mind that Dart outplayed Prescott.<\/p>\n