Larry W. Smith/European Pressphoto Agency
The Giants' David Wilson fumbled twice against the Cowboys.
ARLINGTON, Tex. — Three possessions into their season-opening game with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, the Giants had thrown two interceptions and lost a fumble.
And then things got worse. And then, they got interesting.
Trailing by 17 points late in the third quarter, the Giants stormed back. In the game's final minutes, with Dallas's lead whittled to 6 points, the Giants had a first down near midfield.
"I felt like we were going to make a big play and win," quarterback Eli Manning said, well aware that he had commanded many similar comebacks. "Even though we had not played well, we were near the 50-yard line and had time."
The Giants also seemed to have the momentum in a seesaw game. But it was all something of a ruse. Yes, Manning had found his reliable slot receiver Victor Cruz for two late touchdown passes to make it close. But all around Manning, there were inexperienced and untested teammates thrust into pivotal roles in a new season.
One of them was Da'Rel Scott, who was recently elevated to the No. 2 running back when Andre Brown broke his leg, on Sunday was sent out with the first offensive unit after starting running back David Wilson was benched for twice fumbling.
In the game's pivotal sequence just after the two-minute warning, Manning called for a screen, expecting Scott to go one way. Scott read the play differently and seemed unprepared for Manning's pass, which glanced off his arm and deflected to Dallas cornerback Brandon Carr who grabbed it out of the air and ran 49 yards for the clinching touchdown in the Cowboys' 36-31 victory.
"You've got some young running backs and some young guys," said Manning, who completed 27 of 42 passes for 450 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. "You know there are going to be mistakes to fix every week. You just hope they aren't costly ones. You can't afford those."
Scott was taking the blame.
"A miscommunication, we were on different pages on what to do," said Scott, a third-year player who did not catch a pass last season. "It's a terrible feeling to see that touchdown. We had a chance to win and I choked."
Not only was Scott probably being a little hard on himself, there was so much blame to go around. In addition to Wilson's two fumbles and Manning's two early interceptions — the second of which may also have been deflected — the Giants muffed a punt return and lost a possession when the ball took an odd bounce and struck a Giant blocking on the return. The Cowboys recovered the ball after that miscue, too.
"You can't win any game anywhere with six turnovers," Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said. "I'm totally embarrassed by that kind of football. Sloppy, sloppy football. We battled and slugged it out and came back. But the carelessness was demoralizing."
There were other dispiriting developments.
The team's short yardage goal-line offense failed again, as it so frequently had in the preseason. The recast offensive line, riddled by injuries, forced Manning to be on the move during nearly every pass play. And then there was Wilson, last year's top draft choice who was handed the starting running back's job with the departure of Ahmad Bradshaw.
Wilson fumbled near the Cowboys goal line in the first quarter, which may have cost the Giants a touchdown, and then lost the ball near his own goal line in the third quarter. That fumble was scooped up and returned for a Cowboys touchdown. Wilson remained on the sideline after the second fumble.
Coughlin would not say whether Wilson had lost his starting job although he said that no running back was going to play unless they held onto the football.
"He's got to play," Coughlin said of Wilson. "He's still very much in our thoughts. But you just can't do that. Every time they touch you, you're going to turn the ball over?"
The Giants second-half rally seemed to come out of nowhere not long after the muffed punt had led to Tony Romo's second touchdown pass to tight end Jason Witten and had given Dallas a 27-10 lead.
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