A Week 2 recap

Regarding Sunday night's home loss at the debut of Cowboys Stadium:

WHAT I LIKED:
The offense. Tony Romo didn't get touched all game long. And frankly, I would like someone to tell me how they think teams will be able to stop the Barber-Jones-Choice running attack. It just doesn't look like a realistic goal. In Week 1 the Giants gave up 85 yards rushing. In all of 2008 the Giants rush defense ranked 9th in the league, allowing just under 96 yards a game. Sunday night against the Cowboys the Giants gave up 251 yards on the ground. 251!

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
The offense. Tony Romo threw three interceptions, and yes, they were all his fault (I'm clarifying this because of the, "But that one was a fluke that bounced off the tight end's foot" crowd. It was still a terrible throw.).
The defense. Although the redzone defense looked good early in the game, they came up short when they were needed the most. A usually-solid pass-rush looked totally weak. The 'Boys didn't sack Eli Manning once. DeMarcus Ware seems like he's kind of dropped off the planet in these first two games, and that's not a good sign. The young secondary got picked on all night long. It just felt like they couldn't stop anybody the whole second half.

WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND:
The negativity coming from everyone about the Cowboys. Let's think about this. The Giants are ranked 3rd in the league according to last week's ESPN power rankings, which is right about where the vast majority of "experts" would place them. Going into the game on Sunday night, the two teams ahead of them, the Steelers and Patriots, had both lost. If new power rankings were to be released at that moment, one would expect to find the Giants listed at #1. The vast majority of analysts that I've seen picked the Giants to win the game. Those who picked Dallas did so knowing that it would be a very close and hard-fought game.

In a game where the Cowboys were -4 in turnover differential (the Giants didn't turn it over once), it took a long, last minute drive and a time-expiring field goal for the Giants to win... by two points. Now all I'm reading is about how terrible the Cowboys are, how amazing the Giants are, and how they played one of the best games they've ever played to get a win in the Cowboys "housewarming party." If that was one of the best games they've ever played, then they'd better hope every decent team they face this season will have a QB who throws 3 picks right into their hands. They'll no doubt jump to #1 in the power rankings that will be out in just a few hours, while the Cowboys will likely fall from their previous #13. That's all fine with me, because as I've said before, "expert" opinions don't determine who makes the playoffs. All I know is, I'm still feeling okay about the year.