The Dallas Cowboys were the stars of Monday Night Football tonight, rushing their way to a season-opening 35-0 victory over the New York Giants. The Giants were no match for the team that fell just short in the NFC Championship seven months ago.
The Giants retired Phil Simms’ jersey at halftime, just about the only thing that went right for the home team. Simms donned his jersey one final time before throwing a pass to former teammate Lawrence Taylor.
After forcing a 3-and-out on New York’s opening possession, Dallas opened the scoring when Emmitt Smith, who rushed for 163 of the Cowboys’ 232 yards on the day, took his first carry of 1995 straight up the middle for a 60-yard touchdown.
The Cowboys would score again on the opening drive of the second quarter when receiver Michael Irvin took a Troy Aikman pass seven yards into the end zone. Dallas would score again on their very next possession after forcing another Giants 3-and-out, a 49-yard drive capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Smith.
New York didn’t take the ball into Dallas territory until nearly halftime, when the Giants made it to the Dallas 24-yard line before Brad Daluiso’s 42-yard field goal attempt was blocked with 1:06 left in the half. This would prove to be the only true chance of the day for New York, as they only advanced past the 50-yard line twice in the second half. QB Dave Brown threw for 155 yards on 34 attempts with 1 interception.
Dallas received the ball to start the second half and wasted no time hanging another seven points on the board. Aided by a 43-yard Aikman pass to Irvin, Smith found the end zone on a 1-yard jaunt just three minutes into the half. Aikman completed 75% of his 20 passes for 228 yards and one touchdown.
Smith would score once more in the 4th on another 1-yard run to cap off his Week 1 effort. Irvin led all receivers with 7 receptions for 109 yards and one touchdown. Safety Brock Marion picked off Brown while defensive ends Hurvin McCormack and Tony Tolbert recorded sacks in the contest.
Logging the most yards for the Giants on the day, Mike Horan booted 5 punts for 219 yards. NYG could get nothing going on the ground, only rushing for 65 yards. Chris Calloway led the way in receiving for the Giants with 35 yards on 3 receptions.
The Cowboys return home to Texas Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 10, 1995 to face off with the Denver Broncos, who are 1-0 after defeating the Buffalo Bills 22-7 yesterday.
