Williams scores twice as Cowboys fall 28-20 in MetLife opener

Javonte Williams gave the Cowboys both of their second-half touchdowns and still left MetLife Stadium on the wrong side of the scoreboard. The running back finished with 12 carries for 41 yards, five catches for 31 yards and two touchdowns Sunday night, but New York beat Dallas 28-20 in the Week 1 opener for both clubs.

The Associated Press and ESPN's recap credited Dak Prescott with touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb and Williams, and noted Williams also scored on the ground. Per box-score summaries carried with those reports, Williams' dual scores were Dallas' only trips to the end zone after halftime. ESPN's box matches that line.

A backfield answer that could not keep pace

New York led 14-7 at the break after Cam Skattebo's early rushing touchdown and a Jaxson Dart-to-Isaiah Likely scoring pass. Dallas had answered in the second quarter when Prescott found Lamb to finish an 85-yard drive, per game reports.

Williams' rushing touchdown in the third cut the deficit after Dart and Likely connected again. When Dart later found Devin Singletary to make it 28-14, Prescott hit Williams for a receiving score that brought Dallas within eight. The Giants then converted third downs and ran out the clock, the AP reported.

What the opener left unfinished

Prescott completed 22 of 34 passes for 175 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Dallas managed 244 total yards against New York's 394 and held the ball for only 23:20, according to box-score team totals. The Giants converted 9 of 11 third downs.

Those possession numbers explain why Williams' production, strong as it was, never fully flipped the game: Dallas simply did not see the ball enough after New York settled into its script.

Coach Brian Schottenheimer told reporters afterward that Dallas did not perform the way it is capable of playing, ESPN reported. New York, under new coach John Harbaugh, opened 1-0. Dallas fell to 0-1.

Williams' night was the clearest individual bright spot in a loss that turned on possessions more than single plays. Twelve carries and five receptions meant he was involved in both phases when Dallas finally moved the ball.

Two touchdowns in a 28-20 defeat do not rewrite the result, but they mark the back who kept the Cowboys within striking distance after New York had controlled tempo for most of the evening.

The Cowboys' path out of an 0-1 start will lean on that kind of versatility again. Williams was the one skill player who produced in the run game and the passing game on the same night, and the scoreboard still showed how little room for error Dallas had once the Giants began converting third downs at will.

For an opener that ended 28-20, the takeaway for Dallas is not that Williams failed to show up. It is that one back scoring twice still was not enough against a Giants offense that refused to leave the field.

Sources

ESPN

ESPN