Cowboys left 'too much meat on the bone'

IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas defense executed its primary mission in extraordinary fashion, creating five turnovers in the season opener. 

The Cowboys’ offense needs improvement when it comes to capitalizing on those turnovers. 

Safety Barry Church and cornerback Brandon Carr had touchdown returns on two of the turnovers. The offense turned the other four turnovers (including a muffed punt) into only 10 points. That’s particularly disappointing considering that three of those drives started in Giants territory, including two in the red zone. 

The Cowboys’ first three offensive series started after turnovers. Those drives resulted in a total of three points. 

“You have to cash in on those opportunities,” coach Jason Garrett said. “To get the takeaways we had in the first quarter and not have as much to show for it as we would have liked is not a good thing for your team. You can’t necessarily expect to get six takeaways every game. You have to cash in when you get ’em. We kicked the one field goal, we scored a touchdown on the other one. 

“But we always felt like we left a little too much meat on the bone there.”