**
COWBOYS 24, GIANTS 17**
*The Giants lost their season opener to an NFC East foe for the second year in a row. In 2011, they were defeated in Washington, 28-14.
*The Giants were the first defending Super Bowl champion to lose a season opener since the Denver Broncos in 1999, ending a streak of 12 consecutive victories – including the Giants' defeat of Washington in 2008. Defending champions are now 8-1 since the NFL moved the league's Kickoff Game to prime time on a weekday in 2004.
*The Giants' record in season-opening games is 49-34-5. They are 48-36-4 in home openers (2-1 in MetLife) and 17-12 in season-opening home games (1-1 in MetLife).
*Coach Tom Coughlin is 10-7 in season openers, including 4-5 with the Giants.
*The Giants gained 269 yards, their lowest total since they finished with 208 yards at Philadelphia on Nov. 21, 2010.
*Dallas gained 433 yards, the most by a Giants opponent, including playoff games, since the Cowboys had 444 yards in a Giants victory last Dec. 11.
*This was the 100th regular season Giants-Cowboys games. Dallas leads the series, 56-42-2.
*The Giants are 0-5 in season-opening games vs. Dallas, losing also in 1965, 86, 95 and 2007. They went on to win the Super Bowl in two of those seasons (1986 and 2007). The 1995 game was the only other one that was Giants home game.
*The Giants are 7-11 in prime time against the Cowboys.
*This was the first time the Giants closed one season and opened the next one at home against the same opponent since 1994-95, when the Cowboys visited Giants Stadium for back-to-back games – 8½ months apart. Then and now, the Giants won the finale, but lost the opener.
*This was the Giants' first Wednesday game since Oct. 3, 1934, a 14-12 victory over Pittsburgh. The Giants are now 5-2 in Wednesday games. Before tonight, all the other Wednesday games were played from 1925-34. They are 2-1 in Wednesday season openers, defeating Newark, 32-0, on Sept. 17, 1930 and Pittsburgh, 23-2, on Sept. 20, 1933. The last NFL game played on a Wednesday was on Sept. 22, 1948, when the Los Angeles Rams beat the Detroit Lions, 44-7.
*Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for 78 yards on 17 carries to increase his career total to 3,295 yards. That moved him past Eddie Price (3,292) and into ninth place on the Giants' career rushing list.
*Bradshaw's 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the 27th rushing score of his career. That broke a tie with Bill Paschal and left Bradshaw alone in ninth place in that category.
*Eli Manning started his 120th consecutive regular season game and completed 21 of 32 passes for 213 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. The Giants are now 31-9 in games in which Manning did not throw a pick.
*Keith Rivers started at weakside linebacker and was second on the team with seven tackles (five solo) in his first regular season game since Jan. 2, 2011 - the 2010 season finale – for Cincinnati at Baltimore. He missed the entire 2011 season after undergoing wrist surgery.
*Michael Boley set up the Giants' first score – a 22-yard Lawrence Tynes field goal - when he intercepted Tony Romo and returned the ball 51 yards to the Dallas two-yard line with 10:30 remaining in the second quarter. A penalty for a horse collar tackle moved the ball to the one. It was Boley's sixth career interception, but his first in four seasons with the Giants. He had last picked off a pass for the Atlanta Falcons at Green Bay on Oct. 5, 2008.
*Michael Coe made his first career start at right cornerback opposite Corey Webster. Coe had five tackles (three solo) before leaving the game in the second half with a hamstring injury.
*Defensive tackle Rocky Bernard, who is starting in place of Chris Canty (PUP), sacked Tony Romo on Dallas' first offensive play. In 2011, Bernard had just one sack in 20 games, tackling Atlanta's Matt Ryan in the NFC Wild Card Game. The other starting tackle, Linval Joseph, had the Giants' other sack.
*Domenik Hixon was given the punt return duties, but had just one runback for five yards.
*Sean Locklear started at left tackle in his Giants debut. Will Beatty, the man he replaced, also started, as an extra tight end.
*Veterans other than Rivers and Locklear making their Giants debuts were tight end Martellus Bennett (four catches for 40 yards, including a touchdown), safety Stevie Brown and running back Andre Brown.
*Rookies and first-year players making their NFL debuts included the team's top three draft choices – David Wilson, Rueben Randle and Jayron Hosley, plus seventh-round pick Markus Kuhn and free agent safety Will Hill.
*Game captains Chris Snee and Osi Umenyiora joined season-long captains Manning, Justin Tuck and Zak DeOssie for the coin toss.
*The Giants' inactive players were cornerback Prince Amukamara, defensive tackle Marvin Austin, running back Da'Rel Scott, defensive end Adewale Ojomo and offensive linemen James Brewer and Mitch Petrus.
*The attendance of 82,287 was a Giants record in MetLife Stadium.
*The Giants honored their four Super Bowl championship teams in a brief pregame ceremony. Phil Simms, Ottis Anderson and Michael Strahan – representing the teams that won Super Bowls XXI, XXV and XLII – carried the Vince Lombardi trophies from those games to the middle of the field, where the trophy from last season's Super Bowl XLVI was already displayed.
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