Over the past few years, the Dallas Cowboys have made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Perhaps their luck will change this year after winning their season opener against their division rival, the New York Giants.

The Cowboys beat the Giants 36-31 in front of a crowd of over 85,000 cheering fans, in their new $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium. The Cowboys did get some help, however, from critical turnovers that the Giants gave up during the match. The Giants committed 6 turnovers in the game, the most since 1987 when they had 7 against New Orleans.

Two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Eli Manning had a disappointing opening game for the Giants. While Manning completed 64% of his passes, threw for 450 yards and had four touchdowns, he tossed three interceptions including one with just under two minutes left in the game.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo performed great for the first three quarters of the game, but seemed to disappear late when the score got tight. Romo threw for 263 yards on 73% completions, had a pair of touchdown passes and only one interception, but failed to get Dallas into the end zone in the fourth quarter. The only fourth quarter points for Dallas came from Dan Bailey’s 45-yard field goal and Brandon Carr’s 49-yard interception return.

Avid Cowboys fan Ben Garcia, a sophomore at St. Edward’s University, was excited by the win and credited the defense for their role in forcing multiple turnovers.

“We have improved a lot on the defensive side,” said Garcia. “I feel that we have a team that can compete for the NFC Championship.”

The Cowboys hoped to carry this momentum when they went to Kansas City on Sunday to play new quarterback Alex Smith and Head Coach Andy Reid. Unfortunately, after a poor offensive game, the Chiefs edged them out 17-16. Tony Romo only threw for one touchdown with 298 yards passing, and, once again, was nowhere to be seen with the game on the line.

“This is classic Tony Romo,” said Julian Chicoine, a St. Edward’s freshman and Cowboys critic. “He has a great early games and regular seasons, but chokes when it counts the most.”

Outside of the Cowboys, one of the major story lines in the young NFL season is the sizzling start for the Denver Broncos, who destroyed the defending Super Bowl-champion Baltimore Ravens 49-27 in week one.

Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning avenged last year’s double overtime loss to Baltimore in the playoffs by tying an NFL record with seven touchdown passes in the contest.

Denver joins Seattle, Houston, and New England as playoff teams from a year ago who have started the season at 2-0.