The New York Giants finished last season 9-7-1, emerging from the cutthroat NFC East with a wild card spot and a beacon of hope for a starved fanbase. Daniel Jones finally looked the part of a franchise QB and the team around him was slowly but surely coming together.

Well, any optimism that carried over from last season was shot dead on Sunday night. The Dallas Cowboys marched into Giants Stadium and put up a 40-burger with no response. 40-0, Dallas, and New York suddenly looked like the NFL basement-dwellers of old.

As the dust settled, Giants WR Darius Slayton refused to give credit to the Cowboys for a well-played game. Instead, he blamed the Giants' poor execution and lack of focus.

"The way the game went, the opponent wouldn't have mattered much [due to self-inflicted wounds, technique/assignment mistakes]," said Slayton. "It wouldn't have mattered if it was them or Teaneck High School. There's things you can't do and expect to win in this league."

New York Giants' Darius Slayton won't give Dallas Cowboys credit for dominant win

At first blush, Slayton has the right of it. Even bad NFL teams are too good to lose by 40 points unless their execution is particularly shabby. The Giants may or may not be "bad," but they're certainly not 40-point losers on paper.

New York made mistake after mistake. Daniel Jones, savior of the Giants' fanbase last season, tossed two interceptions and fumbled twice. The Giants managed to recover four of their five fumbles, but Dallas was handed golden opportunities on a silver platter every possession. The Cowboys' defense is a formidable force, but there's no way the Giants were simply outplayed. Slayton isn't lying about the self-inflicted nature of New York's mistake parade.

On the other hand, the Cowboys absolutely were the better team — not because the Giants were unserious and disengaged, but because Dallas has a terrifying defensive front and a potent offense. The Cowboys didn't even explode for some grandiose yard total (265), but Dak Prescott played mistake-free football under center and the Cowboys turned the ball over precisely zero times.

Micah Parsons and the Cowboys' defense were in Jones' airspace all night long and the Giants' receivers found very little breathing room. Slayton himself accrued a middling 15 yards on three catches (five targets). If New York's top playmaker on the outside can barely scrap his way to double-digit yards, it's going to be a long night.

So, in the end, Slayton is right in principle — the Giants let Dallas parlay 265 yards into 40 points while posting an embarrassing 171 yards themselves. That is unacceptable and indicative of New York's complete lack of execution, offensively and defensively. On the other hand, it does speak to the Cowboys' execution. That is the difference between the two teams. One executes, the other does not.

Slayton is under no obligation to heap praise on the opponent, but this wasn't only a Giants issue.