FINAL: Dallas (1-0) 45, New York Giants (0-1) 35.

Wade Phillips walks off a winner in his regular-season debut on the Cowboys’ sidelines, and the Cowboys outslug the Giants in a shootout. The game was the highest-scoring ever in the history of the Giants-Cowboys rivalry, and made the Cowboys 5-0 in season openers vs. New York.

Both teams racked up well over 400 yards, with the Giants totaling 438, and the Cowboys 478. Both quarterbacks went for over 300, with Manning going for 312 and four scores, and Romo going for 345 and four scores.

Plaxico Burress led all receivers with eight catches for 144 yards, and three scores, and Jason Witten was the Cowboys’ leading receiver with six catches for 116 yards and a score. Amani Toomer caught nine passes for 91 yards to back up Burress’ big night, and T.O. got held down for a while, but ended up making a huge difference in the second half with his two touchdown catches.

Julius Jones and Marion Barber are both on pace for 1,000 yard seasons, after recording 66 and 65 yards respectively. Barber picked up a score on the ground, and Romo scored his first career rushing touchdown as well. And, Derrick Ward showed why Tom Coughlin made him the backup over the more experienced and proven Reuben Droughns, by rushing for 89 yards on 13 carries, and catching four passes for 27 yards and a score.

It was far from perfect, if you’re considering the defense, and a couple of crucial mistakes that were made - a Tyson Thompson fumble that led to three points at the end of the first half, Romo’s interception that led to a touchdown, and Jacques Reeves getting burned on all three of Burress’ touchdowns. But, if this is what we’re going to see from the offense all season long, then you’ve got to feel pretty good about the Cowboys’ chances, because the defense is definitely going to play much, much better on most nights than they did tonight.

Offensive MVP: Romo, of course. He shredded the Giants’ defense all night long, and matched Manning blow for blow, and then some. He completed only 15 passes tonight, but he definitely made the most of them. All fifteen completions went for at least 10 yards or more, with seven going for 20+ yards, and touchdowns of 12, 22, 47, and 51 yards. He did have the one interception, but he made up for it with a perfectly thrown pass to Sam Hurd that went for the game-sealing, 51-yard touchdown with three minutes to go. And, as an added bonus, he moved well, getting sacked only once, and making a couple of nice plays with his legs, including the nine-yard touchdown run late in the third to make it 31-19 at the time.

Defensive MVP: In a game where there wasn’t very much defense, it’s hard to give anyone an award. The injury bug did as much damage to the Giants as the Dallas defense could have. Starting running back Brandon Jacobs was knocked out in the first half, and then, Eli Manning was knocked out of the game in the fourth. But, in all seriousness, you’d probably have to give it to the two starting safeties, who combined for 15 tackles. Or, you could give it to the front seven, who, despite recording only one sack on the night, pressured Manning several times, some successfully and some unsuccessfully. Besides the hit by Spencer that helped knock Manning out, there was the sack on the two-point conversion play in the fourth that kept it at 38-28 and made things just a little harder on the Giants, even after they quickly pulled within three, and also helped knock Manning out a few minutes early.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Cowboys go to South Florida for their first road game of the season, a tilt with the Miami Dolphins next Sunday afternoon. The Dolphins dropped a tight one at Washington today, getting beaten 16-13 in overtime, as former Cowboys kicker Shaun Suisham nailed a 39-yarder five and a half minutes into OT to give the ‘Skins the win.

The Dolphins were outgained 191-66 on the ground, as Clinton Portis (98 yards) and Ladell Betts (59 yards) led the Redskins’ offense, which also got 162 yards receiving from Antwaan Randle El.

So, that bodes well for Julius Jones and Marion Barber, and also for Tony Romo and the Cowboys’ pass-catchers.

Will we see Terence Newman on Sunday? I certainly hope so, but only if he’s actually going to benefit the team by being on the field, and not be a liability. I imagine Reeves is going to get plenty of first-team reps this week in practice, just so he can be prepared. Also, how serious is Ferguson’s injury. Jay Ratliff is a reliable backup and recorded three tackles and the only sack of the night for Dallas, but you don’t want to see your starter out for too long, if at all.

Chris Chambers doesn’t present as much of a matchup problem as Burress did for the secondary, but he’ll still be more than a handful, so they best be prepared.

But, for now, it’s time to celebrate at least for a few hours, as the Cowboys started the season off on the right foot, with an impressive (at least offensively) win over their fierce rivals. And, even better, we got a fist pump from Wade Phillips. We’ll track that story as more becomes available.