ARLINGTON, Texas -- If Dak Prescott gets a fat new contract based on his ridiculous Week 1 performance, will his agent send a fruit basket to Dave Gettleman?

The Cowboys quarterback was very, very good in his surgical annihilation of the Giants in the latest season opener between these two teams. He had 326 yards and four touchdowns on 22 completions just five minutes into the third quarter, making a compelling case for his desire to be one of the NFL’s highest paid passers. He finished with a perfect passer rating of 158.3 as his Cowboys cruised to a 35-17 victory.

But let’s be clear: Gettleman gets an assist on that. The Giants general manager is the one who assembled this defense that Prescott and the Cowboys destroyed at AT&T Stadium on Sunday afternoon, and there is little hope that other talented teams won’t have the same success in the coming weeks.

Go ahead: Name one Giants defensive player that scares you, or one who played above his expectations, or one who showed signs against the Cowboys of becoming a real playmaker. It isn’t possible, and that’s on Gettleman.

He is the one who traded defensive end Olivier Vernon to the Browns, who refused to re-sign ballhawk safety Landon Collins, who hasn’t adequately addressed the team’s glaring need a pass rush in his two years in charge.

“Give me 1 month to train. I am coming out of retirement,” former safety Antrel Rolle tweeted during the second half with a face-palm emoji, and four of the first five responses started with the word “please.”

The Giants are younger on defense, but they’re certainly not better. They have potential, but that will be of little solace to 38-year-old Eli Manning and the fans who hoped/expected to see meaningful games when the leaves start to change color.

It is never a good idea to overreact to a Giants opener. But this defense is laughable devoid of top-line talent, and that starts with ...

1. THE PATHETIC PASS RUSH

Forget sacking Prescott. The Giants only hit him twice in the first two quarters as the Cowboys quarterback had all the time he needed to operate. This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, given that he entered the game with 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions in his six career games against the Giants defense.

The Cowboys offensive line is one of the best in football. Still, the Giants don’t have anyone who can get around the tackle and disrupt the offense, a glaring deficiency when Gettleman took the job that he’s only made worse.

This is a team that finished second-to-last in the NFL last season and ignored Preston Smith, Za’Darius Smith, Ziggy Ansah or any of the other top free-agent pass-rushers available. I almost feel badly for defensive coordinator James Bettcher. He couldn’t count on getting near the quarterback with a four-man rush, and any attempts to send extra rusher only exposed the glaring weakness in his secondary.

2. CHECK-DOWN CHARLIE RETURNS

The game was over when Manning and the offense trotted onto the field early in the fourth quarter, but it was still jarring to see the quarterback throwing a six-yard pass to tight end Evan Engram on a third and 17 with the team trailing 35-10. Manning did it again on the next drive, facing a third and 14, hitting Saquon Barkley for a one useless yard.

What’s the point? Why bother?

But, then again, it wasn’t just in garbage time that Manning couldn’t stretch the field. He attempted just three passes longer than 10 yards in the first half, and one of those was a desperation Hail Mary before intermission. The Giants lack a receiver who can stretch the field and a quarterback with the ability to extend plays until someone gets open. That’s a bad combination.

3. WELL, AT LEAST IT WASN’T ONLY WITTEN

When Jason Witten announced he was leaving the broadcast booth to return to the Cowboys, most Monday Night Football fans rejoiced. The Giants, however, couldn’t have been thrilled given the way the Dallas tight end had tortured them for a decade. Witten has 154 catches for 1,568 yards and 15 touchdowns in 30 career regular-season games against the Giants.

He received a rousing ovation when he made his first catch in the first quarter. But it was the Giants new tormentor who broke free -- and we’re talking free as 6-foot-5, 260-pound man can get -- for a first-quarter score. That gave Blake Jarwin four career touchdowns, and all of them are against the Giants. He had seven receptions, 119 yards and three TDs in the season finale last season.

Witten had to wait until the second quarter for his way-too-easy touchdown. This is worth monitoring, but didn’t the Giants hope that revamping their back end -- i.e., not re-signing safety Landon Collins and acquiring Jabrill Peppers -- would help their coverage against tight ends?

4. A FUMBLE, THEN A RUMBLE

Saquon Barkley went his entire rookie season without fumbling the football, a remarkable achievement that often gets overlooked because of all his other even more remarkable stuff. So when he took a short pass from Manning on this season’s very first play and coughed up the football while getting tackled, it was stunning.

Fullback Eli Penny bounced on the loose football, so it was not a turnover. Still, you wonder if that miscue was in his mind on the next play, when he took the handoff on a simple off-tackle run, found a hole and ran 59 yards before the Cowboys tracked him down. It allowed the Giants to turn poor field position into a 91-yard touchdown drive to start the season.

Then, of course, there’s this mind-boggling stat: That was only one of Barkley’s five touches in the first half. FIVE!

.@Saquon being Saquon 🔥🔥



59-yard gain on the second play for the @Giants! #NYGvsDAL



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Watch on mobile: https://t.co/PoZiStO3mL pic.twitter.com/mQkU5O1bBJ — NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2019

5. MEANWHILE, IN CLEVELAND ...

Titans 43, Browns 13. In the long history of the Giants, has there been a out-of-town score more satisfying to team management and the fan base?

Look: Reaching conclusions after one game in the NFL is foolish. The Browns are talented. They will win their share of games this season. Still, given the heat GM Dave Gettleman and owner John Mara received after trading Odell Beckham Jr. -- and, to be clear, I opened fire with both barrels -- watching the receiver have a ho-hum performance in a lopsided loss had to be satisfying.

On top of that, quarterback Baker Mayfield unloaded on the team’s decision to draft Daniel Jones, then later insisted his comments were taken out of context (they were not). The Browns couldn’t keep from jabbering and brought this antipathy on themselves, and no one had to have enjoyed the comeuppance more than the Giants.

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.