It was the New York Giants' revamped front four vs. the Dallas Cowboys' offensive line on Sunday. It was strength vs. strength during the Giants’ 20-19 season-opening victory.

The Cowboys' offensive line is considered by most to be the best in the league. The Giants' defensive line proved it should be considered elite this season.

The Giants invested $141 million to bolster their defensive line this offseason. They paid handsomely for ends Olivier Vernon ($85 million) and Jason Pierre-Paul ($10 million). They added defensive tackle Damon Harrison ($46.25) to the team with Johnathan Hankins, who returned from a pectoral injury that ruined his 2015 season.

This quartet more than held their own against the Cowboys.

The Giants' front four finished with 20 tackles (two for a loss), three quarterback hits and forced a pair of holding penalties. They held the Cowboys to 3.4 yards per carry, and limited first-round pick Ezekiel Elliott to 51 yards on 20 attempts (2.6 yards per carry).

While they had help from their teammates, Big Blue’s starting front four consistently won one-on-one matchups against All-Pro and Pro-Bowl linemen to slow the Dallas offense.

Even when the Giants didn’t bring their safeties or cornerbacks into the box, they were able to stop the run. It was an encouraging sign for a unit that struggled badly last season and allowed 4.4 yards per carry. But they proved against the Cowboys that this is a greatly improved unit.

On this second-and-5 play on the opening drive of the contest, the Giants have a traditional seven-man box.

But Vernon dominates tight end Jason Witten, and Elliott gains just one yard. It was indicative of what continually happened throughout the game. The Giants' defensive line won out against the Cowboys' offensive line.

“We were physical and heavy-handed at the line of scrimmage,” coach Ben McAdoo said.

This was the Giants' plan: Stop the run! And they did it with and without putting extra resources near the line of scrimmage. Safety Landon Collins played 23 snaps in a linebacker-type role, according to Pro Football Focus. The Giants put eight men in the box continually in the second half once they seemed to realize that rookie Dak Prescott wasn't going to beat them downfield.

“They were going to put a lot of guys down near the line of scrimmage and force us to throw the ball and be effective, to move the ball by throwing it,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said after the game. “It was going to be a dirty run game.”

Nothing was easy. The Cowboys had to fight for every yard in the contest, averaging just 4.4 yards per offensive snap. The Giants allowed 6.1 yards per snap last year.

The Giants' defensive line led the charge on Sunday, and should help greatly improve last year’s 32nd-ranked unit. This iteration provides coordinator Steve Spagnuolo with plenty of options against teams that rely on the run or pass.

“It is huge,” Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas said, “and this week it is going to help us out when you are going up against such a dominant aerial attack.”

The Giants face the New Orleans Saints and quarterback Drew Brees this Sunday in their home opener at MetLife Stadium. The Saints scored 52 points in a win over the Giants last season.

The net safety gain

The Giants struggled badly at free safety last year, with veteran Brandon Meriweather (now out of the NFL) starting a majority of the games. They looked vastly improved at the position in the opener.

In addition to Nat Berhe delivering some early big hits, third-round pick Darian Thompson really flashed. The two split snaps throughout the contest.

On this second-quarter play, Thompson tackled Elliott for no gain near the opposite hashmarks. Look where he started the play.

Impressive. No wonder Thompson was scheduled to be the full-time starter before hurting his shoulder in the preseason.

Odell on the move

The Giants used star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. all over the field in different spots so that the Cowboys couldn’t double him on every play. They even found ways to get him free releases.

This is Beckham staggered at the line of scrimmage behind rookie wide receiver Sterling Shepard.

Playing off the line of scrimmage made this a footrace down the left sideline between Beckham and Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick. Beckham is going to win that every time.

Other observations:

Cornerback Janoris Jenkins was opposite Cowboys star wide receiver Dez Bryant on 54 of 75 snaps. He was targeted just twice and did not allow a completion. Bryant was bailed out on one play when he and quarterback Dak Prescott weren’t on the same page, but Jenkins was flagged for a face-mask penalty. Jenkins mentioned after the contest he tried to get into Bryant's body to take away the back-shoulder throws and keep the physical receiver from dictating the contact.

The Giants' offensive tackles held up well against the Cowboys. Both right tackle Marshall Newhouse and left tackle Ereck Flowers were solid, as evidenced by the pocket on the game-winning touchdown pass to Victor Cruz in the fourth quarter.

Guards Justin Pugh and John Jerry also did a tremendous job on the play.