What happened: Likely drew praise for a third-down play as New York came out of its 28-20 win over Dallas with more evidence of offensive progress. Dan Orlovsky also highlighted the Giants' 6-for-7 showing on third-and-medium or longer, calling it the club's best in 14 years.

Why it matters: That kind of conversion rate matters for an offense trying to turn one encouraging opener into something repeatable over a full season. It also adds to the early case for Likely as a leverage-down target after his first Giants touchdown on Sunday.

What to watch: The next test is whether the Giants can carry that third-down efficiency into Week 2 and keep Likely involved in high-leverage situations.