PFT: Ted Sundquist’s Week Nine Scouting Reports: Cowboys At Giants
Posted by Mike Florio on October 31, 2008, 8:56 a.m. EDT
[Editor’s note: Former Broncos G.M. Ted Sundquist looks at Sunday’s NFC East showdown between the 6-1 Giants and 5-3 Cowboys.]
Any aspirations the Dallas Cowboys have of catching the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants will pivot on a trip to the Meadowlands this Sunday. Dallas pulled itself out of a two game slide with a hard fought win over Tampa Bay in Week 8. Criticism & drama always seem to focus on this team when things turn south, but the Cowboys have withstood both as of late and enter this critical division matchup with the intent of making a statement of their own. Meanwhile the Giants have rebounded nicely from their only loss on the season (Week 6 at Cleveland) and are back to playing their brand of no-nonsense football on both offense & defense. An impressive win at Pittsburgh last week has New York on top of the NFC, and they finish out the first half of the season with their 5th home game, against the rival Cowboys.
Tony Romo’s pinkie has played a huge factor in the course of the Cowboys the past two weeks. Fractured in a loss to Arizona, Romo has been out and that has stirred up the emotions of the Dallas faithful to a fevered pitch. Veteran Brad Johnson, whose only job is to “win” (not necessarily look good doing it), faltered against a reborn Rams, but answered the call with a home victory over the Buccaneers. With a team as talented as the Cowboys, the slack has to be picked up by the rest of the offensive unit. Johnson’s job at this point is to keep the Cowboys on the playoff track by not making any major gaffes that might cost them a game. As Romo’s return is eventually imminent, Dallas just needs to keep the “ticker” in the left hand column moving one by one.How do they consider doing that against the best team in the conference? KEY #1 must be a carry over from last week, NO TURNOVERS.
The Cowboys gave the Rams four extra possessions off 3 picks and a fumble. Against a tough Tampa defense, Dallas held a clean slate. The knock on Johnson has been the two TD passes vs. 3 interceptions, coupled with 6 sacks in two games.
The Giants lead the League in sacks with 26.0. DE Mathias Kiwanuka exploded for 3.0 against Pittsburgh (5.0 for the season) and Justin Tuck leads the team with 6.0 of his own. Front line pressure will be the order of the day in hopes of forcing Dallas into some turnovers through the air. Johnson will have to get rid of the ball quickly (something he doesn’t do well) in order to avoid the wrath of the rush. If not, look for the New York’s front seven to try to “slap & strip” Johnson in the pocket. With the ball coming out quicker to avoid the sack, New York’s defense could add to its eight picks on the season.
To counter the pressure, the Cowboys need to accomplish a couple things. Most importantly, they need to improve their rushing efficiency on first down, >4+ yards (25th in the League 36.4%). This will give them a greater number of options on 2nd, where they’ve been fairly balanced most of the season (but converting only 29.8%).
Where the ‘Boys miss Romo is on 3rd. Dallas ranks 1st & 6th respectively in converting medium to long situations. The past two weeks the Cowboys have gone 8 of 28. Keep things manageable for Johnson on 3rd down with options both on the ground & through the air. Otherwise the Giant pressure could create some favorable field position for QB Eli Manning.
Manning has done a masterful job spreading the ball around to his WR’s Steve Smith, Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer. They form the core of the Giants passing game with 79 receptions for 922 yards, 4 TD’s.
Manning’s outlets have been predominantly TE Kevin Boss and RB Derrick Ward. KEY #2 for the Cowboys will be to force Manning to find the outlets in lieu of his “big 3″.
Dallas has been a bit suspect through the air this season. They rank 20th & 21st in opposing QB rating on 1st & 2nd downs. They net out about 200 yards per game to the opposition via the pass and have forced only two interceptions in ’08 (one by DE Greg Ellis). This will be a tall task against one of the better offenses in converting 3rd & longs (7th) or 3rd & 10+ (1st). But the Dallas secondary of Jenkins, Henry (thigh), Hamlin & Davis will need to clamp down on the upfield routes and force the ball to the perimeter where the Giants throw less frequently and are averaging a bit less than the norm. Here the Cowboys can “rally” to the ball and use their pursuit speed to their optimum advantage.
For the Giants to establish themselves firmly at the top of the East, they’ll need to continue to run the ball in the fashion that has made them the best in the League (157.3 per game) over the first half of the season. Guess what? The Cowboys are surrendering less than 100 per game as a defense (95.5). But it will take the effort that held Tampa Bay to 49 yards, not the one that gave the Rams 190 on the ground.
KEY #3 will be the power running of Brandon Jacobs on LB’s Bradie James and Zach Thomas. New York tends to attack off tackle in the run game, putting the ILB’s in a 3-4 scheme squarely in the path. Jacobs averages almost 5 yards per carry and creates a lot after initial contact. The Dallas duo will need to square up and prevent the leaky yardage.New York averages over 5 yards on 1st down via the ground and will look to stay on that pace, giving them flexibility to maintain their 50/50 run to pass ratio on 2nd. The Cowboys knocked Jacobs out of the season opener in ’07 with a knee injury (6 for 26 yards), and then the Giants’ “big back” returned for 95 yards on 24 carries in game #2.
The Giants are 1st in the NFL with rushing plays of both 10+ & 20+ yards. In order for Manning to effectively negate KEY #2 above, New York will want to maintain the balance that has allowed Eli to successfully “manage” the game later in a series.
With Romo facing a 3rd week on the sidelines and once again spelled by Brad Johnson, New York will focus on shutting down what has to be a major factor in the Dallas game plan as well; Marion Barber and the run. KEY #4 will be to control the rushing attack of the Cowboys with the upfront play of Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka, Fred Robbins (hand) and Barry Coefield.
This D-Line plays a significant factor in the Giants ability to limit opponents to 86.0 per game (7th), 3.32 yards on 1st down rushes (7th) and only 12 plays of 10+ on the ground this season (T-5th). Barber & the Cowboys O-Line will want to take some pressure off their QB and add to their “Top 10″ rushing attack (120.1 per game). Dallas has logged 105 runs over 10+ (2nd in the NFL).
Coefield and Robbins have the size/mass inside that’s capable of leveraging the big Dallas offensive guards. Their ability to tie up the inside run combos should allow LB’s Danny Clark, Bryan Kehl and Antonio Pierce to fill and flow. With a reduction in the Dallas passing game due to Romo’s absence, look for SS James Butler down in the box a bit more often. Again, New York is looking to force 3rd & long situations to maximize their ability to rush the passer and force the turnover, a major component to their defensive formula.
KEY #5 will be Dallas fill in punter, Sam Paulescu, who took over for Matt McBriar after the Arizona blocked punt fractured a bone in his foot. Paulescu has been solid, but his numbers don’t add up to McBriar’s (one of the League’s best). The Cowboys are netting 32.6 over the past two games, 38.8 prior. If the offense stalls deep in their own territory, it will be up to Paulescu to flip the field for the Dallas defense. Little things, such as hidden yardage in the punt game, can reap big dividends on the road.
[Editor’s note: Former Broncos G.M. Ted Sundquist looks at Sunday’s NFC East showdown between the 6-1 Giants and 5-3 Cowboys.]
Any aspirations the Dallas Cowboys have of catching the defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants will pivot on a trip to the Meadowlands this Sunday. Dallas pulled itself out of a two game slide with a hard fought win over Tampa Bay in Week 8. Criticism & drama always seem to focus on this team when things turn south, but the Cowboys have withstood both as of late and enter this critical division matchup with the intent of making a statement of their own. Meanwhile the Giants have rebounded nicely from their only loss on the season (Week 6 at Cleveland) and are back to playing their brand of no-nonsense football on both offense & defense. An impressive win at Pittsburgh last week has New York on top of the NFC, and they finish out the first half of the season with their 5th home game, against the rival Cowboys.
Tony Romo’s pinkie has played a huge factor in the course of the Cowboys the past two weeks. Fractured in a loss to Arizona, Romo has been out and that has stirred up the emotions of the Dallas faithful to a fevered pitch. Veteran Brad Johnson, whose only job is to “win” (not necessarily look good doing it), faltered against a reborn Rams, but answered the call with a home victory over the Buccaneers. With a team as talented as the Cowboys, the slack has to be picked up by the rest of the offensive unit. Johnson’s job at this point is to keep the Cowboys on the playoff track by not making any major gaffes that might cost them a game. As Romo’s return is eventually imminent, Dallas just needs to keep the “ticker” in the left hand column moving one by one.How do they consider doing that against the best team in the conference? KEY #1 must be a carry over from last week, NO TURNOVERS.
The Cowboys gave the Rams four extra possessions off 3 picks and a fumble. Against a tough Tampa defense, Dallas held a clean slate. The knock on Johnson has been the two TD passes vs. 3 interceptions, coupled with 6 sacks in two games.
The Giants lead the League in sacks with 26.0. DE Mathias Kiwanuka exploded for 3.0 against Pittsburgh (5.0 for the season) and Justin Tuck leads the team with 6.0 of his own. Front line pressure will be the order of the day in hopes of forcing Dallas into some turnovers through the air. Johnson will have to get rid of the ball quickly (something he doesn’t do well) in order to avoid the wrath of the rush. If not, look for the New York’s front seven to try to “slap & strip” Johnson in the pocket. With the ball coming out quicker to avoid the sack, New York’s defense could add to its eight picks on the season.
To counter the pressure, the Cowboys need to accomplish a couple things. Most importantly, they need to improve their rushing efficiency on first down, >4+ yards (25th in the League 36.4%). This will give them a greater number of options on 2nd, where they’ve been fairly balanced most of the season (but converting only 29.8%).
Where the ‘Boys miss Romo is on 3rd. Dallas ranks 1st & 6th respectively in converting medium to long situations. The past two weeks the Cowboys have gone 8 of 28. Keep things manageable for Johnson on 3rd down with options both on the ground & through the air. Otherwise the Giant pressure could create some favorable field position for QB Eli Manning.
Manning has done a masterful job spreading the ball around to his WR’s Steve Smith, Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer. They form the core of the Giants passing game with 79 receptions for 922 yards, 4 TD’s.
Manning’s outlets have been predominantly TE Kevin Boss and RB Derrick Ward. KEY #2 for the Cowboys will be to force Manning to find the outlets in lieu of his “big 3″.
Dallas has been a bit suspect through the air this season. They rank 20th & 21st in opposing QB rating on 1st & 2nd downs. They net out about 200 yards per game to the opposition via the pass and have forced only two interceptions in ’08 (one by DE Greg Ellis). This will be a tall task against one of the better offenses in converting 3rd & longs (7th) or 3rd & 10+ (1st). But the Dallas secondary of Jenkins, Henry (thigh), Hamlin & Davis will need to clamp down on the upfield routes and force the ball to the perimeter where the Giants throw less frequently and are averaging a bit less than the norm. Here the Cowboys can “rally” to the ball and use their pursuit speed to their optimum advantage.
For the Giants to establish themselves firmly at the top of the East, they’ll need to continue to run the ball in the fashion that has made them the best in the League (157.3 per game) over the first half of the season. Guess what? The Cowboys are surrendering less than 100 per game as a defense (95.5). But it will take the effort that held Tampa Bay to 49 yards, not the one that gave the Rams 190 on the ground.
KEY #3 will be the power running of Brandon Jacobs on LB’s Bradie James and Zach Thomas. New York tends to attack off tackle in the run game, putting the ILB’s in a 3-4 scheme squarely in the path. Jacobs averages almost 5 yards per carry and creates a lot after initial contact. The Dallas duo will need to square up and prevent the leaky yardage.New York averages over 5 yards on 1st down via the ground and will look to stay on that pace, giving them flexibility to maintain their 50/50 run to pass ratio on 2nd. The Cowboys knocked Jacobs out of the season opener in ’07 with a knee injury (6 for 26 yards), and then the Giants’ “big back” returned for 95 yards on 24 carries in game #2.
The Giants are 1st in the NFL with rushing plays of both 10+ & 20+ yards. In order for Manning to effectively negate KEY #2 above, New York will want to maintain the balance that has allowed Eli to successfully “manage” the game later in a series.
With Romo facing a 3rd week on the sidelines and once again spelled by Brad Johnson, New York will focus on shutting down what has to be a major factor in the Dallas game plan as well; Marion Barber and the run. KEY #4 will be to control the rushing attack of the Cowboys with the upfront play of Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka, Fred Robbins (hand) and Barry Coefield.
This D-Line plays a significant factor in the Giants ability to limit opponents to 86.0 per game (7th), 3.32 yards on 1st down rushes (7th) and only 12 plays of 10+ on the ground this season (T-5th). Barber & the Cowboys O-Line will want to take some pressure off their QB and add to their “Top 10″ rushing attack (120.1 per game). Dallas has logged 105 runs over 10+ (2nd in the NFL).
Coefield and Robbins have the size/mass inside that’s capable of leveraging the big Dallas offensive guards. Their ability to tie up the inside run combos should allow LB’s Danny Clark, Bryan Kehl and Antonio Pierce to fill and flow. With a reduction in the Dallas passing game due to Romo’s absence, look for SS James Butler down in the box a bit more often. Again, New York is looking to force 3rd & long situations to maximize their ability to rush the passer and force the turnover, a major component to their defensive formula.
KEY #5 will be Dallas fill in punter, Sam Paulescu, who took over for Matt McBriar after the Arizona blocked punt fractured a bone in his foot. Paulescu has been solid, but his numbers don’t add up to McBriar’s (one of the League’s best). The Cowboys are netting 32.6 over the past two games, 38.8 prior. If the offense stalls deep in their own territory, it will be up to Paulescu to flip the field for the Dallas defense. Little things, such as hidden yardage in the punt game, can reap big dividends on the road.
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