Sturm: Defensive Report - Claiborne starts to emerge

[WoodysGirl]

October 31, 2012

It is truly the most extreme of situations when you concede 16 points in the first 16 minutes of the game, and yet, you feel that the defense has done a strong job at minimizing damage. But, that is the case on Sunday when 3 of the 4 Giants' early scoring drives started at or inside the Dallas 31 yard line.

Turnovers caused what the coaches refer to as "sudden change" and to the Cowboys credit, they responded well enough to keep the team within striking distance. And that continued later in the game when two 4th Quarter Giants' drives were just for 3 points as opposed to the 7 that would have ended the team's chances.

The defensive philosophy on Sunday emerged into a very curious one based on the success that the Giants were having (or in this case, not having). New York was not moving the ball well, and so Dallas seemed to play more as an accomplice to the crime, as opposed to any sort of driving force.

They hardly applied pressure to Eli Manning again. Just 1 sack, and even that was more of a situation where DeMarcus Ware gobbled up Manning after Eli was flushed up in the pocket. In his final visit to Texas Stadium in 2008, Manning was sacked 8 times by the Dallas front (1 sack every 5.3 attempts). Now, after 8 games since that incident, the Cowboys have finally matched those 8 sacks - but in 295 pass attempts (1 sack every 37 attempts).

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