BTB: Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants: Comparing Statistics

[CCBoy]

Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants: Comparing Statistics
by Tom Ryle


http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2011/...tics#storyjump


The Giants running on the Cowboys is actually something good for Dallas.

Looking at the matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, there seem to be a lot of similarities between the teams. Both obviously have identical records coming into the game, both have quarterbacks that can dazzle with their ability and confound with boneheaded mistakes, both have suspect secondaries and both have a top-shelf pass rusher.

All of that is subjective and pretty much based on measurements taken with the Mark I eyeball meter. Is it real, though?...



...I wanted to look at the basic measures for the performances of the two teams so far. I picked what I felt were the stats that were the most indicative of how they were likely to do. The numbers are from ESPN's statistics page. I also looked at some other numbers, such as kick returns, but after mulling them over, decided they did not add much to the discussion. I will point out one thing that I was unaware of, and that is the punt and kickoff coverage for the Cowboys. Dallas is the 6th best team in the NFL at covering punts, and the 5th best at covering kickoffs. Just thought you might be interested in that. Otherwise, the special teams are kind of a wash. Neither team has scored on a kick return, and neither has given up a touchdown in the kicking game, either.

The following table has the numbers I want to delve into a bit. I have listed the raw number and the teams' respective rank in that statistic.

Giants Offense Dallas Offense Giants Defense Dallas Defense
Total Yds/gm 381.6 / 8th 380.1 / 9th 381.5 / 28th 336.9 / 14th
Pass Yds/gm 293.5 / 4th 263.3 / 8th 255.4 / 27th 238.3 / 23rd
Rush Yds/gm 88.1 / Last 117.2 / 15th 126.1 / 22nd 98.6 / 7th
Pts/gm 24.2 / 7th 23.7 / 12th 25.7 / 28th 21.1 / 10th
3rd down conv 39.8% / 12th 36.6% / 15th 38.5% / 17th 39.2% / 21st...

[CCBoy]

The cornerstones could be condensed as follows:

If ever there was a team that Dallas could sell out on stopping the pass, the Giants look to be it.

And as bad as we think the Dallas pass defense is, the Giants are worse.

[CCBoy]

To add to discussion, I'll include a quote from another BTB article:

http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2011/...nemy#storyjump


...Remember the blown coverages by the Giants in the last game against the Cowboys? Dez Bryant and Laurent Robinson getting free for big scores? Well, the Giants remember that too, and in their last game against the Jets they decided to simplify their defensive game plan and coverages. Safety Deon Grant explains:


"(Perry Fewell) went back to the old ways. He solidified: ‘Regardless of they give us A, B, C or D, this is what we’re doing,’ " safety Deon Grant said on Monday. "Before, trying to protect certain people or whatever the case may be, we had a different call for A, a different call for B and so on.

"Guys mentally were faster with it (against the Jets). That’s the way it was last year and in the beginning of the season this year."

We'll see if Jason Garrett and Tony Romo can exploit this plan in a way Mark Sanchez and company could not...