450 Passing yards given up

[windjc]

Will preface this thread by saying that the score last night was closer than the game was, so I don't think, like some others, that we just squeaked out a victory with a +5 turnover differential.

I thought our offense played well. I though out defense played well especially vs. the run and with the TOs, obviously. However, there was ONE glaring defensive weakness, imo. And that weakness was the gross incompetence in coverage on the Giant's 3 second half TD drives (+2 long 1st half completions). Each drive took under 3 minutes and each drive had receivers running in wide open space.

Now, let's just throw the last drive out. Let's just say drive #3 was a "keep them in bounds to run out the clock prevent defense." Still the other two drives allowed were horrid. Combine those two drives with the 57 yrd slant and 70 yard Cruz TD and the secondary really stunk it up when they weren't intercepting the ball or causing fumbles.

What I would really like is a breakdown of where the Cowboy's breakdowns occurred. Why was Claiborne 5-7 yards off his man in slant patterns? Why was there so much space in the middle of the field? Why weren't safeties in position to lay wood? I mean, there were 3 Giant's receivers with over 100 yards. And it was an easy 450 yards by Manning.

Anyone got some insightful breakdown analysis on what went wrong?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Will preface this thread by saying that the score last night was closer than the game was, so I don't think, like some others, that we just squeaked out a victory with a +5 turnover differential.

I thought our offense played well. I though out defense played well especially vs. the run and with the TOs, obviously. However, there was ONE glaring defensive weakness, imo. And that weakness was the gross incompetence in coverage on the Giant's 3 second half TD drives (+2 long 1st half completions). Each drive took under 3 minutes and each drive had receivers running in wide open space.

Now, let's just throw the last drive out. Let's just say drive #3 was a "keep them in bounds to run out the clock prevent defense." Still the other two drives allowed were horrid. Combine those two drives with the 57 yrd slant and 70 yard Cruz TD and the secondary really stunk it up when they weren't intercepting the ball or causing fumbles.

What I would really like is a breakdown of where the Cowboy's breakdowns occurred. Why was Claiborne 5-7 yards off his man in slant patterns? Why was there so much space in the middle of the field? Why weren't safeties in position to lay wood? I mean, there were 3 Giant's receivers with over 100 yards. And it was an easy 450 yards by Manning.

Anyone got some insightful breakdown analysis on what went wrong?

We had a terrible time covering the deep slant.

 

[bayeslife]

I think the drive that burned me up was when we had them on the 10 yard line, and in 5 plays, Eli just walked his team down the field and into the endzone.

 

[JohnsKey19]

We had a terrible time covering the deep slant.

Deep and short. The short slants turned into long gainers. There has to be a way to tighten up against these patterns.

 

[Biggerblue]

Giants play action was effectively sucking up the LBs. surprising considering the score and Giants lack of run game/running backs.

 

[NickZepp]

I liked our pass D through about 3 quarters. But late in the 3rd and through the 4th when our rush wasn't working we were awful. Couldn't get any pressure on the QB, and that exposed our loose coverage deep. The Tampa 2 relies on getting to the QB. We'll give up some big games if we can't rush the QB. Ware has to play a bigger role than he played last night in the pass rush. I liked Selvie in his role, but he should be a backup that comes in to give some guys rest. Not play a bigger role like he played last night.

 

[iceberg]

i can imagine they'll be working on this all week during practice. while it was disturbing to see us almost lose this, i have faith our coaching will address it and it won't be a weekly issue for this defense.

 

[windjc]

I liked our pass D through about 3 quarters. But late in the 3rd and through the 4th when our rush wasn't working we were awful. Couldn't get any pressure on the QB, and that exposed our loose coverage deep. The Tampa 2 relies on getting to the QB. We'll give up some big games if we can't rush the QB. Ware has to play a bigger role than he played last night in the pass rush. I liked Selvie in his role, but he should be a backup that comes in to give some guys rest. Not play a bigger role like he played last night.

I think that Dallas has got to adjust the Tampa 2 to fit their personnel. Carr and Claiborne are tight coverage guys. I think we should allow them to press more, use their strength more and not just require them to play in space. Claiborne looked entirely lost in space yesterday.

 

[Rogerthat12]

The call was late coming in on the Cruz play where Allen and Mo both missed their responsibilities.

Apparently Lee never got the call from Kiff until it was too late on that play.

Safety play struggled in terms of taking poor angles and corner play was suspect at times.

It seems the back end still needs to iron out communication or even more big plays will happen.

The defense still needs work so these type of down the field issues do not become a trend.

However, the defensive line play and intensity of the entire defense with the focus on turnovers is refreshing.

 

[NickZepp]

I won't disagree, but again we also should have a better pass rush. Ware is supposed to be a star. And he did have that pick early on but after that he was basically a no show. Spencer is hurt so we should be better when he gets back.

 

[Rogerthat12]

I won't disagree, but again we also should have a better pass rush. Ware is supposed to be a star. And he did have that pick early on but after that he was basically a no show. Spencer is hurt so we should be better when he gets back.

In fairness, Ware was getting pressure often but did you notice how he was being tackled to the ground and held on every other play?

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Mo and Will Allen were the biggest culprits...

Mo- Total Attempts 9 Completions 6 Yards given up 139 (75 YAC)
Allen- Total Attempts 4 Completions 3 Yards given up 101 (29 YAC) + 2 TDs

The other two TDs were on Sean Lee and Scandrick.

Carr has a solid game... Total Attempts 6 Completions 3 Yards given up 52 plus the 1 pick.

Overall the Cowboy pass defense gave up the said 450 yards of which 183 YAC.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I won't disagree, but again we also should have a better pass rush. Ware is supposed to be a star. And he did have that pick early on but after that he was basically a no show. Spencer is hurt so we should be better when he gets back.

The pass rush created 3 sacks, had 5 hits and 15 pressures.

The Giants had 3 sacks, 6 hits and 13 pressures.

Overall I thought the Cowboy pass rush was more than acceptable.

 

[KDM256]

Mo looked like he didn't deserved to be onthe field at times. Made a couple plays and was in good position to challenge some balls but for the most part you could tell something wasn't right with him.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

IMO this is a real reflection of how much time Mo missed this offseason. I agree that I don't like the soft zone that we were playing last night. Let Mo and Carr press.

 

[CATCH17]

Im more worried about the mental mistakes.

I expect to give up yards in the NFL. You have to be amazing on D to not have the ball moved on you and scored on you.

Stop expecting an amazing shutdown defense.


What you can expect is a defense that plays like they are well coached, limits big plays, and causes turnovers.

That is all you can ask for in todays NFL.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

After rewatching the game, Sean Lee was miserable in coverage too.... Very bad.

 

[mrmojo]

Today's NFL is geared towards the Offense, so turnovers are key to winning as well as a good offense. I expect most games this year to be high scoring and going down the wire. A dominating defense is a thing of the past and now defenses must slow down teams enough for your offense to get a chance to score, holding teams to a field goal is a victory now.

 

[ric]

After rewatching the game, Sean Lee was miserable in coverage too.... Very bad.

Early 4th the Giants called back to back play-action plays to draw Lee and Carter to play the run and leave the void in the middle of the field. This also happened in the first quarter where Nicks crossed Claiborne's face and due to the play-action the middle was left wide open, coupled with the late reaction from Allen to cut Nicks off. The main problem may have been that we gave the Giants too much credit for their "vaunted" rush attack and left our zones prematurely. Had we kept our responsibilities, Eli wouldn't have the windows to throw through nor the time to look at other reads.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Early 4th the Giants called back to back play-action plays to draw Lee and Carter to play the run and leave the void in the middle of the field. This also happened in the first quarter where Nicks crossed Claiborne's face and due to the play-action the middle was left wide open, coupled with the late reaction from Allen to cut Nicks off. The main problem may have been that we gave the Giants too much credit for their "vaunted" rush attack and left our zones prematurely. Had we kept our responsibilities, Eli wouldn't have the windows to throw through nor the time to look at other reads.

That's a good post. I read somewhere (I forgot where) that there was some concern about the Cowboy linebackers biting too hard on play action. Obviously that's something that's going to have to be fixed.
Good catch on the late reaction from Allen. I noticed him doing the "hard plant" thing as the play progressed.