A few notes from Sunday night's game against NYG

itsaboat

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Romo looked a lot better Sunday night. He showed the mobility he had before the injury in the Washington game. He was able to avoid pressure when needed and he didn't seem too affected by the back. He had one bad throw, the pass to Witten that should have been intercepted, and that fumble at the end of the 2nd half. Romo topped off his performance with that beautiful game winning drive.

NYG has a few guys on their defensive line that gave Dallas some trouble. We know JPP, but Hankins and Ayers are also disruptive players. Murray had to work to get over 100 yards. There were a lot of 2 and 3 yard carries but he was able to get three that went over 10 yards. Murray lost 4 fumbles in the first 5 games but only 1 in the last 6. Hopefully he can keep it up.

It was nice to see Harris finally have a good game. He did everything on special teams. He had a couple of tackles, he downed a punt inside the 10, and averaged 17 yds on 4 punt returns.

The offensive line played well. Smith still had some problems with JPP but on the game winning drive he stepped up and protected Romo's blindside. Hankins gave Frederick some trouble on stretch plays but not like the first game. The communication between Martin and Free was on display. They handled stunts/twists easily. Martin's athleticism is fun to watch especially on screen plays where he can find a target and eliminate them.
Marinelli continues to roll with Hayden in the starting lineup even though he struggles at the point of attack. He gets pushed around and doesn't offer much of a pass rush. He does move fairly well which allows him to make hustle plays. I wish we could upgrade the position but at least he can do this:
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We didn't get pressure on Manning until late in the 2nd quarter. NYG scored three straight touchdowns before Selvie and Mincey got sacks on back to back plays. Once we started getting pressure we were able to get some stops. Who knew?
Melton had a couple of nice penetrations which killed two screen plays.
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Lawrence had a nice TFL here:
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I was a little surprised at Jack Crawford's strength. He was able to hold his ground against double teams. It's unfortunate he was injured. Selvie had a nice game with that sack along with a few pressures.

Rolando McClain is a playmaker. He was the reason NYG only averaged 2.8 yards per carry on 32 attempts. He made play after play in the run game. Here are a few:
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A couple plays on the goal line:
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On the final drive of the game it was Carter and McClain at LB.

A FEW KEY PLAYS

Romo had Bryant one-on-one with a LB for a big play but Smith gives up pressure which forces the shorter throw to Witten.
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Scandrick stumbles and Beckham is wide open for a touchdown. Lawrence gets pressure as Manning wants to go deep but has to get rid of the ball.
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Late in the 4th, NYG is trying to take the lead. Wilcox can stop the ball carrier for a minimal gain but is too aggressive and completely misses. The play goes for 27 yards which sets up the go ahead touchdown.
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Final drive of the game. Manning has Donnell for a big gain. T.Crawford gets enough pressure to cause Manning to throw it a tick early which results in an incompletion.
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**BONUS GIF**
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Hoov

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Anyone able to see the deefnsive adjustments that were made after NY first 3 scores ? Its like the team went from NO pressure to all kinds of pressure - the difference looked night and day. I wonder what changed.
 

xtreme_2k

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Anyone able to see the deefnsive adjustments that were made after NY first 3 scores ? Its like the team went from NO pressure to all kinds of pressure - the difference looked night and day. I wonder what changed.

Can't recall who it was but one of the defensive players interviewed alluded to the fact they weren't playing hard enough and missing assignments in the first half.
 

Sydla

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The communication part about the OL, especially Free and Martin is key. The big thing people keep talking about with regards to this game is that the Skins blitzed us to death and we looked totally confused along the OL. Plus, the play calls seemed odd as we seemed to continue to run deeper routes against the blitz and Romo had no time to wait for the WRs to make their moves.

Eagles are likely going to follow the Skins blueprint to a tee. They blitzed Rodgers, which was a failed strategy, but I suspect they'll follow the same game plan here.

If the communication issues are gone and the Eagles blitz and we stone them, our WRs/TEs/RBs on their secondary is a juicy matchup.

On defense, McClain is a big key in this game. The Eagles think they have found their running game so we may get a healthy dose of McCoy and Sproles, especially if Sanchez looks shaky.
 

Doomsday101

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Anyone able to see the deefnsive adjustments that were made after NY first 3 scores ? Its like the team went from NO pressure to all kinds of pressure - the difference looked night and day. I wonder what changed.

To me, it just looked like Dallas DL came out at the start not firing off the ball and once engaged with the Olineman guys feet would stop and they stood there hand fighting. Something happened after those first 3 drives and I suspect it was Marinelli jumping some guy on the sidelines. 2nd to last drive of the half guys started firing off the ball keeping their feet moving and using pass rushing moves to get off the blockers. Just my take
 

xwalker

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Marinelli continues to roll with Hayden in the starting lineup even though he struggles at the point of attack. He gets pushed around and doesn't offer much of a pass rush. He does move fairly well which allows him to make hustle plays. I wish we could upgrade the position but at least he can do this:
FittingTangibleChinesecrocodilelizard.gif

Excellent post.

Yes, Hayden doesn't hold the point very well and isn't a pass rusher but he does get over to the flat or back to LB depth on a lot of plays that you wouldn't expect a DT to get in on. This hustle to get in on plays away from him is the area where I wonder if Josh Brent can meet Marinelli's expectations. I have no doubt that Brent would be better at holding the point or pushing the pocket than Hayden, but I think Marinelli values the things that Hayden can do more than we the fans value it. It still seems odd that he had the most snaps of all DLinemen in this game.
 

itsaboat

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Anyone able to see the deefnsive adjustments that were made after NY first 3 scores ? Its like the team went from NO pressure to all kinds of pressure - the difference looked night and day. I wonder what changed.

We didn't blitz any more/less and the personnel grouping was the same. Maybe it took our defensive lineman a few drives to get back into the groove and to figure out what worked.

The communication part about the OL, especially Free and Martin is key. The big thing people keep talking about with regards to this game is that the Skins blitzed us to death and we looked totally confused along the OL. Plus, the play calls seemed odd as we seemed to continue to run deeper routes against the blitz and Romo had no time to wait for the WRs to make their moves.

Eagles are likely going to follow the Skins blueprint to a tee. They blitzed Rodgers, which was a failed strategy, but I suspect they'll follow the same game plan here.

If the communication issues are gone and the Eagles blitz and we stone them, our WRs/TEs/RBs on their secondary is a juicy matchup.

On defense, McClain is a big key in this game. The Eagles think they have found their running game so we may get a healthy dose of McCoy and Sproles, especially if Sanchez looks shaky.

This was frustrating to watch. Washington kept with their 0-blitzes and Marinelli kept calling medium to deep routes. It wasn't until the 4th quarter that we started running more slants. Philly has a better pass rush than NYG so it'll be interesting to see how often they will blitz and if they go all out or not.

We've shown the ability to stop runs/screens on the outside but have struggled with plays between the tackles. LB play will be very important especially from McClain and Hitchens. It'll be interesting to see who they choose to fill in for the injured J.Crawford.

Excellent post.

Yes, Hayden doesn't hold the point very well and isn't a pass rusher but he does get over to the flat or back to LB depth on a lot of plays that you wouldn't expect a DT to get in on. This hustle to get in on plays away from him is the area where I wonder if Josh Brent can meet Marinelli's expectations. I have no doubt that Brent would be better at holding the point or pushing the pocket than Hayden, but I think Marinelli values the things that Hayden can do more than we the fans value it. It still seems odd that he had the most snaps of all DLinemen in this game.

Thanks. Hayden also can drop into zone coverage but I only noticed on one play during the NYG that we did it and it was Melton late in the 4th. I think Hayden had so many snaps because he was the guy filling in for Jack Crawford when he got injured. I agree with your statement about Marinelli and Hayden. We could upgrade the position in the draft . If Brent does play, I wonder how his stamina is because Philly won't let him get off the field.
 

xwalker

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Thanks. Hayden also can drop into zone coverage but I only noticed on one play during the NYG that we did it and it was Melton late in the 4th. I think Hayden had so many snaps because he was the guy filling in for Jack Crawford when he got injured. I agree with your statement about Marinelli and Hayden. We could upgrade the position in the draft . If Brent does play, I wonder how his stamina is because Philly won't let him get off the field.

I doubt if Brent is active this week for the exact reason that you mentioned. It's much more likely that T. McClain is active, IMO.
 

xwalker

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This was frustrating to watch. Washington kept with their 0-blitzes and Linehan kept calling medium to deep routes. It wasn't until the 4th quarter that we started running more slants. Philly has a better pass rush than NYG so it'll be interesting to see how often they will blitz and if they go all out or not.
Yes, the routes had a lot to do with the pass protection problems. They had too many slow developing routes and not enough short options for the quick throw.

I would like to see more slants and quick throws. Green Bay kills opponents with the quick slant.
 

mahoneybill

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Excellent post.

Yes, Hayden doesn't hold the point very well and isn't a pass rusher but he does get over to the flat or back to LB depth on a lot of plays that you wouldn't expect a DT to get in on. This hustle to get in on plays away from him is the area where I wonder if Josh Brent can meet Marinelli's expectations. I have no doubt that Brent would be better at holding the point or pushing the pocket than Hayden, but I think Marinelli values the things that Hayden can do more than we the fans value it. It still seems odd that he had the most snaps of all DLinemen in this game.

" in Rod we trust " so if he's ok with Hayden so am I.

If Brent can add some other things he will use him when he thinks the time is right
 
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