Analysis: Cowboys DTs vs Giants

blueblood70

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I reviewed the Cowboys DTs on all snaps vs the Giants.

I've seen a narrative that the DTs were a problem and that the Cowboys have a problem at DT.

Where that narrative came from is unknown to me.

Last season the starters were Woods at 1-tech with Crawford at 3-tech for 7 games until Collins was near-100% healthy and he started the final 9 games. All of those players remain on the roster and Collins started the season healthy. Crawford did play significant snaps at DT in the Giants game when the Cowboys were in a pass rush alignment (Both DTs playing at 3-techs).

The DT Covington is an upgrade, especially on run defense from last year with Daniel Ross and Caraun Reid.

Analysis of the Giants Game

The DT group had a solid game.

Run Defense
The big 59 yard run by Barkley was outside of the DE. The DTs were not at fault on that.

There were 2 good inside runs (11 yards & 7 yards) before the Cowboys went to the prevent defense in the 2nd half.

Both of those runs were to an "open" gap or LB gap.

Without considering TEs, there are 6 gaps.
A gap: OC-OG
B gap: OG-OT
C cap: Outside OT

There are obviously 2 of each A, B and C.

With 4 DLinemen that leaves 2 "open" or LB gaps.

The interesting thing that the Giants did on both of those run was to have a WR run horizontally just behind the DL and take the Nickel CB with him such that the WR and Nickel CB were in the way of the LB coming up to fill that gap.

There were a couple of decent inside runs late but the Cowboys were playing pass defense at that point which is obvious when they used Crawford or Hyder at DT. They were also playing the LBs way off on those plays which is another indicator of a pass defense alignment.

Pass Rush

They did get occasional pressure with the DTs but overall the Cowboys rarely rushed more than 4 and were more concerned with the run than the pass in the 1st half.

They also ran less DL Stunts than at anytime last season. Most people probably recall that excessive stunting was one of the issues with the run defense in the Rams game.

Eli does not hold the ball long. He has been near the top of the list of QB the past several years in terms of time from the snap to releasing the ball.

Summary:
The LBs were a bigger issue against the run than the DTs. Both Jaylon and LVE made some mistakes with regards to filling the wrong gap.
man all that money to Jaylon and for what? rams game and now the giants..Tank cant seal off the outside, all that money jeez bring in Taco and Thomas players By committee and trade these guys...:)) what a mistake signing those contracts were.. no pass rush cant stop the run..:))
 

xwalker

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man all that money to Jaylon and for what? rams game and now the giants..Tank cant seal off the outside, all that money jeez bring in Taco and Thomas players By committee and trade these guys...:)) what a mistake signing those contracts were.. no pass rush cant stop the run..:))

You are the 1st poster that I can remember that posted to make fun of himself because that appears to be what you are doing.
 

blueblood70

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You are the 1st poster that I can remember that posted to make fun of himself because that appears to be what you are doing.
nope

just pointing out Zeke wasn't the only player who got paid big money and game 1 didnt play a perfect game.. you saw game day post on zeke, the days following ripping every little thing.. im making sure they are reminded that big money new deals doesnt mean the players will not make mistakes or have bad day.. they couldn't wait to post every snap on EE..Point out the 50mil back...shrug meh

Back to your post, they did play bad ONE sack between two players, no INT, got bulled over in pass and run game.. Giants shot themselves in the foot near the RZ and kept the score from being closer..

sure we still win but we didnt need film breakdown to see as a defense they played bad other then the score..
 

xwalker

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They didn't play well against Rams either, IIRC. Lee was about the only one who played well against the Rams on defense.

That was primarily a scheme issue.

The Cowboys were going to fail against the specific blocking the Rams used just based on the scheme (defensive alignment).

The Patriots changed their defensive alignment for the Super Bowl and the Rams blocking scheme that the Rams had rolled out against the Cowboys.

The Rams blocking scheme was designed to box out the LBs horizontally.

The Rams would what appeared to be an outside zone run but was actually a designed cut back to the inside run.
They used multiple methods to get each LB to that LBs outside and then they used delayed blocks by OLihemen to get between the LBs and the middle of the field leaving a huge space for the RB to run.

The Rams would also do the opposite in that they would get the LBs flowing in one direction and then when the ball went to the outside in the opposite direction they would have a blocker preventing the play side LB from moving to the outside.

The Patriots moved the OLB up to the line and outside of the RDE.
They flipped the Nickel CB to the other side to make up for the OLB moving to this location.
They had the RDE play the B gap (inside the LT) instead of playing the C gap like the Cowboys did with their RDE.
The OLB was there to play the C gap.
It made them a little vulnerable against the pass (in theory) but on pass plays the OLB would played a short zone and a Safety would pickup the receiver when he passed the OLBs short zone area.
That put the Nickel CB on the TE which is a good match-up on pass plays.
The end result was that the Rams could NOT cut off the path of the LBs horizontally because one stayed inside and one stayed outside with double DBs playing the run on the opposite side.

Long Story, but the Cowboys LBs really didn't have much chance against the Rams blocking scheme from the alignment they were playing and it would require too many changes to implement during a game with no practice on those changes.
 

xwalker

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nope

just pointing out Zeke wasn't the only player who got paid big money and game 1 didnt play a perfect game.. you saw game day post on zeke, the days following ripping every little thing.. im making sure they are reminded that big money new deals doesnt mean the players will not make mistakes or have bad day.. they couldn't wait to post every snap on EE..Point out the 50mil back...shrug meh

Back to your post, they did play bad ONE sack between two players, no INT, got bulled over in pass and run game.. Giants shot themselves in the foot near the RZ and kept the score from being closer..

sure we still win but we didnt need film breakdown to see as a defense they played bad other then the score..

I'm at the point that I can't overcome your grammar and lack of sentence structure to really have any idea what point you are trying to make.
 

Runwildboys

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That was primarily a scheme issue.

The Cowboys were going to fail against the specific blocking the Rams used just based on the scheme (defensive alignment).

The Patriots changed their defensive alignment for the Super Bowl and the Rams blocking scheme that the Rams had rolled out against the Cowboys.

The Rams blocking scheme was designed to box out the LBs horizontally.

The Rams would what appeared to be an outside zone run but was actually a designed cut back to the inside run.
They used multiple methods to get each LB to that LBs outside and then they used delayed blocks by OLihemen to get between the LBs and the middle of the field leaving a huge space for the RB to run.

The Rams would also do the opposite in that they would get the LBs flowing in one direction and then when the ball went to the outside in the opposite direction they would have a blocker preventing the play side LB from moving to the outside.

The Patriots moved the OLB up to the line and outside of the RDE.
They flipped the Nickel CB to the other side to make up for the OLB moving to this location.
They had the RDE play the B gap (inside the LT) instead of playing the C gap like the Cowboys did with their RDE.
The OLB was there to play the C gap.
It made them a little vulnerable against the pass (in theory) but on pass plays the OLB would played a short zone and a Safety would pickup the receiver when he passed the OLBs short zone area.
That put the Nickel CB on the TE which is a good match-up on pass plays.
The end result was that the Rams could NOT cut off the path of the LBs horizontally because one stayed inside and one stayed outside with double DBs playing the run on the opposite side.

Long Story, but the Cowboys LBs really didn't have much chance against the Rams blocking scheme from the alignment they were playing and it would require too many changes to implement during a game with no practice on those changes.
Excellent breakdown, thanks! It's pretty sad that our DC couldn't adjust on the fly. So am I wrong that Lee played a much better game than LVE or Jaylon? It sure seemed like he sniffed out the runs better.
 

xwalker

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Excellent breakdown, thanks! It's pretty sad that our DC couldn't adjust on the fly. So am I wrong that Lee played a much better game than LVE or Jaylon? It sure seemed like he sniffed out the runs better.

Lee didn't play enough snaps for me to really have a strong opinion on that.

Jaylon 94%
LVE 77%
Lee 27%

It was too much to really adjust during the game but I do question why they were not more prepared before the game started.

The Rams did roll out some new tweaks for the playoffs and the Cowboys were their first playoff opponent but I still think the Cowboys should have anticipated it a little better.

They did make some adjustments but the early action had worn down the defense and the injury to Woods didn't help, especially considering they didn't really have a backup 1-tech last season.

This season they at least have a legit backup 1-tech in Covington.

Add in the fact that they didn't seem to have the the correct shoes for the conditions, at least not initially and it was a avalanche of problems.
 

HoplessCowboysFan36

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Ive seen Leyton have a few misreads in pre season and week one. Just needs to be cleaned up. That is all fixable with reps. As incredible has he is, still a second year LB.
 

HoplessCowboysFan36

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Excellent post. But I thought the Giants' 151 yards rushing was more easily explained.

First, 59 of those came on one carry. Just taking that away puts them under 100.

Second, a lot of the Giants' other big runs came when they were hopelessly behind and the Cowboys were expecting pass. In other words, they were inconsequential.

Yea, I dont believe the inconsequential thing personally. Bloods in the water. Attack.
 

Sydla

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Thought wolf hunter was fine but I thought it was one of Jaylon’s worst games

Wolf Hunter was far from fine. That opening TD drive was largely him screwing up. That's not to say Smith was any better. He wasn't.
 

Sydla

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If the defensive linemen are being pushed out of their gaps and into the gaps that are assigned to the linebackers, guess who looks bad. The linebackers, because that linebacker has basically been taken out of that play. But it isn't the linebackers fault the defensive linemen can't take or control their assigned spots.

So everytime we see a linebacker run directly into the back of one of our defensive linemen, it could be the defensive linemen's fault or it could be a miscommunication. And reviewing the footage is not going to tell you whose fault it was unless you know the play call.

So we as fans can sit here and say it was this guys fault or that guys fault. But unless you know the actual play call, meaning the actual gap assignments, then we are just pointing the finger without the knowledge to back up our statements.

By the run defense is something that needs to be cleaned up. What ever the cause.

Exactly.

That's not to say that the LBs are free from blame here but the reality is we have a middling set of DTs. There is no dominant play maker there. Collins has some ability but he's inconsistent. Woods and Covington are you prototypical Marinelli DTs - high motor, high effort, middling talents (relatively speaking).

It's clear that the org's scheme is built around Marinelli and his belief he can turn middling assets into good DT play. I think that's a mistake but it is what it is and won't likely change until Marinelli is gone.
 

Sydla

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As for the pass rush, the same excuses flow every single year - QBs get rid of the ball quickly against us, we only rushed 4, etc.

I want to see how they look when Quinn gets back before making any real determinations here but the reality is that first game against the Giants looked like many of our games last year where we were just a middling pass rush team. Not bad, not great, just ehhhh.

I was hoping a rejuvenated Collins at the 3T along with Quinn would add some juice but we may have to wait a few more weeks to see if that's the case.
 

xwalker

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LVE was the one that got sealed inside up against crawford for the long run

I think I figured out the issue on that play.

Crawford initially fired out into the outside shoulder of the LT filling the C gap but then immediately fought to get to the inside and fill the B gap.

I think both LVE and Safety Woods keyed off of that initial move and played it as if Crawford was filling that C gap which caused LVE to fill the B gap and Woods to fill the D gap.

A freeze frame shows both LVE and Woods looking in the direction of Crawford right at the time he initially fired into the outside shoulder of the LT.
 

8FOR!3

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I made a YouTube video covering the defense but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to share it. Basically the defensive line doesn’t get enough organic pressure for Marinelli’s defense to work as effectively as it needs to imo
 

DanA

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Idk about worst games, but Exhibit A:


I don't think that's a bad play by Jaylon. LVE hesitates and gets blocked out of the play, Jaylon is quick to step up into the hole and while he whiffs on the tackle, but at least he's in the right spot and he gets there early. The spin move is freak athleticism but redirects Saquon whose limited to a 2 yard gain.
 
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