ESPN Scouts: A few things that jumped out in Cowboys-Giants

[WoodysGirl]

Cowboys 20, Giants 8
Dallas
• It isn't easy to find weaknesses in the Cowboys' defense, anymore. They rush the passer as well as just about any team in the entire league and have a great deal of talent at all three levels. That talent is beginning to get on the same page in the Cowboys' penetrating version of their 3-4 scheme. New York's offense had zero continuity, lost the battle up front versus the Cowboys' athletic defensive line and was equally ineffective on the ground and through the air. Time to throw was at a premium and windows to get the ball into were very tight on the back end, while CB Terence Newman simply owned WR Domenik Hixon all night. The Cowboys' defense is peaking at the right time of the season.



NFL.com Video
Watch highlights from the Dallas Cowboys' 20-8 win over the New York Gaints.


N.Y. Giants
• A huge key to this football game was New York's inability to run the ball with any consistency. This eliminated the threat of play-action and didn't help the Giants' pass protection one bit, where they were consistently overwhelmed by Dallas' superb outside linebackers and three-man front. The Giants also lost starting RT Kareem McKenzie for the second half, which didn't help.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3770081

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I can read these kinds of articles all day.

What I noticed was that Alan Ball is turning into a really good gunner -- very physical -- and that Spencer continues to be extremely solid. On the series Ware was out, it seemed like he was in on almost every tackle in the run game, and sometimes the only reason he didn't get a sack was that someone else beat him to it. He's very strong and has that little bit more energy and mean streak that the 30+ Ellis lacks.

But I can't help thinking back the draft when the debate was between Ball and Brown for that 1st seventh rounder. Wade wanted him while Jerry wanted Courtney Brown. Jerry won out with the idea that he was a higher-potential player, but Ball has turned out to be the better football player.

Moral of the story -- just like with Parcells -- let the football coach pick football players, and try to go easy on the workout warriors. Ball is the kind of solid, physical special teamer that every team needs... Just the type of contributor you reasonably hope to find with a low seventh rounder.

 

[Future]

They rush the passer as well as just about any team in the entire league

Shouldn't leading the league in sacks mean that we do that BETTER than any team in the entire league :laugh2:

 

[hendog]

Shouldn't leading the league in sacks mean that we do that BETTER than any team in the entire league :laugh2:

Exactly! ***?

 

[alancdc]

Finally.

 

[dmq]

What is funny is going over to the Giants board. They are simply in disbelief that any team has even close to the talent level that they have. It is like a freight train has hit them. They have no answer for what our defense did to that stud OL.

 

[JD_KaPow]

Shouldn't leading the league in sacks mean that we do that BETTER than any team in the entire league :laugh2:

It's true for the Cowboys, but it's not always the case. A good team with a strong rush defense that forces the other team to throw the ball all the time, can rack up big sack totals without a great rush. Sacks as a percentage of pass plays is the better way to look at it.

Of course, Dallas leads that stat by a wide margin too.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Shouldn't leading the league in sacks mean that we do that BETTER than any team in the entire league :laugh2:

And they're leading in pass attempts per sack as well as Footballoutsiders.com's Adjusted Sack Ratio.




YAKUZA