NBCDFW: A Lot's Changed Since September 20th

WoodysGirl

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BY Scott Crisp // 5 hours ago

Quite a bit has changed since the New York Giants spoiled the grand opening of JerryWorld with a late Lawrence Tynes field goal on September 20.

The Giants went hot and then, in an instant, ice cold. The win in Arlington would be their second in a run of five straight to open the season; the team seemed unstoppable, running through the bottom feeders of the AFC West on their way to 5-0. After that, the proverbial worm turned on New York.

The G-Men will welcome the Cowboys into the Meadowlands the owners of a 6-5 record, after dropping all but one of their last six contests, in third place in the NFC East, a division once firmly in their grasp. Writers around New York are calling the game a must-win and, with the month of December under way, it's hard to argue that it's not.

Dallas has gone on a run in the opposite direction, winning six of their last seven games following a week 4 loss at Denver that sent them to 2-2. The Cowboys now lead their division, and have the best scoring defense in the NFC, surrendering just 16.5 points per game.

"We lost by a short margin," Wade Phillips said after that loss. "If we cut [turnovers] down certainly and certainly make some more on defense, we can win those kind of games. We can see that."

Dallas has righted this wrong in the weeks since...kind of. Tony Romo threw three interceptions in the September loss to New York; he has thrown just four since, while stacking up 13 touchdown passes. As far as the defense creating turnovers, well, that's one area that could stand some improvement on an otherwise solid unit. The Cowboys are tied for last in the NFL with 13 takeaways.

"We're a totally different team than what we showed that first game," said safety Gerald Sensabaugh. "We'll play a lot better."

http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/blue-star/A-Lots-Changed-Since-September-20th-78244592.html
 

Rampage

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if our defense could get some more turnovers we could be dominate
 

CoCo

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Rampage;3112867 said:
if our defense could get some more turnovers we could be dominate

And if we remain tied for last it certainly puts additional burden on both the offense and defense. Neither of those units is so powerful that they can thumb their nose at that turnover ratio stat.

When its all said and done I wonder if no turnovers forced will ultimately force this team to fall short of its capabilities?

Or maybe we can start causing some...
 

NextGenBoys

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Rampage;3112867 said:
if our defense could get some more turnovers we could be dominate

We are in desperate, desperate need of forced turnovers. I cant find any turnover stats this year...I used to use the Turnover Table by profootball weekly, but I cant find one for 2009.
 

Beast_from_East

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zeroburrito;3113336 said:
how do we have 8 wins with a -2 margin. that is crazy.

Yea, was surprised by that also. It is highly unusual for a division leader in December to have a negative turnover ratio...............very rare.
 

SaltwaterServr

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Beast_from_East;3113344 said:
Yea, was surprised by that also. It is highly unusual for a division leader in December to have a negative turnover ratio...............very rare.

2007 Giants, -9 IIRC
 

Beast_from_East

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SaltwaterServr;3113347 said:
2007 Giants, -9 IIRC

The difference for them was their defense, especially their pass rush. Their offense was really not that good in 07 and they did turn the ball over alot, but the difference was noboday could do jack against them with that pass rush. Just look at our 07 playoff loss to the Giants, we had receivers running wide open in the secondary but Romo was getting hit before he could even get the ball off.

Same thing in the SB that year, Brady and the undefeated Pats couldnt do jack against the G-men because that pass rush was in Brady's face all game.
 

HoosierCowboy

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BIGDen;3113404 said:
We could even be dominant. ;)

I was going to say that but I resisted the temptation

anyway, the best thing about this defense is that we don't give up points (like we did at the beginning of the year)--if they keep playing hard, more TOs will come
 

WarDaddy

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Our corners are good enough to play tight and take chances but that may result in us giving up more points if they get burned.

If they play a loose zone and keep everything in front of them, sure they may have some more opportunities for picks but I think they have proven in the past that they are just not good enough in a zone to get the other team off the field. The end result would be long scoring drives for the other team and a tired pass rush at the end of the game that would pretty much guarantee a loss for the Boys if we need a stop.

I think the way we are playing now on defense is good enough to win any game if they get help from the offense.
 
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