Angus
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For the full article, click the link below. I have deleted parts that are a rehash of missing people for the first game.
Giants hope to put more pressure on Tony Romo this time
BY HANK GOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
He smiled the familiar gap-toothed smile, hoping he could plant a few on Tony Romo's kisser on Sunday. In a few sentences yesterday, Michael Strahan summed up what this game means to the underdog Giants.
"They're the Cowboys," Strahan said with sarcasm. "They're playing real well, getting a lot of great press. They've got a quarterback who's kind of like the Golden Child right now. So we want to take our shot at them again."
It has been eating at this team since the first night of the season when that Golden Child's team ran up 478 yards and 45 points. Since then, Romo has been rewarded with a $67.5 million contract and the Cowboys, losing only to the Patriots, look like the class of the NFC. But the Giants, winners of six straight, do not lack for confidence this time.
The defense that Romo took apart is vastly improved, and the biggest difference, Tom Coughlin notes, is "pressure . . . pressure," the kind the Giants hope Romo will see on Sunday.
In that first game, when Justin Tuck had the Giants' lone sack, Osi Umenyiora was injured after playing just six snaps. Strahan, who missed all of training camp while pondering his future, was huffing and puffing, and the dancing Romo was able to convert on key third-and-longs all night.
Umenyiora, however, said the Giants would love to force the Cowboys back into those same scenarios.
"We had them in third-and-longs in a number of situations but they were just able to convert. They were getting big chunks of yardage at a time," Umenyiora said. "I don't think it was a situation where we just went out there and got demolished. We just weren't prepared on third down to make the plays that we needed to make."
*************************
The Cowboys' O-line is huge, but as Umenyiora, who faces left tackle Flozell Adams, says, "If we can out-quick them, we'll be all OK."
Perhaps, but Romo may still have something to say about it. He is exceptional at escaping pressure and throwing on the run. He is always looking downfield and he seems to maintain his vision and find the open man when things break down. That's exactly what happened last year at Giants Stadium, where he escaped Umenyiora's rush and found tight end Jason Witten open on a blown coverage to set up the game-winning field goal. Umenyiora still laments taking the wrong angle on his rush but the bottom line is Romo beat him.
"The ball comes out so fast and then you have to be a disciplined rusher, you have got to have him contained," Coughlin explained. "You don't want him to lengthen the play because of his speed. You have to have some patience and you have to keep coming. Persistence will be a real issue."
"We've faced them over our career," Strahan said of mobile QBs such as Romo. "We've faced guys as dangerous if not more dangerous than he is. But he presents a challenge getting out of the pocket. He's very accurate on the run but he's also being very elusive when he does run. He makes things happen. You see a ball hiked over his head and he ends up making 30 yards. There's a horseshoe stuck somewhere on him and we've got to find it."
Said cornerback Sam Madison, "Last game, a couple of times we let him out and he hurt us with some big plays. His receivers, they're kind of tied into him. They assume he's going to make a play. On both ends, our defensive ends and defensive backs have to be extremely focused, knowing the things he's capable of doing. . . scrambling, running, making big plays. The guy has a motor that never stops. We have to have that same motor."
Romo isn't infallible. Although it had more to do with coverage than a pass rush, he threw five interceptions against the Bills in Week 5 and still escaped with a victory. The Giants feel they can make him that uncomfortable again.
"I just hope if he comes in here and gives us that opportunity, we don't blow it like Buffalo did," Pierce said. "It's one of those things where any quarterback at any given time can make a mistake. Of course, we're going to try to force him to make throws and not be as comfortable as he wants."
In any case, the Giants are confident they have given the Cowboys something to worry about.
"You make those deductions for yourself," Coughlin said when asked if a fit Strahan and a healthy Umenyiora would make the difference. "I think the idea of having to really spend time deciding how you are going to protect because of the effectiveness that has been shown over the last few weeks with our rushes . . . it is something that you would like to force other people to have to think about all week long."
"They have all those weapons but defensively, we have a lot of weapons ourselves," Umenyiora said. "As concerned as we are about them, they must be concerned about us."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...giants_hope_to_put_more_pressure_on_tony.html
Giants hope to put more pressure on Tony Romo this time
BY HANK GOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
He smiled the familiar gap-toothed smile, hoping he could plant a few on Tony Romo's kisser on Sunday. In a few sentences yesterday, Michael Strahan summed up what this game means to the underdog Giants.
"They're the Cowboys," Strahan said with sarcasm. "They're playing real well, getting a lot of great press. They've got a quarterback who's kind of like the Golden Child right now. So we want to take our shot at them again."
It has been eating at this team since the first night of the season when that Golden Child's team ran up 478 yards and 45 points. Since then, Romo has been rewarded with a $67.5 million contract and the Cowboys, losing only to the Patriots, look like the class of the NFC. But the Giants, winners of six straight, do not lack for confidence this time.
The defense that Romo took apart is vastly improved, and the biggest difference, Tom Coughlin notes, is "pressure . . . pressure," the kind the Giants hope Romo will see on Sunday.
In that first game, when Justin Tuck had the Giants' lone sack, Osi Umenyiora was injured after playing just six snaps. Strahan, who missed all of training camp while pondering his future, was huffing and puffing, and the dancing Romo was able to convert on key third-and-longs all night.
Umenyiora, however, said the Giants would love to force the Cowboys back into those same scenarios.
"We had them in third-and-longs in a number of situations but they were just able to convert. They were getting big chunks of yardage at a time," Umenyiora said. "I don't think it was a situation where we just went out there and got demolished. We just weren't prepared on third down to make the plays that we needed to make."
*************************
The Cowboys' O-line is huge, but as Umenyiora, who faces left tackle Flozell Adams, says, "If we can out-quick them, we'll be all OK."
Perhaps, but Romo may still have something to say about it. He is exceptional at escaping pressure and throwing on the run. He is always looking downfield and he seems to maintain his vision and find the open man when things break down. That's exactly what happened last year at Giants Stadium, where he escaped Umenyiora's rush and found tight end Jason Witten open on a blown coverage to set up the game-winning field goal. Umenyiora still laments taking the wrong angle on his rush but the bottom line is Romo beat him.
"The ball comes out so fast and then you have to be a disciplined rusher, you have got to have him contained," Coughlin explained. "You don't want him to lengthen the play because of his speed. You have to have some patience and you have to keep coming. Persistence will be a real issue."
"We've faced them over our career," Strahan said of mobile QBs such as Romo. "We've faced guys as dangerous if not more dangerous than he is. But he presents a challenge getting out of the pocket. He's very accurate on the run but he's also being very elusive when he does run. He makes things happen. You see a ball hiked over his head and he ends up making 30 yards. There's a horseshoe stuck somewhere on him and we've got to find it."
Said cornerback Sam Madison, "Last game, a couple of times we let him out and he hurt us with some big plays. His receivers, they're kind of tied into him. They assume he's going to make a play. On both ends, our defensive ends and defensive backs have to be extremely focused, knowing the things he's capable of doing. . . scrambling, running, making big plays. The guy has a motor that never stops. We have to have that same motor."
Romo isn't infallible. Although it had more to do with coverage than a pass rush, he threw five interceptions against the Bills in Week 5 and still escaped with a victory. The Giants feel they can make him that uncomfortable again.
"I just hope if he comes in here and gives us that opportunity, we don't blow it like Buffalo did," Pierce said. "It's one of those things where any quarterback at any given time can make a mistake. Of course, we're going to try to force him to make throws and not be as comfortable as he wants."
In any case, the Giants are confident they have given the Cowboys something to worry about.
"You make those deductions for yourself," Coughlin said when asked if a fit Strahan and a healthy Umenyiora would make the difference. "I think the idea of having to really spend time deciding how you are going to protect because of the effectiveness that has been shown over the last few weeks with our rushes . . . it is something that you would like to force other people to have to think about all week long."
"They have all those weapons but defensively, we have a lot of weapons ourselves," Umenyiora said. "As concerned as we are about them, they must be concerned about us."
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...giants_hope_to_put_more_pressure_on_tony.html
