Tiki vs Good Run D's

[percyhoward]

Tiki Barber leads the league with 533 yards and a 5.2 ypc. The Cowboys currently lead the league in rush defense (yards per game) and are 2nd in yards per rush.

Here's what Barber has done, and where each opposing defense ranks in yards per rush. Note that all his top rushing performances have come against run D's ranked near the middle or bottom of the league.

vs. IND(32nd)...18 110 6.1 (5 rec 81 yds)
vs. PHI(7th).....21 51 2.4 (7 rec 57 yds)
vs. SEA(9th)....14 64 4.6 (4 rec 14 yds)
vs. WAS(13th) 23 123 5.3 (3 rec 16 yds)
vs. ATL(20th)...26 185 7.1 (3 rec 42 yds)

The team that has done the best job of stopping him is Seattle. Against the 9th-ranked Seahawks, Barber got 35 yards in his first 5 carries, then was held to 9 rushes for 29 yards the rest of the way, and only had 4 catches for 14 yards in the whole game. Philly's 7th-ranked run D held him to 51 yards on the ground, but unlike Seattle who was also playing with a big lead, ended up allowing a lot of receiving yards to Barber.

Even if our run D plays up to its ranking, Barber can still hurt us with catch and run. Run or pass it's the same, we can stop him all day, then if somebody falls asleep he'll kill us with a long one. It'll be the best test yet for our run D, and I think we'll pass that test. We just have to hold his receptions to short gains.

 

[Gordon]

With such a small sample of games, when someone runs for 185 yards against you, you're gonna take a hit in your average given up per game. I'd be more interested in seeing where these teams rank in games they haven't faced Tiki.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Maybe it is just foggy memory but it seems like Tiki usually has good days against us.

 

[dargonking999]

I dont remember him doing anything last year against us when we were at home.

 

[EveryoneElse]

When rival teams, or division rival teams get together, you have to throw out stats.

 

[percyhoward]

With such a small sample of games, when someone runs for 185 yards against you, you're gonna take a hit in your average given up per game. I'd be more interested in seeing where these teams rank in games they haven't faced Tiki.

Look at it this way--when someone runs for 185 yards against you, you aren't a very good run D anyway. Sure Atlanta's run D was ranked higher before it faced Tiki, but they had played Arizona, and Tampa--two of the five worst teams in the league in rushing.

Five or six games is enough to know where you stand.

 

[TheEnigma]

To be honest, I'm more worried about his pass catching than his running on us. I don't think he's going to run that well on us, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him have more recieving yards than rushing yards.

 

[thekavorka]

Those stats can be a bit misleading. Seattle got a HUGE lead, and the Giants had to keep passing. If you looked at his ypc in that game, it is still pretty good. I think the Eagles did a great job at stopping Tiki. Thats why I was shocked when Julius put up 100 on them.

 

[Gordon]

Look at it this way--when someone runs for 185 yards against you, you aren't a very good run D anyway. Sure Atlanta's run D was ranked higher before it faced Tiki, but they had played Arizona, and Tampa--two of the five worst teams in the league in rushing.

Five or six games is enough to know where you stand.

So you're gonna give no credit to Tiki and just chalk it up to Atlanta's poor Run D for an 185 yard performance?

The fact remains that using a 5 game sample, all these teams have lower rush D in large part because of what Tiki has done to them. Your point would be more significant if you calculated their run D in every game they've played besides against the Giants and then showed what Tiki did against them.

 

[percyhoward]

To be honest, I'm more worried about his pass catching than his running on us. I don't think he's going to run that well on us, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him have more recieving yards than rushing yards.

I think limiting his receptions and yac will be a key.

 

[percyhoward]

So you're gonna give no credit to Tiki and just chalk it up to Atlanta's poor Run D for an 185 yard performance?

The fact remains that using a 5 game sample, all these teams have lower rush D in large part because of what Tiki has done to them. Your point would be more significant if you calculated their run D in every game they've played besides against the Giants and then showed what Tiki did against them.

I get your point completely. I give Tiki all the credit in the world. But like most backs, he hasn't gotten big yards against the better D's. Julius against the Eagles was a notable exception.

My point is that we are one of the better run D's, and that he shouldn't have a big day against us either.

Rushing.

 

[JD_KaPow]

Here's the real question: how good is the run defense, really?

Houston and Tennessee can't run (regardless of what Henry did yesterday).
Philadelphia won't run.
Washington didn't have Portis.
We did hold Jacksonville's running game down pretty well.

Monday night's going to be a real test, in lots of ways.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Here's the real question: how good is the run defense, really?

Houston and Tennessee can't run (regardless of what Henry did yesterday).
Philadelphia won't run.
Washington didn't have Portis.
We did hold Jacksonville's running game down pretty well.

Monday night's going to be a real test, in lots of ways.

Well said.

Tiki is damned good once he gets outside. Ellis and Ware are going to need to be very good on handling containment.

While it may be a bit much to ask I'm hoping that our 7-man front can contain the run so Roy can concentrate on Shockey who has eaten our lunch on occasion. Their WR's don't scare me. I think we match up well.

 

[MapleLeaf]

Maybe it is just foggy memory but it seems like Tiki usually has good days against us.

...when Darren Woodson whacked him out of bounds and he never was the same that game. We won that day.

 

[FLcowboy]

To be honest, I'm more worried about his pass catching than his running on us. I don't think he's going to run that well on us, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him have more recieving yards than rushing yards.

I agree. The Giants might use him more like Westbrook, and we all know what that does to the defense.

The key might be to pressure Manning.

 

[tomson75]

Here's the real question: how good is the run defense, really?

Houston and Tennessee can't run (regardless of what Henry did yesterday).
Philadelphia won't run.
Washington didn't have Portis.
We did hold Jacksonville's running game down pretty well.

Monday night's going to be a real test, in lots of ways.

Actually, this is incorrect. To say these teams can't run is misleading. Houston is the only team that we've faced thus far that wasn't ranked in the top half of the league in rushing yards. Philly doesn't run very often, but when they do, they seem to be successful. The whole Portis thing is misleading. When Betts is used properly he's just as successful as Portis, and has the YPC to prove it. I'll try and find the stats and get back to you.


I do, however, agree that this will be a good test for us.

 

[MossBurner]

The Falcons were the #2 Rush D entering this week (now they're ranked 15). Tiki dropped them down the rankings. I know this because I researched it for my fantasy team where I almost benched him for Tatum Bell.

 

[tomson75]

Per the stat god:

Take away the Washington game, and we're still the No. 1 rush defense.

Jacksonville has averaged 128.5 yards rushing against everyone else (at 4.1 YPC). We allowed 78 (at 2.4 YPC).

Tennessee has averaged 122.2 yards against everyone else (at 4.4 YPC). We allowed 78 (at 2.9 YPC).

Philadelphia has averaged 123.4 yards against everyone else (at 5.0 YPC). We allowed 52 (at 2.9 YPC).

And Houston has averaged 76.0 yards against everyone else (at 3.2 YPC). We allowed 34 (at 2.0 YPC).

Our run D is not Atlanta's. We'll be fine.

 

[ElGatoGrande]

Analyzed properly, those stats tell the Cowboys how to stop Tiki Barber from killing them with the run.... get a 28pt lead on the Giants early!!! outside of that, those stats say absolutely nothing except that the Giants have a strong running game that nobody has stopped yet,,,, except by scoring early and often.

 

[tomson75]

Analyzed properly, those stats tell the Cowboys how to stop Tiki Barber from killing them with the run.... get a 28pt lead on the Giants early!!! outside of that, those stats say absolutely nothing except that the Giants have a strong running game that nobody has stopped yet,,,, except by scoring early and often.

That has no influence on the yards per carry, if anything, it helps them. It's not my fault their defense can't gameplan properly, and lets its opponent get a lead.