Cowboys vs. Giants 3.0, Part Two — The Battle of First Down
Posted: January 8, 2008 @ 11:02 am
The Giants are getting a lot of love from some pundits, who feel they’ve turned a corner after their near upset of New England and their solid win over Tampa Bay. They do have a chance to beat the Cowboys Sunday afternoon, but that will depend not so much on Eli Manning, the Giant receiving all the ink, but on RB Brandon Jacobs and on the Giants offensive line.
In week one, Manning had a huge passing game. His starting receivers, Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, went crazy. Toomer caught 9 passes for 91 yards and Burress hit the Cowboys’ corners for 144 yards on eight catches. Three of those receptions were for touchdowns. Burress was an equal opportunity abuser, beating Anthony Henry for 60 yards on the game’s second play from scrimmage. He later caught two TDs on Jacques Reeves.
Dallas clamped down the receivers in game two — Burress and Toomer combined for only seven catches for 61 yards. That strategy opened the middle of the field for Jeremy Shockey, who burned Roy Williams and friends for 12 catches and 129 yards.
Shockey broke his ankle late in the season and will miss the game. In his absence, New York has gone to a three receiver look a lot more, utilizing rookie WR Steve Smith. The Giants have had mixed success; both Smith and Burress had yards per attempt averages of 5.8 and 5.2 respectively the last month of the season, according to K.C. Joyner. Those are poor marks and were only offset by Toomer’s very good 10.8 YPA.
The Giants, in short, have become a dink and dunk team. Burress has played the entire season on a bad ankle and seems to have lost his deep gear. For this reason, and because Shockey is out, I look for Dallas to use the same game plan they used in November — take Toomer and Burress away and force the Giants to beat them with Smith and new TE Kevin Boss.
New York can win this way — provided it can run effectively on first and second down. The Giants were very good on the ground in both Dallas games. In week one, they averaged 6.0 yards per carry. In the rematch, Brandon Jacobs ran 24 times for 95 yards, one short of a neat 4.0 average.
This game, from Dallas’ perspective, will be won or lost on first down. If the Cowboys can shut down the Giants run — a task that’s easier said than done — and leave the Giants in second and long and third and long, they can pressure Manning. If Jacobs is ripping off four and five yard runs and the Giants find themselves in second and five or less, then OC Kevin Gilbride can continue calling the short, timing plays that Manning executed so well against the Bucs.
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Sounds like the Cowboy package will be riding the bench with Spears, Brady and Ayodele. Sorry to see that, it would be nice to have our best athletes on the field with Spencer, Hatcher and Burnett in the game more.
Are these guys not able to stop the run? I was thinking Spencer was getting pretty stout against the run.
What i cant understand is why teams in the NFC east have little or no respect for us. We have beat the Giants 3 of the last 4 games. The game we did lose it seem Bledsoe all but gift wrapped it and a young gunslinger with no playing time took over and made a young QBs mistakes. Since them we have owned them. Yet here they running their mouth. We know Dallas, we dont mind playing in Dallas, ect…
Im glad our players arent in the media woofing. I like the steady calmness and confidence of this team. Many on here are doubting but no one in that locker room is.I feel we will be ready. I think Romo will shine and everyone elses game will be back up. Romo will make it look like another day at the park and NY will leave thinking once again they should have won.
Don’t discount the emerging Eli Manning, who, according to Tex, is the best young QB in the NFL.
Unlike the Cowboys’ wanna-be playboy, Eli is all football, all the time. He’s not scraping scanks off the street. He’s not partying with Tila Tequilla on bye weeks. Eli is all business has the Giants playing championship-level football.
Wow Tex,
Dare we show up? Sure hope Wade does a bed check Saturday night. Come to think if it, I might want to do that bed check myself.
Sounds like you’ve been reading Liberace’s column about Gunslinger Romo and Eli Kid.
Squid,
Who cares? We will either shut them up or we’ll be hearing about the “Fall of Romo” all week next week.
That would not be fun, so let’s just win dammit!
I can’t help but be a little nervous for this game. Dallas has not looked great or even good the last three games… they have had spurts, but have not been playing with a great deal of consistency. I agree that first down will be a very big key in this game. Manning will get off an accurate throw under pressure now and then, but he tends to get rattled if constantly under pressure, and he throws at the feet of his receivers. On the other side of the ball, Romo has to come out sharp, make smart decisions and not throw interceptions. Romo is a better pressure player than Manning is.
If the Cowboys start strong, they will win, but if they play the way the have been playing down the stretch… they will lose. Teams going into the playoffs the healthiest, and playing their best, usually hang around longer. The Cowboys limped in due to injuries… they are pretty well healed… time for them to bust out!
I think the Romo in Mexico is about to take on a life of its own with the hype of these playoffs game coming. My take on this is what would you rather have? A 26 yr old man with 60 million dollars, single, with the week end off, with his pick of any 2 women or would you like him to get away from the negativity with his girl friend and best friend and wife. He is not on spring break.
“the emerging Eli Manning, who, according to Tex, is the best young QB in the NFL.”
Remember folks, those are the eyes that swore Drew Henson was going to be the next big thing.
Tex is worried about Romo. A promising young man, the next great Cowboys QB, exposed for what he is… a poor-man’s Matt Leinart. A male bimbo who hasn’t taken this once-in-a-decade opportunity seriously. A bottle of Calvados says Tony couldn’t find Iraq on a map, let alone outplay Eli Manning. The fall of Romo, so quick and unexpected. Hey, but at least he got some tail and has the inside track to Pam Anderson.
PS: Let’s hope he proves Tex wrong.
I see us starting a little slow similar to the way LSU started but I expect us to get it going quick. I would like to see us start this game in the no huddle offense. Set the tone for the game early and let them know the talking is over and the pressure is on.
Could this be the game that Roy makes his money?
squid-
NYG starts slow also. Maybe we go no huddle like early season and score!
It would be nice to see the Cowboys make all those New York, Mediot, pundits shut the hell up!!!
At this point of the season Tex, I don’t care if he can’t find Texas on a map. Just go out and bring home SB trophy #6.
Mikaele, don’t pay any attention to the oxygen thieves.
bushpilot:
I know I shouldn’t, but every time I turn on ESPN or the NFL Network I here somebody singing the Giants praises. I’ll just smile and watch them steal oxygen… I like that one BTW.
Tex -
What would make you question Romo’s intelligence? He’s proven he’s a heck of an instinctive football player. Dumb guys aren’t able to keep track of where their second, third and fourth reads are going to be when a play breaks down. Romo finds them nearly every time.
And even if he’s a dummy, Terry Bradshaw couldn’t spell “cat” if you spotted him the “C” and the “A”. He’s got 4 rings. [to all the other ol'timers out there - sorry for bringing up that painful memory]
Romo’s QBing the Cowboys - not running for President. Who cares if he can’t find Iraq on a map - he can find the TE open down the middle.
One win is not a trend.
The Giants had their bye after week eight. Their second half:
loss
win
loss
win
win
loss
win
loss
4-4
win in wild card round over a 9-7 team.
Yeah, this is the mark of a juggernaut. What evidence is here that this team is ready to run off a long winning streak?
If anything the ‘07 Giants play a lot like Bill Parcells’ ‘05 and ‘06 Cowboys.
I have to admit they still scare me. Reasons:
1. Owens is hurt and he will not be 100%.
2. Did they realy decide not to show up against Washington? That game looked terrible.
3. Giants have been very good against New England and hitting those 6 - 7 yards passes vs Tampa Bay which I don’t tink we can cover. That is exactly what New England has been doing with Wes Welker all season and it works. And it just happens to remind me of the New Orleans game from last year where a full back almost made the playoffs at our expense.
Hopefully T.O. will show up, draw 2 shmucks and Glenn tears them a new a$$
I’m not worried about this game one bit. Dallas is clearly a better team than the Giants. I’m off to the gym. Go Cowboys, :bashjints:
I’m real sick of hearing how the ‘Boys sucked the final 3 or 4 games.
Detroit - Win. Defense played horribly the first half. Offense was a no show until the 2nd half. After the break, it was total domination on both sides of the ball.
Philthy - Loss. Another tough first half by the offense, but a great showing by the D. This was an Eagles team playing for their playoff lives and came out very tough. They had just lost 3 games by no more than 4 points against the Pats, Seahawks, and Giants. They won their last 3.
2nd half was Romo without a thumb. D still played very solid.
Carolina - Win. Complete 1st half domination by the ‘Boys. 2nd half was really more of the same with the Offense playing keep away with Barber and taking the air out of the ball. Very conservative, very “playoff” like performance.
Skins - Loss. Take the bye and call me when the playoffs start.
In the two losses, there was a clear lack of motivation and interest. Yes, they SHOULD have been up for Philly, but they weren’t. They ASSUMED that they’d be able to come home and get a rest…they were wrong.
But they’ve come back from “poor” performances with outstanding results. Especially after byes.
Bottom line is that reality does not reflect the perception.
I am concerned as well with the trend the Boys have had the last 3 games…
However, I think this week off has help them to sort of break the trend and refocus..
Not to mention getting Terry G some practice time with Tony and allow TO and rest of the injured to heal.
giants have been playing well as of late, and I think they have used their silver bullets. Now comes the reality.. The key is to keeping Osi and straw-hen’s paws off Tony long enough to allow Witten and other guys burn them.
We assume NY will play their best and we will play our worst. What team could win under those circumstances? I like our team, top to bottom, better than NY. Would any among you trade rosters, coaches or home field advantage?
Fighter is right, each of the last 4 games were stories of their own and not once did I feel we couldn’t win. There is one team I fear and that is NE. I hope we get to play them.
Of course if Romo is intoxicated by Jessica, TO is out, Glenn is afraid and timid, Gurode is weak, Witten and Barber have to stay in to block because Bigg and Flo are ineffective, RW is slow and stupid, Ayodole is slow, Ware gets sick, Ellis aggravates his Achilles… and Eli is on fire, sure we may lose. Let’s just hope some of these things don’t happen.
Here’s some stats to make you happy.
- Since 1990, home teams are 53-15 (78%) in Divisional playoffs
- Teams going for 3-peat are 11-6 (65%)
- Cowboys are nearly perfect at home in the playoffs.
- Cowboys have more playoff wins in the modern era than any other team.
- ‘Boys have a record number of NFC Championship appearances and wins.
The list goes on.
yall gotta remember that garrett wasnt showing much of his hand coming into these playoffs… he started off the season doing exotic things with the offensive formations ala T.O. lineing up in the backfeild, to free him up.. these thigns were litereally NONEXISTANT over the final four games, and still managed to beat carolina and detroit when they had everything to play for…
philthy is our only legitimate loss considering we hadnt yet clinched, home feild and just simply played like garbage..
As for the skins loss. i shouldnt even have to explain this one.. we had zero to play for, 4 starters (3 of which were pro bowlers~newman, owens, gurode) and a key back up safety on ST and the nickle were out.. and yet we were still in the game at the half..
anywho. i for one am NOT concerned about the events leading up to this week, if anything it has helped us, we have not tipped our hat on offense. and the D will be as healthy as it has been all season..
Need i remind you all of how much our play resembled GARABAGE the second half of last year, but when we played seattle we seemed to play with a lot of heart (julius jones in particular..) i think it came down to poor coaching and not taking advantage of the horrible seattle secondary that eventually turned our 07 playoff run..
All and all, i like our chances.. go cowboys!
Did anyone hear how Carpenter played against Washington? I assume he didn’t play well based on how poorly the team played.
Wonder how he could do so well against Seattle last year and disappear this season? I really thought he was going to have his coming out party this year.
More fun with stats.
- No NFL Passing Leader has ever won the Super Bowl.
- Jersey/A has only one win (now two) over playoff teams…’Boys have 4
Don’t forget the fact that giants and spent.. Tired.. playing two weeks in a row and going balls to the walls on both weeks.. Return to NY and a trip few days later to Dallas..
I predict they will be slow and tired by the second half, after our OL and DL leaning on them first half..
Fighter,
I assume Manning was behind Drew Brees last year? Don’t recall how Manning finished.
As we all know, the passing leader is not always the best QB, see Starr, Nameth, Bradshaw, Staubach, Greise, Montana, Aikman, and the list goes on and on…. Now this year, different story.
Fighter15
True, perception is not always reality, but perception of how they entered the playoffs will be on everyone’s mind. I definitely believe the Cowboys are a better team as RHA put it, “from top to bottom,†and I believe they will prove that on Sunday. I would have a warmer and fuzzier feeling if they had exploded into the playoffs however
One positive aspect is that according to the injury report, not one player is out and it appears that T.O. will be a game time decision. Another unseen benefit would be T.O. and T.G. spreading the defense together. The Giants haven’t seen them both on the field at the same time this year, as Crayton said, that could be the X - factor.
Tex,
What are you, some kind of freaking priest or something? Take care of your own sins brother. Besides, nobody should live like you think they should just so they can please you come Sunday football game. NUNYA
Tex,
I kind of like the idea Romo has the cojones to take that trip. Don’t believe for a minute he didn’t know he would make headlines. He just flat doesn’t let this crap bother him.
It takes huge juevos, maybe he is just man enough to get it done. This stuff if not for the faint of heart.
One more time:
Week 17 —
Seahawks lost;
Jaguars lost;
Colts lost;
Cowboys lost;
Steelers lost;
Bucs lost;
Giants lost;
Five of these losers played last weekend and went 3-2. And the two losers lost to teams from this same list with better records.
Packers won;
Patriots won;
Titans won;
Redskins won;
Chargers won;
three of these winners played and went 1-2. The winner, San Diego, beat a team from this list with a lesser record. The team with the alleged best momentum, the Redskins, lost to a team from the losers list that rested its starters and lost to a 3-12 team in its finale.
We heard all week how the Redskins were hotter and better, and how the Seahawks were from a weaker division, yada, yada, yada.
What does this tell you?
It tells me that week 17 doesn’t mean squat. Next to opening weekend, it’s the most overanalysed and overemphasized weekend of the season.
In last week’s matchups the regular season meant something. The teams with more wins won their games.
The Giants lost to a 16-0 team because they were not as good. They beat a 9-7 team because they were better. They’re playing a 13-3 team this week.
Make up your own minds.
Regarding Romo:
Dick Schaap loved to tell the story of partying late in the early morning before the AFL Championship game between the Raiders and Jets.
He said he was walking home and saw Joe Namath going home himself around 4 am with a comely blonde on his arm.
Schaap got his bookie up early to double his bet on the Raiders.
Namath threw three TDs in that game and took his team to the Super Bowl.
Don’t project Tex. Some men can handle their liquor and women.
Roger Staubach was NFL passing champion in 1971, and Super Bowl champion as well. Same for Steve Young in 1994, Joe Montana in 1989, there may be more. Probably meant to say that no “passing yardage leader” has won the Super Bowl, which seems more plausible.
You tell it RAF
Good story about Broadway Joe, but Namath was a miserable 19 of 49 that game, and the Raiders were driving for the winning score until Daryle Lamonica threw a fluke lateral that the rest of the offense ignored and the Jets fortiuitously recovered.
Doesn’t really mean anything I guess…just being a contrarian.
I’ll bet romo wont be stumbling home on saturday night with jessica holding him up.
davidh,
Namath was never a high percentage passer. He went down the field and was willing to take two incompletions to get a big gain.
Kind of like Romo’s game against the Giants in week one.
For all who need a diversion from the media’s Romo bashing….
http://www.tonyfreakingromo.com/
Good stuff…
It’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read some of that stuff on the website, my laptop would have been fried.
Found that on accident, too good not to share…
Just a couple of points:
1. Tony Romo
The Cowboy website quotes Witten as saying that Romo went to Cancun “with his teamates” and watched the playoff games and that Jessica Simpson went “with her family.” That’s slightly different than how it got reported. Witten also said that Romo couldn’t really relax in Dallas which is understandable and that it was no different than guys who flew home to relax.
2. T.O.
While I hope T.O. is 100%, the Giants have to play him like he is even if he walks out there with a cane. If Wade is smart he will probably play him a little diffently than normal to maimize his effectiveness. Bottom line is that the Giants can’t cover T.O., Glenn, and Witten when they are on the field at the same time. Period.
What’s worse Tony in Caba, or Eli at a prty in Jersey?
http://www.gatorcountry.org/wearetheboys/images/eli_drunk.jpg
how do you know he is drunk in that picture?
he looks like that all the time.
jarhead:
Forgot the rim shot …
The TFR site is great — I like (in no particular order):
1) The FAQ questions
2) Tony being Big Brother to the Reid boys
3) His 1st words (read the bio): “I’m going to Disneyland,†spoken like a true Superbowl MVP.
Eric R,
#45 link
Zing! Zing! Zing! Zing! Zing!
Infinity Zing!
Comments from Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN.com’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback, re: Parcells and Dallas -
In other football news, Bill Parcells is running the Dolphins now and is rumored to be maneuvering to hire Dallas Cowboys offensive line coach Tony Sparano as Miami’s head coach. That rumor could turn out to be wrong, but if it’s true, the move would be consistent with a Parcells pattern — wishing ill against the clubs he leaves. When Parcells quit the Giants, he did so in April, when the in-demand coaches already had signed elsewhere. Parcells seemed to want Jersey/A to tumble from a Super Bowl win to a losing season, so people would say, “That Bill Parcells must be a genius, look what happened after he left.” Parcells walked out on the New England Patriots just after a Super Bowl, leaving disarray, and walked out on Jersey/B, leaving the weirdness of his former acolyte Bill Belichick resigning as head coach less than an hour after being named. In each case, the Tuna seemed to want to ensure the franchise he had just departed would head downward, causing people to say losing Parcells was a calamity.
Now Parcells has a problem — since he left Dallas a year ago, the Cowboys have been playing much better. Dallas won the No. 1 seed and has flourished under Wade Phillips, whom everyone likes but no one considers a genius. Should the Cowboys win the Super Bowl the year after Parcells’ departure, people will say, “Man, Dallas really benefited from getting rid of that grumpy sourpuss Parcells.” Perhaps this is a prospect Parcells cannot abide — so he’s trying to put his tentacles into the Dallas coaching staff, hoping to disrupt the current Boys’ run.
Sounds like Tex and Gregg have been talking…
The Prototype vs. The Playboy
Tex,
I do get a kick out of things you say.
However, trust scout on this. I saw both Mannings a ton in college, especially Jimmy Nuetron (Peyton).
Peyton is the prototype, not Charlie Brown.
However, Romo has squashed the prototype, because he isn’t one.
Tex is just showing off. I doubt he really is as stupid as he sounds- or he would not be able to turn on a computer let alone type.
Tell ya what Tex,
I’m gonna apologize to you. After sleeping on it I realized this morning that the voyeur (or the woman) in me wishes much of the same things that you do, although in a different way. I WISH that he was still with that “girl next door” CU, who writes songs about Jesus, is probably still a virgin, made big because she actually has talent and doesn’t have to show off her beautiful body to sell her product. I also thought that just maybe, because of TR’s hispanic background, he might have been an altar boy and STILL GOES TO MASS, but guess what, NUNYA applies to me too. If he doesn’t care about his developing bad boy image, oh well.
In the end, I guess it don’t matter who he rolls in the hay with, as long as he is accountable to US on game day. So really, I’m in agreement with you afterall.
I agree with Raul, the FAQ’s were great.
Romo is living every American boy’s dream right now……hotshot quaterback on a great team and dating the fantasy girl of every young man around.
I just hope someone he respects is making sure he understands all that could be gone in a pretty short time if he doesn’t remember his priorities. I don’t have a problem with him taking a couple of days to relax (apparently that’s what the team was told to do) I just wish he had relaxed in his apartment watching game film or something…but hey I don’t play sports so what do I know?
.
He is a good quaterback but he is still pretty inexperienced when you put it all in perspective