Sturm's Marinelli Report - The Defense Fulfilled Its End Of Bargain

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,696
By Bob Sturm, Special contributor

Proving, yet again, that the season is a long and twisted journey, the Cowboys have now hit a stretch where their defense has played so well in holding down its opponent in games that we have now come full circle and are now wondering what this team would look like if the offense could join them.

This, of course, is a rather unexpected development, but here we are. The defense allowed one big play all night long. Now, let's be clear, it was a big one and a substantial moment in the game (in fact, it might be the only play from this game that gets any sort of historical marker), but for 31 minutes, the Cowboys defense tried to stand tall as the offense faltered and they matched the Giants defense blow for blow.

In fact, they also made a QB look like a rookie all night. Except this one is not a rookie, but a 13-year veteran with a couple Super Bowl rings.

They were in his face, they were plugging the run, and they were all over his receivers. Now, it helped quite a bit that he missed a few throws, too. That is always key to locking down a decent offense - you just hope when there is a moment where everything clicks, that the QB either misses the throw or the WR let's it fall through his hands. But, overall, any observer had to be pleased with the night the defense generated.

WEEKLY DATA - AT NEW YORK



It is a massive shame to have a night where you allow 1 explosive play, get 3 sacks and 3 takeaways, allow no red-zone damage, and just 260 yards - in a losing effort. What is this, the 2015 Cowboys???

They gained confidence throughout the game and closed off lanes for big plays. It helps that, like the Vikings before them, the Giants seem rather limited on offense, but give credit where it is due - the Cowboys seem to be in a real rhythm at the present.

3 Takeaways is fantastic and actually puts the Cowboys just 4 takeaways (14 on the year) from league average (18). That is not impressive, of course, but it is far better than 2015 when they had the worst takeaway year in NFL history. Similarly, 3 sacks put them at 26 at a time where the league average is 28, so we are very close to saying the Cowboys have a league-average pass rush. Which few of us thought possible this season.

ELI MANNING THROW CHART



Above, please note the Eli Manning throw chart - that includes just 2 passes more than 10 yards down the field and 0 passes over 15 yards. Again, this isn't to say there weren't opportunities deep for the Giants, but they did not do a very solid job of execution. But, it is important to know what a normal offensive day looks like in the NFL when we fret about the Cowboys offense.

WEEK 14 - SPLASH PLAYS



On the heels of last week where I was talking in this space about Sean Lee having one of the best runs of his career and an incredibly game in Minnesota. Well, he followed it up with a game that was even better and is playing out of his mind right now.

Also, quite a game and coming out party for Benson Mayowa. I know some have labeled him a disappointment, but I am not sure how that can be true if he has not really been given an opportunity. There is a massive difference between disappointing with opportunity versus disappointing while never really getting a chance. He did get good snaps in Weeks 1 and 2, but beyond that, we haven't seen much from him. I suggest he is a real weapon and can play based on the study back in Oakland in the spring. But, like Jason Pierre Paul giving Romeo Okwara a chance at seeing the light of day, I submit that Mayowa just needed the rests in a game.

SEASON SPLASH TOTALS



Lee can make a run at the elusive 32 splash barrier - something that hasn't happened in several years since DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer were dominating off the edges back in the day. I think all told we should recognize that this defensive line group has been pretty solid all year long. They have definitely met and exceeded most of my expectations. Especially Maliek Collins and Terrell McClain inside and Cedric Thornton has been coming on strong at just the right time.

Ok, since it is late in the week, let's not make this one quite the length of yesterday's Linehan piece. But, let's look at a few plays -



I concur with the TV guys that this is a Touchdown for the Giants if Eli doesn't let the ball slip through his hands. He loses the ball before he is hit, so while you can claim the blitz made him lose the ball, you cannot say it was from the impact of the hit. He just saw it and it spooked him, I guess, but the secondary busted here and were let off the hook.



Starting to see more Sean Lee blitzes and they are starting to get home. I love his form and part of that is seeing QBs panic when they see him coming, because I think he does a real solid job of not telegraphing his intentions in presnap.



Here is another sack and takeaway on a 5-man pressure. This time, it doesn't look like Eli has much, although that corner route might have a chance. But, let's look at what he is dealing with in the pocket.



Here, Benson Mayowa steamrolls Ereck Flowers around the edge in a fantastic example of pass rushing. This is beautiful stuff here and the blindside hit brings the ball loose and Lee gets to it. Huge play and a real swing in the game.



Here is Tyrone Crawford's sack which is off a nice stunt from Maliek Collins where he creates the diversion leaving a free path for Crawford to clean up. Marinelli gets plenty of these sacks off stunts and games and the T-E path seems to get the best results.



Here is the Anthony Brown interception. Eli sees Cover 3 and is assuming Brown will be much softer on Cruz, but look how badly Brown wants that ball. Very aggressive - especially in the red zone. What an impressive kid found in the 6th round. And, another very poor idea from the QB.



You can see, Eli tried to look it off and get this pass in with deception. Brown did not fall for the look-away trick and was right there.

And now, the one play that ended up costing them:



Giants use one of the most basic pass concepts in football - the slant/flat combination to open up the Cowboys for a big touchdown. Basically, when you are running man coverage against this, you need your safety to make a play once the slant is completed. Sometimes, the hook defender - 59-Hitchens might be able to help close this window if he is playing the "rat", but it actually looks like he has the TE, so it is just Carr and the safety - 42-Church. Church gets the angle all wrong and Carr can't catch Beckham once the ball is away. Your safety has to get this right. The other safety - 31-Jones is diving down as a robber from the opposite side, so you can argue the Giants caught the Cowboys in the right coverage, too.



You can see from behind that this is a play the Giants should be running once a quarter. Very dangerous when you get nitro in the open field.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The defense was given a huge margin for error for 3 months, but now there is almost none. They stopped the 2-point conversion in Minnesota to get the win, but busted just one time in New York and take the loss. Fickle, indeed.

Tampa Bay is next, but now that the defense is starting to offer some swagger, I am sure they are fired up for the opportunity. That said, Mike Evans is the type of beast they haven't had to deal with much. Big WRs of his caliber aren't on the schedule. Let's see how they plan on defending that force of nature on Sunday Night.
 
Top Bottom