Sturm's Marinelli Report: Gashed In The Middle Of The Defense

Cotton

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By Bob Sturm, Special contributor

Everything was going really well for the Cowboys' defense on Sunday. With 10:12 left to go in the game, the Cowboys had limited the Giants to just 13 points in seven drives.

In the 2nd half of the game, the Cowboys had stopped Eli Manning with a Brandon Carr interception on the first drive of the 3rd Quarter, a Benson Mayowa sack on the next drive, an Orlando Scandrick sack on the next drive, and a pretty impressive play by Byron Jones to break up a pass on 3rd down on the 4th drive that was early in the 4th Quarter.

The Cowboys were making plays defensively. A takeaway, two sacks, and breaking up passes? Who were these guys?

But as we know, the game didn't end with 10 minutes to go in the 4th Quarter. At that point, the Giants hadn't accomplished too much offensively and very little on the ground. But, somehow, in the final 2 drives, when the Dallas defense had only played about 16 minutes the entire afternoon, they were unable to deal with the Giants running game right down the middle.

The Cowboys were about to taste the pain. The Giants cranked up a running game we didn't really realize they had and pushed the ball down the field twice when it counted most. Once to take the lead was just complimenting Eli and his crew through the air. But the killer was the final Giants drive that took the clock and all the timeouts away from the Cowboys.

It was a classic 4-minute drill. This is not as famous amongst fans as the 2-minute drill, because it is pretty much the opposite. Instead of trying to score quickly, you are trying to bleed the clock dry. This is best done on the ground so that you don't stop the clock. The problem is that the defense knows you want to run and that means it is a matter of might. Can your guys block theirs?
With Terrell McClain, Cedric Thornton, and a healthy Tyrone Crawford, I was optimistic that the Cowboys would be fine in these situations. But, if any part of your preseason confidence should be rattled, it might be what we saw in those final 2 drives. A fresh Cowboys defense was gouged repeatedly.

In yellow, please see 6 carries for 58 yards. Very discouraging against what the league expects will not be much of a run game. But, they ran it down the Cowboys throat in Dallas.



Just demoralizing. And almost all similar runs where they were between the tackles and attacking the Cowboys in the heart. And maybe most discouraging, with all six of these runs, there are almost no signs of linebackers making a positive impact.

We saw the first sign back in the 2nd Quarter. Look at this run right at the Cowboys middle:



The Giants LG 67-Pugh counters around and Jennings goes untouched into the secondary. Both linebackers get blocked and there is just nothing the Cowboys front is able to accomplish.
Now, to those six runs in the 4th Quarter. Ben McAdoo knew he could go back to this.



The Giants RG 77-Jerry counters the other direction with Shane Vereen behind him through the hole. Rookie DT Maliek Collins (96) is tossed aside and you could drive a truck through that hole. Lee gets blocked, Durant gets caught in the traffic and again your safety makes a tackle.



Fullback lead. Same concepts. Double team the DT, push the DE out, and have a lead run right at a LB untouched. Secondary is exposed and must make the tackle.



Do you think by now the Giants are wondering if the Cowboys can stop them? Rashad Jennings, your turn again. Look at this one. Double team the 1-tech (McClain), pull the weak side guard to get the LB, and off to the races again.



Now, pull the weak side guard in the other direction. This is getting silly now. Mayowa gets shoved inside by the TE (can't happen) and now on a play that looks confusing, the Giants and Jennings are in the secondary again.



At this point of the exercise, it is possible you are starting to understand why the Cowboys have an irrational dependency on Rolando McClain, right? It is tough to play in this league without a middle linebacker.



And finally a 3rd and 12 where they almost got it.

I didn't mean to make you sick on this Wednesday morning, but these are seven runs - all pretty important in the game - where I am not sure a RB had to break a tackle from the defensive linemen or linebackers. It was seven big runs in which the safeties and corners had to make all of the tackles on inside runs! Ground and pound.

Heaven help us.

WEEKLY DATA BREAKDOWN



The defensive overview shows us plenty of interesting things, with a lot of numbers you will take on a weekly basis. In this league, giving up 20 and 316 yards is pretty decent. Low explosive plays against (20 yards+) and that TOP is solid.

But, you can't give up three touchdowns on three red zone drives is not going to get it done. Last year, of all of the things the Cowboys tried to do on defense, they actually were pretty solid in this category - finishing 8th in the league with a red zone defense of 51%. Only 51% of drives by opponents in the red zone ended up as touchdowns. That was good. Allowing 100% is going to get you beat.

ELI MANNING THROW CHART



Behold, the Ben McAdoo offense. Get the ball out quick and spread it around. You can see a lot more between the numbers than Dak Prescott from yesterday. Also, fewer shots downfield.

SPLASH PLAYS



We are looking for playmakers and moments in the game where the defense has a chance to do something to turn the tide.

That is why I keep splash plays here to see who is doing what. There is no question that the big takeaway from Week 1 was the run defense could not get a stop in the 4th Quarter. I don't want that to influence you about the quality of Terrell McClain. I think he was the bright spot defensively in Week 1 as a DT was routinely making big plays and causing havoc. He lost some snaps - this league is hard and the players are very good - but he also ended the game with a team-high 3.5 splash plays which demonstrates why everyone on the coaching staff is raving about him through training camp.


TEAM TOTALS - SPLASHES - WEEK 1



Unfortunately, all we saw from the defense with any degree of consistency was the play of Terrell McClain with 3.5 splashes. Otherwise, there were several occasions where someone made one play.

Clearly, watching Benson Mayowa pass rush was enjoyable, but there are concerns about him holding up against the run. Scandrick certainly didn't look like he could run vertically with someone like Odell Beckham, but blitzing he has some real value.

And even publicly, Jason Garrett said they need more from Tyrone Crawford which is starting to become a bit of a trend that we hope changes quickly.

I thought that David Irving really showed he needs more opportunity and Byron Jones has plenty of value as both a safety and a slot guy against TEs. And, more than anything, I am very worried about Anthony Hitchens and Justin Durant trying to play big snaps at middle linebacker. It seems like a real weak spot right now, but we need to see more to verify on Sunday.



I thought we would see more blitzes in 2016, but I also said that we shouldn't expect it against the Giants in Week 1. Teams don't blitz them and for good reason. So, this is just for your information. But, 6-29 is roughly the 20% Rod Marinelli always sends.

CONCLUSIONS AND TAKEAWAYS

Overall, the defense was like the offense: Some good, but too much that needs to be better. From the defensive perspective, they are trying to play without defensive ends and linebackers they believe in (besides Sean Lee). The good news is that the most talented defensive lineman they have will be returning for Week 5 in DeMarcus Lawrence, but that won't help them get ready for their next three opponents.

They have to find their strengths and identity. You have to be good at either stopping the run or stopping the pass. When you look at the personnel, you are tempted to say that stopping the pass should be their strength, but then you see that rushing the passer is a real issue. You think they have some good run stoppers, but then you see that they have no linebackers who can clean up any issues on run plays in the middle like peak Rolando McClain would. If a perfectly fresh defense can't stop the Giants running game in the 4th Quarter, what happens when they play a solid running team and are tired?

In other words, Rod Marinelli has his work cut out for Week 2 and beyond. They have interesting parts, but they appear to be a few short of a solid defense at the moment.
 

Cotton

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God damn, Sturm, you're making it harder and harder to post your shit. :lol
 

Simpleton

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The run D was solid for the vast majority of the game, it just seemed that in the 4th the Giants found something that worked in the draw and the defense never adjusted properly. Sure, there were some plays where Thornton and McClain don't look great but overall I think they were both really good against the run.

Collins was poor against the run, although he flashed some pass rush a few times, while Crawford was invisible.
 

Jiggyfly

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The run D was solid for the vast majority of the game, it just seemed that in the 4th the Giants found something that worked in the draw and the defense never adjusted properly. Sure, there were some plays where Thornton and McClain don't look great but overall I think they were both really good against the run.

Collins was poor against the run, although he flashed some pass rush a few times, while Crawford was invisible.
Crawford does not have great change of direction skills which hurts his ability to get more TFL's but he got consistent penetration and you can tell he is being gameplanned for.

Like I said before the season LB is the weak link they have nobody to clean up both Durant and Hitchens get engulfed by blockers.
 

NoDak

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Nick DeLuca. 6'2" 245 lb tackling machine with great instincts and coverage skills. Go get him, Jer.


As an added plus, the kid without his helmet looks like your typical Guido. Which is sure to enrage boozman and cause him sleepless nights.
 

boozeman

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Nick DeLuca. 6'2" 245 lb tackling machine with great instincts and coverage skills. Go get him, Jer.


As an added plus, the kid without his helmet looks like your typical Guido. Which is sure to enrage boozman and cause him sleepless nights.
Sounds like another Caleb McSurdy.
 

UncleMilti

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Nick DeLuca. 6'2" 245 lb tackling machine with great instincts and coverage skills. Go get him, Jer.


As an added plus, the kid without his helmet looks like your typical Guido. Which is sure to enrage boozman and cause him sleepless nights.
He looks too white to make an impact.

:unsure
 

Angrymesscan

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Nick DeLuca. 6'2" 245 lb tackling machine with great instincts and coverage skills. Go get him, Jer.


As an added plus, the kid without his helmet looks like your typical Guido. Which is sure to enrage boozman and cause him sleepless nights.
He seems kinda slow in that Gif...
 

boozeman

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Here is some vid of NoDick's white LBer man-crush:

 

Angrymesscan

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Here is some vid of NoDick's white LBer man-crush:

He looked faster in the gif...
 

GShock

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That defense couldn't sack up in the 4th quarter after only having to play 16 minutes of game time.

It's going to be a long season.
 

p1_

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Any mystery as to how the Redskins will attack this defense ?
 

Cotton

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Any mystery as to how the Redskins will attack this defense ?
Their running game kinda sucks, so most likely it will be through the air.
 

ravidubey

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That defense couldn't sack up in the 4th quarter after only having to play 16 minutes of game time.

It's going to be a long season.
They got no help from the offense in the second half. One of those 15 play drives probably wins the game after that turnover.
 
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