dpf1123
DCC 4Life
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 2,173
The Morning After, Week 10 - A Giant Mismatch
Dak Prescott still has not lost to the Giants since his rookie season in 2016.
BOB STURM
NOV 13, 2023
There was a time in this game – very early, mind you – when Dallas appeared to be unsure of itself. The Cowboys entered the game knowing what they were up against and for a few moments, ran into some resistance.
On the first drive, the Cowboys waltzed down the field, only to encounter their red zone issues one more time. What appeared to be an easy touchdown if Dak Prescott keeps the ball, instead was a Tony Pollard run that fell inches short of the goal-line.
Then, a very quick three-and-out on the next opportunity after they were given the ball at nearly midfield. The Giants had very little offensive firepower, but there is no question that they would be happy to stay in the game if Dallas would be so kind as to allow such a thing.
Finally, late in the first quarter, the Giants had pushed their luck and this time given the Cowboys another end zone punt that started the third drive on the New York side of the field. It only took five plays for the Cowboys to draw first blood with a CeeDee Lamb end-around for 14 yards and a touchdown.
Down 7-0, the hapless Giants and third-string QB Tommy DeVito achieved their only first down of the entire half on the third series as they were allowed to operate with the ball way out at their own 25-yard line for a change. They would navigate all the way to their own 40-yard line before punting a third time.
The Giants last gasp at giving us a reasonably interesting afternoon of football would occur on the final play of the first quarter. It would be a Cowboys third down at their own 25-yard line to start their fourth drive and one which Dallas called a timeout to make sure they were on the same page.
The play is fascinating to study as Dallas is going to use a somewhat familiar tactic of putting Lamb in motion and into the left slot. He will be right outside Jason Ferguson and they will use proximity to allow Dak a chance to focus in the same sector to move the chains. The Lamb skinny post will be paired with a Ferguson out past the sticks.
The motion will determine if the Giants are playing man coverage and then Lamb will take Giants slot corner Cordale Flott out of the area where Ferguson is going to be with his route. But, when Prescott waits for Lamb to clear – and notices there is a safety on top of Lamb, too, he calculates double coverage so he comes down to the backup option of Ferguson who has leverage on his man. This is pitch and catch usually and barely a footnote on the proceedings.
Instead, Flott was not playing man. The Giants weren’t either. They took the risky chances of showing man pre-snap as part of an ambush that could only be used in this sort of situation. Third down and medium, I am sure Wink Martindale and the Giants knew they could probably only use this plan once, so wait for the perfect spot to spring this trap if Dallas played to its tendencies. Due to the circumstances, the “best spot” happened to be the final play of the first quarter. The plan worked as Flott came from the blindside of Ferguson and stepped in front of the pass for an interception.
He wasn’t supposed to be there because Dallas made sure with the motion indicator. But, that is the awesome thing about this league. They knew you would think that so they crossed up the signals. Dallas was sure this was candy from a baby, but the baby had a gun.
If you think about it, leaving Lamb uncovered for a window puts the safety in a horrible spot. If Prescott sees it, this could be a 75-yard touchdown the next time. But, this time it worked like a charm.
For a brief moment – sort of – Dallas looked a bit unsteady as the second quarter started. The Giants were throwing what little ammunition they had to try to throw the Cowboys off their stride. It wasn’t much, but their only hope was that they could wind up and hit the Cowboys as hard as they could to hopefully get a free touchdown out of the moment of truth.
Then, maybe, just maybe, they could give those Cowboys a game.
New York would take the ball at the Dallas 12 with a chance to tie the game. The stadium grew a bit uneasy as this might be a longer day than anyone expected. The Cowboys had let their guard down again.
At this point, Dallas decided enough was enough.
Three plays later, New York had a 4th-and-2. We have not talked enough in this space about the veteran Johnathan Hankins who they acquired last season at the deadline from the Raiders and then re-signed in March. He is the prototypical run-stuffing big man who does dirty work all day and seldom gets recognized for his efforts.
In this spot, facing a massive moment in the game, Hankins is lined up with Osa Odighizuwa inside and then DeMarcus Lawrence is at left end and Micah Parsons at right. Saquon Barkley is on Micah’s side and a zone read appears aimed at him, but the give is going to Barkley the whole way right at Odighizuwa. The Giants right guard, Ben Bredeson was able to win against Osa and open up a nice path for Saquon by getting the big defensive tackle to the ground. The video below, especially if you slow it down, will tell the tale that there is plenty of daylight there.
But, the swarming Cowboys defensive line was able to recover in the blink of an eye. It is beautiful to behold when you see how far Lawrence and Hankins are from eachother as their mate hits the ground. Lawrence has 79-Tyre Phillips on him and he absolutely tosses him aside. Meanwhile, Hankins is tangling with 67-Justin Pugh probably five yards away.
As if they both saw a bat signal and responded immediately, they both take action, discard their blockers, and meet at the hole like two steel doors to keep Barkley away from the line to gain. It was swift and powerful and a show that Dallas has some answers when they need it to stopping a physical run. And to see big Hankins cover that much ground when he needed to is a testament as to why he has a role this big right now.
Fourth down denied. The Giants will not tie this game. In fact, they will not experience a moment of happiness the rest of the day until they land back in New Jersey. Because the next two hours is going to be extremely unpleasant for anyone who gets in the way of this freight train.
What Dallas did next was pretty ridiculous.
Yes, the Giants stink, but the more you look around this NFC, the more you see that there are about four teams that are very good (including Dallas), maybe a couple more who are ok, and the rest who only ever get wins because they get to play each-other. The current state of the entire NFL feels as top heavy as ever, although maybe we repeat this pattern every year. We think in August that 24 teams have a chance and then find out that it is actually about 10. The rest of this 32-team league don’t know which was is up.
This, of course, is why there are large segments of observers that have a hard time every demonstrating the human emotion known as happiness. The mantra of “only beating bad teams” is familiar in these parts and not necessarily wrong. There is a great supply of bad teams in the NFL and if you just beat them, you have a wonderful chance to be in the playoffs every year. The belief that there is a group of “great teams” that only play other great teams and beat them every time is absurd, but contagious to this fanbase. And who can blame those who have been fooled for three decades when it comes to evaluating the caliber of their own team.
Are the Cowboys good?
Well, we should ask the Giants. Dallas FIVE touchdowns in the next two quarters in such a flurry of destruction that it almost looked like the Cowboys were playing a college team. Men versus boys was an understatement.
Cowboys go 96 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. 14-0.
Giants respond with 1 yard and punt.
Cowboys go 54 yards in six plays for a touchdown. 21-0.
Giants respond with 2 yards and a punt.
Cowboys go 85 yards in seven plays and a touchdown. 28-0.
And so on.
In the second half, it featured more of the same. An 86-yard touchdown drive, a 77-yard touchdown drive, and a 75-yard touchdown drive. Prescott played an enormous role again and the offense has not looked better. 640 yards of offense was the biggest Dallas yardage yield since 1966! It will keep us busy tomorrow when we evaluate the offensive day.
By the time the 49-17 game had mercifully ended – which was easily 30 minutes longer than anyone was hoping for – the Cowboys had destroyed any morale that the Giants might have retained. It had been since 2016 – when Dak Prescott was a rookie – since the Giants had beaten the Cowboys at all, unless you recognize the one solitary win on the final week of the 2020 season against backup Andy Dalton as Prescott stood in a cast.
But, just take 2023, where Dallas had already beaten the Giants 40-0 in Week 1, so you could conceivably wonder if this was only the 2nd most emphatic whooping they had endured in this matchup. 89-17 in two games against “your hated rival” sounds like the latest rebuild of everything in Gotham has not gone much better than the several that preceded it. Add in the thrashing of the Jets in Week 2 and you arrive at a 119-27 verdict against the New York City NFL franchises.
How that city enjoys NFL football anymore is beyond most of us. Regardless, that can be their issue, because the Cowboys have the pressing discussion of what this all means to their campaign.
Dallas continued three of its very positive Mike McCarthy era trends:
Mike McCarthy’s teams at BOTH of his head coaching stops: Did not have losing streaks, dominated at their home stadium, and kicked the teeth in of divisional opponents. It led to many double-digit win seasons, chances in the playoffs and occasional breakthroughs into conference title games.
It is a result of dealing well with adversity, improving as the season went on, building a tough culture that enjoys getting up after sustaining a body-blow, and being nobody’s pushover.
Again, I cannot promise you a Super Bowl after watching yet another demolition on a Sunday that bordered on boring. But, I can tell you that this is consistent with the type of team he built in Wisconsin for many years. He and his staff seem to understand how to build a product that looks and feels like this.
All Dallas can continue to do is stay on this journey and keep winning games. You cannot fix the 49ers and Eagles situations right now, but you can continue to build and put yourself in your best possible spot. The trip against the Cardinals was bad, but another one would have been catastrophic. They made sure that early adversity against the Giants never came close to threatening the outcome. They drilled them.
Next week, they wish to show more of the same in Carolina. At 6-3, their only goal should be to sit at 9-3 when the Eagles arrive in Arlington on December 10th.
Dak Prescott still has not lost to the Giants since his rookie season in 2016.
BOB STURM
NOV 13, 2023
There was a time in this game – very early, mind you – when Dallas appeared to be unsure of itself. The Cowboys entered the game knowing what they were up against and for a few moments, ran into some resistance.
On the first drive, the Cowboys waltzed down the field, only to encounter their red zone issues one more time. What appeared to be an easy touchdown if Dak Prescott keeps the ball, instead was a Tony Pollard run that fell inches short of the goal-line.
Then, a very quick three-and-out on the next opportunity after they were given the ball at nearly midfield. The Giants had very little offensive firepower, but there is no question that they would be happy to stay in the game if Dallas would be so kind as to allow such a thing.
Finally, late in the first quarter, the Giants had pushed their luck and this time given the Cowboys another end zone punt that started the third drive on the New York side of the field. It only took five plays for the Cowboys to draw first blood with a CeeDee Lamb end-around for 14 yards and a touchdown.
Down 7-0, the hapless Giants and third-string QB Tommy DeVito achieved their only first down of the entire half on the third series as they were allowed to operate with the ball way out at their own 25-yard line for a change. They would navigate all the way to their own 40-yard line before punting a third time.
The Giants last gasp at giving us a reasonably interesting afternoon of football would occur on the final play of the first quarter. It would be a Cowboys third down at their own 25-yard line to start their fourth drive and one which Dallas called a timeout to make sure they were on the same page.
The play is fascinating to study as Dallas is going to use a somewhat familiar tactic of putting Lamb in motion and into the left slot. He will be right outside Jason Ferguson and they will use proximity to allow Dak a chance to focus in the same sector to move the chains. The Lamb skinny post will be paired with a Ferguson out past the sticks.
The motion will determine if the Giants are playing man coverage and then Lamb will take Giants slot corner Cordale Flott out of the area where Ferguson is going to be with his route. But, when Prescott waits for Lamb to clear – and notices there is a safety on top of Lamb, too, he calculates double coverage so he comes down to the backup option of Ferguson who has leverage on his man. This is pitch and catch usually and barely a footnote on the proceedings.
Instead, Flott was not playing man. The Giants weren’t either. They took the risky chances of showing man pre-snap as part of an ambush that could only be used in this sort of situation. Third down and medium, I am sure Wink Martindale and the Giants knew they could probably only use this plan once, so wait for the perfect spot to spring this trap if Dallas played to its tendencies. Due to the circumstances, the “best spot” happened to be the final play of the first quarter. The plan worked as Flott came from the blindside of Ferguson and stepped in front of the pass for an interception.
He wasn’t supposed to be there because Dallas made sure with the motion indicator. But, that is the awesome thing about this league. They knew you would think that so they crossed up the signals. Dallas was sure this was candy from a baby, but the baby had a gun.
If you think about it, leaving Lamb uncovered for a window puts the safety in a horrible spot. If Prescott sees it, this could be a 75-yard touchdown the next time. But, this time it worked like a charm.
For a brief moment – sort of – Dallas looked a bit unsteady as the second quarter started. The Giants were throwing what little ammunition they had to try to throw the Cowboys off their stride. It wasn’t much, but their only hope was that they could wind up and hit the Cowboys as hard as they could to hopefully get a free touchdown out of the moment of truth.
Then, maybe, just maybe, they could give those Cowboys a game.
New York would take the ball at the Dallas 12 with a chance to tie the game. The stadium grew a bit uneasy as this might be a longer day than anyone expected. The Cowboys had let their guard down again.
At this point, Dallas decided enough was enough.
Three plays later, New York had a 4th-and-2. We have not talked enough in this space about the veteran Johnathan Hankins who they acquired last season at the deadline from the Raiders and then re-signed in March. He is the prototypical run-stuffing big man who does dirty work all day and seldom gets recognized for his efforts.
In this spot, facing a massive moment in the game, Hankins is lined up with Osa Odighizuwa inside and then DeMarcus Lawrence is at left end and Micah Parsons at right. Saquon Barkley is on Micah’s side and a zone read appears aimed at him, but the give is going to Barkley the whole way right at Odighizuwa. The Giants right guard, Ben Bredeson was able to win against Osa and open up a nice path for Saquon by getting the big defensive tackle to the ground. The video below, especially if you slow it down, will tell the tale that there is plenty of daylight there.
But, the swarming Cowboys defensive line was able to recover in the blink of an eye. It is beautiful to behold when you see how far Lawrence and Hankins are from eachother as their mate hits the ground. Lawrence has 79-Tyre Phillips on him and he absolutely tosses him aside. Meanwhile, Hankins is tangling with 67-Justin Pugh probably five yards away.
As if they both saw a bat signal and responded immediately, they both take action, discard their blockers, and meet at the hole like two steel doors to keep Barkley away from the line to gain. It was swift and powerful and a show that Dallas has some answers when they need it to stopping a physical run. And to see big Hankins cover that much ground when he needed to is a testament as to why he has a role this big right now.
Fourth down denied. The Giants will not tie this game. In fact, they will not experience a moment of happiness the rest of the day until they land back in New Jersey. Because the next two hours is going to be extremely unpleasant for anyone who gets in the way of this freight train.
What Dallas did next was pretty ridiculous.
Yes, the Giants stink, but the more you look around this NFC, the more you see that there are about four teams that are very good (including Dallas), maybe a couple more who are ok, and the rest who only ever get wins because they get to play each-other. The current state of the entire NFL feels as top heavy as ever, although maybe we repeat this pattern every year. We think in August that 24 teams have a chance and then find out that it is actually about 10. The rest of this 32-team league don’t know which was is up.
This, of course, is why there are large segments of observers that have a hard time every demonstrating the human emotion known as happiness. The mantra of “only beating bad teams” is familiar in these parts and not necessarily wrong. There is a great supply of bad teams in the NFL and if you just beat them, you have a wonderful chance to be in the playoffs every year. The belief that there is a group of “great teams” that only play other great teams and beat them every time is absurd, but contagious to this fanbase. And who can blame those who have been fooled for three decades when it comes to evaluating the caliber of their own team.
Are the Cowboys good?
Well, we should ask the Giants. Dallas FIVE touchdowns in the next two quarters in such a flurry of destruction that it almost looked like the Cowboys were playing a college team. Men versus boys was an understatement.
Cowboys go 96 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. 14-0.
Giants respond with 1 yard and punt.
Cowboys go 54 yards in six plays for a touchdown. 21-0.
Giants respond with 2 yards and a punt.
Cowboys go 85 yards in seven plays and a touchdown. 28-0.
And so on.
In the second half, it featured more of the same. An 86-yard touchdown drive, a 77-yard touchdown drive, and a 75-yard touchdown drive. Prescott played an enormous role again and the offense has not looked better. 640 yards of offense was the biggest Dallas yardage yield since 1966! It will keep us busy tomorrow when we evaluate the offensive day.
By the time the 49-17 game had mercifully ended – which was easily 30 minutes longer than anyone was hoping for – the Cowboys had destroyed any morale that the Giants might have retained. It had been since 2016 – when Dak Prescott was a rookie – since the Giants had beaten the Cowboys at all, unless you recognize the one solitary win on the final week of the 2020 season against backup Andy Dalton as Prescott stood in a cast.
But, just take 2023, where Dallas had already beaten the Giants 40-0 in Week 1, so you could conceivably wonder if this was only the 2nd most emphatic whooping they had endured in this matchup. 89-17 in two games against “your hated rival” sounds like the latest rebuild of everything in Gotham has not gone much better than the several that preceded it. Add in the thrashing of the Jets in Week 2 and you arrive at a 119-27 verdict against the New York City NFL franchises.
How that city enjoys NFL football anymore is beyond most of us. Regardless, that can be their issue, because the Cowboys have the pressing discussion of what this all means to their campaign.
Dallas continued three of its very positive Mike McCarthy era trends:
- They now move to 11-1 (.923) following losses since 2021. When they lose a game, they come back angry and take it out on their next opponent. Yes, you would love it if you would never lose any game at any time, but, if you avoid any losing streak from every existing, you are going to be in the playoffs every season.
- They won again at home which is their 12th straight home victory and moves their home record to 17-4 (.809) since 2021. They have not lost a home game since the 2022 season opener against Tampa Bay and the degree with which they are stomping opponents in Arlington with such ease is unlike anything we have seen from the Cowboys in decades. Given how many years in a row Dallas was roughly 5-3 at home, this is a remarkable turn of form.
- Also, they walloped another NFC East opponent and since 2021 hold as 12-3 (.800) record against their own division with the three losses coming at Philadelphia last week, in Philadelphia in the Cooper Rush start there last year, and the Week 18 game in Washington last season.
Mike McCarthy’s teams at BOTH of his head coaching stops: Did not have losing streaks, dominated at their home stadium, and kicked the teeth in of divisional opponents. It led to many double-digit win seasons, chances in the playoffs and occasional breakthroughs into conference title games.
It is a result of dealing well with adversity, improving as the season went on, building a tough culture that enjoys getting up after sustaining a body-blow, and being nobody’s pushover.
Again, I cannot promise you a Super Bowl after watching yet another demolition on a Sunday that bordered on boring. But, I can tell you that this is consistent with the type of team he built in Wisconsin for many years. He and his staff seem to understand how to build a product that looks and feels like this.
All Dallas can continue to do is stay on this journey and keep winning games. You cannot fix the 49ers and Eagles situations right now, but you can continue to build and put yourself in your best possible spot. The trip against the Cardinals was bad, but another one would have been catastrophic. They made sure that early adversity against the Giants never came close to threatening the outcome. They drilled them.
Next week, they wish to show more of the same in Carolina. At 6-3, their only goal should be to sit at 9-3 when the Eagles arrive in Arlington on December 10th.