Dominating Defense

I've gotta say that I'm more than a little impressed with the way the Cowboys have been playing defense lately. In fact, since the Tampa game in late October, the Dallas defense really has only had one questionable game and that was when they played the Giants in New York. I was impressed last week when, in a hostile environment against probably the best team in the AFC in bitterly cold weather, Dallas' defense dominated the majority of the game vs. the Steelers. But Sunday night against the Giants, the Cowboys' defense put on a show that was just ridiculously good. DeMarcus Ware sacked Eli Manning on New York’s first snap and the pressure never stopped. Ware finished with three sacks, upping his NFL-leading total to 19. It was the Dallas' third straight game with at least five sacks and Ware is only 3 1/2 sacks short of Michael Strahan's season record of 22 1/2. Not only was 8 sacks impressive but it was extremely impressive who it was against. In two games against Dallas this season, Manning was sacked 12 times; he’s been sacked only 11 times in the other 12 games combined. Not only was Eli on his back a lot of the game, he was not particularly effective when he did avoid getting sacked going 18-of-35 for 191 yards and 2 interceptions for a QB rating of 43.9.

Not only did the Cowboys do a good job harassing Manning but they limited the Giants offense to only 218 total yards (72 rushing; 146 passing). The Giants offense averages 348 yards per game and leads the NFL in rushing offense at 148 yards per game. So by shutting down NY's rushing attack, they put the game in Eli's hands and could afford to pin their ears back and rush him more effectively because play action was not as effective.

True, the Giants were playing without 2 of their top 3 offensive weapons as Brandon Jacobs was out with an injured knee and Plaxico Burress is suspended the remainder of the year. When I heard that Jacobs was out on Friday, I was a little more sure the Cowboys were in a good position. Not overconfident mind you, but just a little more sure. Jacobs is one of the spark plugs in the Giants' offense. The other two guys (Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw) are good clean up players that compliment Jacobs well but Jacobs is THE key to the Giants offense. He is the bruising RB that is hard to stop when he gets a head of steam...kinda reminds me of Jerome Bettis when he was playing.

While it didn't produce eye popping numbers, the offense did what they needed to do to win the game. Despite taking a beating of his own, Romo was 20-of-30 for 244 yards and two touchdowns for a 113.8 QB rating. Oh and he did not have a turnover in the game which is a big plus. However, the offensive star actually was Choice for the 2nd week in a row. He had 91 yards on only nine carries, and he was the leading receiver with 52 yards on four catches. His 38-yard touchdown run sealed the game for Dallas. The Giants aren't too shabby on defense either as they are #4 in the league at stopping the run.

You can make the comparison that this season's Cowboys team is like last season's Giants team...and vice versa. Last year, Dallas started out 12-1 and looked like a lock to go to the Super Bowl. However, they went 2-2 in the month of December (and didn't play especially well in their 2 wins) and they lost 3 of their final 5 games including their playoff game loss to the Giants. This year, the Cowboys started out hot but had a rough patch in the middle of the year (losing 3 of 4 games) but have turned it around primarily because of the way their defense has played.

Last year, the Giants were a solid team but really elevated their level of play in December, primarily because the defense starting playing more aggressive and putting more pressure on opposing QBs (just as Dallas has done in the past 5 games) which took them all the way to the Super Bowl and helped them defeat the seemingly invincible New England Patriots. This year, the Giants started out white hot going 11-1 but have since lost their last 2 games. And with 2 games to go against Carolina and Minnesota, it is conceivable the Giants go 0-4 in December and limp into the playoffs, just a Dallas did last year.

***Note: I'm NOT saying Dallas will go to the Super Bowl here...just making a comparison between the similarities of two teams and how they each started and finished the last two seasons.

I'm just encouraged by the way Dallas is now playing on defense because the old adage is correct...offense wins you games, defense wins you championships. If Dallas is to get to the Super Bowl, their current defensive effort is going to have to continue.