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What bothered me most was the Cowboys ability to run

BillT : 10/13/2020 8:24 am
We had shown ourselves to be solid against the run in almost all our games. The Cowboys were starting 2 tackles who I believe were UDFA one a rookie and one a 2 year player. This was either the first or second game either player. They were also starting a rookie 5th round choice at center.

Yet with all the momentum on our side at 17-3 they pushed us all over the field. The whole DL and Martinez were invisible. And this went on for most of the game. What the heck was that. How could that possibly happen. And don’t tell me it was all Zeke. He had room to run. Pollard gashed us as well.

Anyone have a clue what happened.
This DL is never as good as its talked up to be.  
Ten Ton Hammer : 10/13/2020 8:29 am : link
They have gotten torn up against the run at the worst possible times this season and its happened fairly consistently. When they need to make stops, they do not.

Also, in their 3-4 base they have 1 consistent LB. Martinez can't stop every play. Downs is very bad and Golden is not a run stopper on the outside. Now that Carter is gone its going to get worse.
RE: This DL is never as good as its talked up to be.  
giants#1 : 10/13/2020 8:33 am : link
In comment 15007460 Ten Ton Hammer said:
Quote:
They have gotten torn up against the run at the worst possible times this season and its happened fairly consistently. When they need to make stops, they do not.

Also, in their 3-4 base they have 1 consistent LB. Martinez can't stop every play. Downs is very bad and Golden is not a run stopper on the outside. Now that Carter is gone its going to get worse.


Downs played 2 defensive snaps. He's been replaced by Crowder at ILB.
I have no opinion on crowder, haven't seen him enough  
Ten Ton Hammer : 10/13/2020 8:47 am : link
But downs is terrible.
"shown ourselves to be solid against the run in almost all our games"  
Enzo : 10/13/2020 8:47 am : link
nope.
The DL wasn't the.problem imo  
George from PA : 10/13/2020 8:48 am : link
Tomilson had a bad game....but most of the successful runs were outside....dallas did a good job of pulling OLmen...Carter going down hurt
I think #44 was really bad for us against the run  
M.S. : 10/13/2020 9:02 am : link

But as a general observation addressing yours (and everyone else's) frustration about NOT stopping the run when it was assumed we could -- this is precisely how losing teams lose. One game, a certain unit plays well, and another falls flat on its face. And, then, the next game the roles are reversed. And so on ad nauseam.

That's the true hallmark of a losing team.
The Giants edges are poor  
JohnB : 10/13/2020 9:08 am : link
Little or no containment. Attack the edges and you can win the running game.
Ten Ton Hammer  
arniefez : 10/13/2020 9:11 am : link
hit the nail on the head. Pun intended.

The glowing reports about Williams and Lawrence are way over blown. They're legit starters but nothing special. When the score was 17-3 Dallas ran the ball right down their throats. Right at Lawrence and Williams.
Lawrence and Williams should have had strong games against Dallas  
Ten Ton Hammer : 10/13/2020 9:14 am : link
Perhaps Dallas did scheme to run away from them,but look at Sy's review

-As stout as this defensive line can be at times, I was disappointed with their performance against a beat up DAL offensive line. Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams both lacked difference-making plays and came up short in key situations. Neither got any pressure on the passer either.
There were several factors ... my view  
Spider56 : 10/13/2020 9:16 am : link
The rookie center from Wisconsin is pretty good (as was noted by many in April) ... Tomlinson and Hill did not have good games. Martinez and Fackrell are our only 2 LBs ... and ... there was a fair amount of uncalled holding.
RE: Ten Ton Hammer  
FatMan in Charlotte : 10/13/2020 9:17 am : link
In comment 15007488 arniefez said:
Quote:
hit the nail on the head. Pun intended.

The glowing reports about Williams and Lawrence are way over blown. They're legit starters but nothing special. When the score was 17-3 Dallas ran the ball right down their throats. Right at Lawrence and Williams.


That's false. When the score was 17-3, their big runs came on the edge. They ran right at Golden. And on two of the interior runs that went for 8 yards, Lawrence was on the sidelines.

The Cowboys had 29 rushes for 126 yards. They had 12 rushes outside the tackles for 94 yards. That means their interior runs averaged less than less than 2 YPC.
TTH is on it  
JonC : 10/13/2020 9:19 am : link
the DL and front seven really have not been consistently stout versus the run. There is room for improvement, especially at LB.
RE: There were several factors ... my view  
BillT : 10/13/2020 9:20 am : link
In comment 15007495 Spider56 said:
Quote:
The rookie center from Wisconsin is pretty good (as was noted by many in April) ... Tomlinson and Hill did not have good games. Martinez and Fackrell are our only 2 LBs ... and ... there was a fair amount of uncalled holding.

Sy said Tomlinson had a really good game.

Quote:
-Dalvin Tomlinson was solid. He had 6 tackles, 2 TFL, and 1 sack. He really is a fine player who would be getting a lot more attention if this team was winning games. He lines up in multiple spots, has a lot of contact presence, and makes plays away from the ball often.
What happened?  
HomerJones45 : 10/13/2020 9:25 am : link
the appraisals of the d-line around here and the d in general were way overblown is what happened.

This team is so bad that opponents play us like a preseason opponent where they work on their basics (the Rams threw two successive screen passes against us inside the 20-when was the last time you saw that) try not to make any mistakes and wait for us to fuck up. Some around here interpreted that as progress by the D.
When have we shown ourselves to be solid against the run?  
chuckydee9 : 10/13/2020 9:32 am : link
Pittsburgh? 49ers? Bears? I mean backups ran over our hyped up DL.. you remember the 5th stringer from eagles ran all over us?
agreed RE: the run D  
mittenedman : 10/13/2020 9:36 am : link
sucking when it has to make a stop.

this is why the Giants never win. they dint have a strong aspect to their team. When they need the offense to score, they cant. when they need the run D to step up, they dont. when they need to stop a key 3rd down pass - not a chance.

the Giants may be reasonably solid in certain areas (hey we’re awesome at stuffing INTERIOR runs when there’s a full moon and we put 3 DTs on the field!). but they are not legitimately great at anything except arguably special teams right now.

FMIC  
BillT : 10/13/2020 9:37 am : link
Nice analysis. That makes some sense. Watching I though they, especially Zeke, did well in the middle but I guess it was mostly outside.
RE: RE: Ten Ton Hammer  
Blue21 : 10/13/2020 9:44 am : link
In comment 15007497 FatMan in Charlotte said:
Quote:
In comment 15007488 arniefez said:


Quote:


hit the nail on the head. Pun intended.

The glowing reports about Williams and Lawrence are way over blown. They're legit starters but nothing special. When the score was 17-3 Dallas ran the ball right down their throats. Right at Lawrence and Williams.



That's false. When the score was 17-3, their big runs came on the edge. They ran right at Golden. And on two of the interior runs that went for 8 yards, Lawrence was on the sidelines.

The Cowboys had 29 rushes for 126 yards. They had 12 rushes outside the tackles for 94 yards. That means their interior runs averaged less than less than 2 YPC.


Exactly. So many times I saw Golden not holding the edge and they ran right around/by him. Horrible.
RE: FMIC  
FatMan in Charlotte : 10/13/2020 9:58 am : link
In comment 15007521 BillT said:
Quote:
Nice analysis. That makes some sense. Watching I though they, especially Zeke, did well in the middle but I guess it was mostly outside.


Your point is still valid. There is a glaring hole in run D on the edge. Golden is especially ineffective in the run game.

Giving up 120+ yards on the ground will often hurt, but most of the critical runs we've given up this season have been to the offense's right side. SF gashed us on outside runs. Pittsburgh was getting yards to the left on outside runs.
RE: There were several factors ... my view  
Gruber : 10/13/2020 10:04 am : link
In comment 15007495 Spider56 said:
Quote:
The rookie center from Wisconsin is pretty good (as was noted by many in April) ... Tomlinson and Hill did not have good games. Martinez and Fackrell are our only 2 LBs ... and ... there was a fair amount of uncalled holding.


We absolutely should have drafted Tyler Biadasz in the 4th. Okay, I admit Darnay Holmes, who we did take, is looking promising, but Biadasz is one of Dave's much vaunted hogmollies and we passed on him.
RE: RE: FMIC  
Dinger : 10/13/2020 10:14 am : link
In comment 15007551 FatMan in Charlotte said:
Quote:
In comment 15007521 BillT said:


Quote:


Nice analysis. That makes some sense. Watching I though they, especially Zeke, did well in the middle but I guess it was mostly outside.



Your point is still valid. There is a glaring hole in run D on the edge. Golden is especially ineffective in the run game.

Giving up 120+ yards on the ground will often hurt, but most of the critical runs we've given up this season have been to the offense's right side. SF gashed us on outside runs. Pittsburgh was getting yards to the left on outside runs.


I still recall seeing Lawrence and Williams getting pushed back and Dallas (as well as the Rams) being able to run in the middle. I think Elliot is one of the best at hitting those holes in the middle hard and that helps, but as much as I like Lawrence and hoped Williams would only add strength, I don't believe they are as good as we make them to be. Maybe slightly above average? Having Martinez helps out and Crowder is better than downs but I feel like both he and Golden are to small/weak against the run. And somehow my mind keeps getting pulled to the fact that as much as DG wants to get us 'Hogmollies' he doesn't (or are scouts don't) know how to identify them.
For BillT  
RetroJint : 10/13/2020 10:34 am : link
The Giants went into the game with these presumptions : 1. Bradberry would match with Cooper. 2. A S would have to help Harris with Gallup. 3. The Giants could play the run with 7. This was not an unreasonable expectation . Belichick plays the run with 6 . Zeke hadn’t been doing much .
What happened ? Carter got hurt and 44 went into the game . We went over this during the off -season when board participants were clamoring for Golden’s re-signing . I don’t know why they didn’t use another Big. Leonard has played DE in a 4-man front . Coughlin and Brown are obviously thought to not be viable options at this point . The Football Club is going to do the same thing on Sunday .

But another part to this was the failure of the Giants blue-blooded , Big 3. Regardless of what Focus has to say , I’m wondering when do these guys ever win out over the opponent’s OL? It should be the strength of the team.
What I know is when the Giants had great defensive linemen in years past , people and the ball tended to go backwards . Where the hell are those plays ?
Dinger actually has it. Teams have had far more success  
LBH15 : 10/13/2020 10:37 am : link
hitting the edges versus running at Lawrence, Williams and Tomlinson. With that said these three guys have not been consistent and dominating anywhere near as much as we had hoped based upon their draft and pay status.

Even the weekly reviews tend to give them more credit than deserved but I think that is because the write-up points out who is doing their job or not, moreso than who is meeting their expectations. And clearly this unit should have been the strongest on the team by far and one of the very best in the league.

You know what makes it easy to run?  
jlukes : 10/13/2020 10:40 am : link
Having 3 weapons at WR

Our linebackers and safeties needed to worry about legitimate receiving threats

Other teams really don’t have to worry about that when they are facing our offense
RE: RE: There were several factors ... my view  
LBH15 : 10/13/2020 10:45 am : link
In comment 15007558 Gruber said:
Quote:
In comment 15007495 Spider56 said:


Quote:


The rookie center from Wisconsin is pretty good (as was noted by many in April) ... Tomlinson and Hill did not have good games. Martinez and Fackrell are our only 2 LBs ... and ... there was a fair amount of uncalled holding.



We absolutely should have drafted Tyler Biadasz in the 4th. Okay, I admit Darnay Holmes, who we did take, is looking promising, but Biadasz is one of Dave's much vaunted hogmollies and we passed on him.


Recall the Cowboys jumped up into the very end of Round 4 and selected Biadasz. Giants wound up picking Lemieux four picks later.

We'll see how the both do over time but an example of why rebuilding teams need to preserve or obtain extra draft picks versus deal them away.
C'mon guys, you just can't bash everything because you are mad  
PatersonPlank : 10/13/2020 10:49 am : link
Look at the stats. The Giants D is tied for 5th best in yards per rush. We have a pretty good run defense. They were beating us at the edges. We ate 18th in passing yards per game. I think these stats combined with a few other things puts our D in the middle of the pack. Stats show our D is in the 10-16 range vs all the other NFL teams. We've had some good games and some bad games, this may be matchup related.

The D has improved, and its improved a lot. Is it perfect, no. Is it a SB D, only with the Chiefs offense maybe. But lets not just bash away. We have to acknowledge the good with the bad.
RE: C'mon guys, you just can't bash everything because you are mad  
Dinger : 10/13/2020 11:00 am : link
In comment 15007615 PatersonPlank said:
Quote:
Look at the stats. The Giants D is tied for 5th best in yards per rush. We have a pretty good run defense. They were beating us at the edges. We ate 18th in passing yards per game. I think these stats combined with a few other things puts our D in the middle of the pack. Stats show our D is in the 10-16 range vs all the other NFL teams. We've had some good games and some bad games, this may be matchup related.

Absolutely, our defense is light years ahead of where I thought they'd be in the offseason. My expectations were for the DL to be a stone wall and everything else to be questionable. I did NOT like Graham as the choice for DC and thought the Martinez and Bradberry pick ups were just ok. I was wrong on every point. I'm disappointed in Lawrence and Williams (I could be expecting too much from two first rounders). After 5 games I think Martinez and Bradberry are DG's best moves yet. And I'm really pleasantly surprised by Grahams Defense (part of it could be they finally have a decent 'defensive QB' in Martinez). He seems to adjust well and the majority of plays the players are in a good position. We just lack talent or physical ability in a couple of key spots.

The D has improved, and its improved a lot. Is it perfect, no. Is it a SB D, only with the Chiefs offense maybe. But lets not just bash away. We have to acknowledge the good with the bad.
You know what bothered me the most?  
Matt M. : 10/13/2020 11:08 am : link
We lost again, for the fifth straight week. It was predictable before the game we would finally score some points because Dallas' D sucks and equally as obvious we would give up more.
Nobody on this D,  
Matt M. : 10/13/2020 11:10 am : link
with perhaps the exception of Bradberry, wins their individual matchups. Nobody on this team ever lines up opposite an offensive player and flat out beats their opponent. The only time we get any pressure or penetration is when we have some gimmick or a guy is left completely unblocked.
RE: There were several factors ... my view  
jeffusedtobeonwebtv : 10/13/2020 11:11 am : link
In comment 15007495 Spider56 said:
Quote:
The rookie center from Wisconsin is pretty good (as was noted by many in April) ... Tomlinson and Hill did not have good games. Martinez and Fackrell are our only 2 LBs ... and ... there was a fair amount of uncalled holding.


According to the rules, or at least how they are applied, what is called holding against for instance Gates, is not a holding call when done by a lineman wearing a dallas jersey. Same old, same old.
RE: For BillT  
JonC : 10/13/2020 11:17 am : link
In comment 15007596 RetroJint said:
Quote:
The Giants went into the game with these presumptions : 1. Bradberry would match with Cooper. 2. A S would have to help Harris with Gallup. 3. The Giants could play the run with 7. This was not an unreasonable expectation . Belichick plays the run with 6 . Zeke hadn’t been doing much .
What happened ? Carter got hurt and 44 went into the game . We went over this during the off -season when board participants were clamoring for Golden’s re-signing . I don’t know why they didn’t use another Big. Leonard has played DE in a 4-man front . Coughlin and Brown are obviously thought to not be viable options at this point . The Football Club is going to do the same thing on Sunday .

But another part to this was the failure of the Giants blue-blooded , Big 3. Regardless of what Focus has to say , I’m wondering when do these guys ever win out over the opponent’s OL? It should be the strength of the team.
What I know is when the Giants had great defensive linemen in years past , people and the ball tended to go backwards . Where the hell are those plays ?


As to our vaunted DL, exactly correct, they're not winning their battles very often. And, the LBs behind them are not playmakers either, except for Martinez, leaving the front seven as a whole rather mediocre.
Dallas  
stretch234 : 10/13/2020 11:20 am : link
They ran almost exclusively to their right, at Tomlinson. Even up the middle, Lawrence did not play well. Teams hardly ever run at L. Williams. There is no edge play next to Tomlinson

Pass rush wise, Williams and Lawrence are almost always doubled. Can anyone else get to the QB in a 1 on 1 situation- brutal
3 factors  
SLIM_ : 10/13/2020 11:20 am : link
Others have mentioned but these sum up.

- Threat of a pass. Cowboys have 3 excellent WR's. It is hard to focus on the run when these guys can take it 60 on every play. (See our WR's and our lack of running production for the inverse theorem)>

- Loss of Carter. I thought Golden was terrible. He continually gets washed away on runs to him and he doesn't keep edge responsibility and is prone to the quarterback rolls.

- Crowder. He didn't have a good game and it was probably not a good matchup for him this early in his career. On the heavier formations, a healthy Mayo would have been a better alternative. The next time we play the Cowboys, hopefully we have some healthy safeties and you will probably see a Peppers or McKinney in the box over Crowder.
The numbers may be better overall  
Greg from LI : 10/13/2020 11:28 am : link
But this defense still can't force a stop when they need one. The Dallas offense, with a backup QB and a bunch of backup linemen, easily went down the field with 50 seconds remaining to win the game. It's a scenario we've seen over and over the past few seasons.
RE: The numbers may be better overall  
Matt M. : 10/13/2020 11:43 am : link
In comment 15007654 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
But this defense still can't force a stop when they need one. The Dallas offense, with a backup QB and a bunch of backup linemen, easily went down the field with 50 seconds remaining to win the game. It's a scenario we've seen over and over the past few seasons.
That's what I have said every week. I am tired of hearing about moral victories, we lost 3 games by 1 score or less, we played good D for 3 quarters, blah blah blah. Bottom fucking line, game on the line, get a fucking stop. Period. Instead, Dalton led them on not one, but two scoring drives in the closing minutes to tie and then win the game. And, oh yeah, their shitty D got 2 stops.
RE: This DL is never as good as its talked up to be.  
sb from NYT Forum : 10/13/2020 12:05 pm : link
In comment 15007460 Ten Ton Hammer said:
Quote:
They have gotten torn up against the run at the worst possible times this season and its happened fairly consistently. When they need to make stops, they do not.

Also, in their 3-4 base they have 1 consistent LB. Martinez can't stop every play. Downs is very bad and Golden is not a run stopper on the outside. Now that Carter is gone its going to get worse.


...and all those posts from people pointing at the Rams game as some great effort when the Rams where treating the game like a joint practice.
I hope..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 10/13/2020 12:16 pm : link
that was facetious.

The Rams were just going through the motions and working on plays??

C'mon - I've seen a variation of that posted numerous times and it is one of the more idiotic takes possible.
RE: The DL wasn't the.problem imo  
SGMen : 10/13/2020 12:18 pm : link
In comment 15007472 George from PA said:
Quote:
Tomilson had a bad game....but most of the successful runs were outside....dallas did a good job of pulling OLmen...Carter going down hurt
While Carter is no superstar, he was likely our best OLB and was looking decent enough. Big loss and it will hurt our defense going forward.

I have a feeling we will lose to Washington. I just don't think we have enough on offense to be consistent. It isn't all Jones it is a team thing as in we lack talent.
Retro. JonC  
BillT : 10/13/2020 12:23 pm : link
Exactly and that’s why it’s so frustrating. Against the real Dallas OL That’s one thing. Against three subs and two UDFAs no way. The Dallas tackles should have been pushed 3 yards into their own backfield on every play. Lawrence and Williams should have been having a weenie roast back there with them as kindling. So annoyed.
Why were the Cowboys able to run?  
Rick in Dallas : 10/13/2020 12:26 pm : link
Because beside Martinez, our existing LB's are just plain awful. Remember, Crowder our starting LB was the last person picked in draft.That's how bas our group is at the present time.
It's been such a long time since we had a dominating LB group.
RE: Retro. JonC  
GManinDC : 10/13/2020 12:39 pm : link
In comment 15007709 BillT said:
Quote:
Exactly and that’s why it’s so frustrating. Against the real Dallas OL That’s one thing. Against three subs and two UDFAs no way. The Dallas tackles should have been pushed 3 yards into their own backfield on every play. Lawrence and Williams should have been having a weenie roast back there with them as kindling. So annoyed.


Doesn't this remind y'all of 2015?
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