Besides stopping the Cowboys rushing attack, the Giants must pressure and contain Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.  Romo, an elusive quarterback, is able to improvise on any given play.   When pressured, he has a knack for evading the pass rush.  When flushed out of the pocket, Romo makes plays.  Here are a few videos showing his out-of-pocket prowess against the Giants: 

In their match up earlier this year, Romo threw FOUR touchdowns.  And guess what?  All four touchdowns were a result of him being out of the pocket.  Furthermore, according to ESPN's Next Level, Romo's numbers outside of the pocket is outstanding.   Against Tampa Bay, all 3 of Romo's touchdown passes Saturday were thrown outside of the pocket.  Romo  entered the game completing 61 percent of his passes outside of the  pocket, third in the league am long qualified quarterbacks. Romo now leads  the league with 10 touchdown passes outside the pocket, along with no interceptions.  It is paramount the Giants do not allow him to scramble.  What can the Giants do differently?

With DE Osi Umenyiora expected to return for the Giants, this is a tremendous uptick.  Umenyiora's strength is his ability to rush off the edge.  In other words, Osi is a fantastic speed rusher.  Since Osi will be playing, this will allow embattled Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell to leverage his talent.  According to NFL Films' All 22 tape guru Greg Cosell,  Fewell made defensive modifications against the Jets.  

1.  Giants showed Tuck and Pierre-Paul inside in 2 point stances with LB Williams and Boley outside, Different alignment with a lot of pressure and coverage possibilities  

2. Pierre-Paul now a movable chess piece; Aligned at DE, at DT, in a 2 point stance in the middle  


Keep in mind, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is very limited.  As Cosell noted,  "Jets had no intermediate or downfield passing game, Receivers did not win v. predominant man coverage and Sanchez is not a tight window thrower."  Unlike Sanchez,  Romo can make accurate throws outside the numbers.  The Cowboys have a downfield passing game, as compared to the Jets.
   
Indeed, Fewell believes the Giants have to get interior pressure. “I think our tackles are really the key – the guys like Chris Canty and Linval Joseph getting that push in the middle. I think that’s really the key. And then for us not just running up the field on the guy so that we create running lanes for him because he is a good scrambler also. But I think the inside push is really what we need.”  Although Fewell talked about Canty and Joseph getting a push, JPP is going to be the focal point.  On obvious passing downs, Fewell can slide JPP to defensive tackle.  Having JPP at defensive tackle will enable the Giants to get an interior push.  Why is interior pressure critical?  Giants back up quarterback David Carr elaborates: "that’s very difficult for a quarterback, it’s very disconcerting because a lot of times it can get you off your read,’’ Carr said. “You see color [defender], you feel something in front of you, the natural tendency is to step up as a quarterback and when there’s nothing to step up into, that’s a tough spot for us."  Given that JPP is so athletic, if he can not get to Romo, getting his arms up will hinder Romo's throwing lanes. 

Osi, Tuck, and JPP on the field at the same time, without question, will create favorable mismatch problems for the Giants.  Will the Cowboys use max protect formations?  If they go ahead with max protect, fewer receivers will be involved in running routes.  This would be an advantage for the Giants.  But as we are all aware, the Giants have had coverage problems all season long.  To be more blunt, they have allowed receivers to find wide open areas in their defense.  Because of these miscues in coverage, currently, the Giants are 27th against the pass: allowing an average of 255 yards per game.  Ouch!  Here at UltimateNYG, we have vilified Fewell for using too much soft zone coverage. In other words, by doing so, Fewell is not leveraging his players' talents.  We do not have access to the official All 22 tape, but seeing too many blown coverages is unacceptable.  And it is important to repeat James Allen's observation.  James, a commenter here at UlimtateNYG who also attends Giants' games, opined: "...for all the pressure the Giants put on Sanchez, there were plenty of open  receivers down the field as a result of a zone that is so soft it's  stunning (and you can only really see how much from being at the game)."   

Therefore, the defensive keys for this important game are the following:

1. Stop the run.

2.  Get pressure and contain Romo.  Make him throw from the pocket.  And make the pocket "noisy".  ie a term Greg Cosell uses.  A "noisy" pocket is when a quarterback is surrounded by offensive and defensive players.

3. Play aggressive coverage.  Indeed, defenses have evolved over the years.  Teams do not play just zone or man to man.  In some cases, defenses will play man to man on the outside while playing a zone in the middle of the field.  Or defenses may play man to man on one side of the field.  While playing a zone on the other side.  Memo to Fewell:  Play more press man vs the Cowboys. 

4.  Speaking of coverage, the Giants have to minimize blown coverages.  Seeing another play in which Dez Bryant is backpedalling into the end zone with no Giants' defender within 20 yards is uncalled for.

You never thought anyone would find a way to use 'Brandon Jacobs' and 'quietly' in the same sentence. I say quietly because he is amidst a stretch of pretty good football that has been overshadowed by some of his, to put it kindly, "moments."

Most of us also never thought we’d see the day where the Giants featured one of the league’s most incompetent rushing attacks. We had become accustomed to each season ending with the G-Men right near the top of the league’s rushing totals (the Giants finished in the top six in rushing yardage in 2007, 2008 and 2010).  But in 2011, the Giants are dead last in rushing at 3.5 yards/carry, and dead last in rushing yards from scrimmage as well.

So take this praise with a grain of salt.

Over the last several weeks, the running game has taken some steps in the right direction.  When you are at the bottom, the only place to go is up, so we are not getting carried away either.  Rushing for over 110 yards against both the Cowboys and the Jets, that rate would put them at 19th out of 32 teams. So do not get us wrong... overall, they haven’t been impressive by almost any measure.

Bradshaw may finally feel comfortable. Two touchdowns against the Jets had to give him confidence as he slowly recovers from his injury.  Running over Pool was a statement about the need to be physical.

Brandon Jacobs, who has been a target of fans, has actually played very well in the last four weeks despite a limited number of carries. While Ahmad Bradshaw has shown flashes of his old self, especially in the second half of the Jets game, No. 27 is currently the best back at the Giants disposal, despite what the boo birds will tell you.

Jacobs has rushed for 235 yards on just 42 carries in his last four games, good for 5.6 yards per attempt. He also has three touchdowns during this stretch. Although 42 carries over four games is certainly a limited sample, the Giants would be wise to feed the ball to the guy picking up nearly six yards a clip.

This includes Jacobs’ performance against Dallas.  The Cowboys always brings out the best in Jacobs; he had 101 yards on 19 carries and found the end zone twice. Jacobs is a hard worker and a proud Giant, despite the regular bonehead comments that seem to provide sound bites to the media.

We cannot overlook the role of the OL in this discussion.  When Beatty and Baas went out, replaced by Boothe and Petrus, the OL saw some life.  Baas has been fighting through injuries all year, and generally speaking he has not been able to get surge to the second level.

Forecasts call for winds to be around 15 mph so both teams will have to rely on the ground game. Jacobs, who still may be steaming from last week’s game, needs no extra motivation for facing Dallas, the team he hates the most.

Is he the ideal back? No. There are far too many games where his dancing at the line makes him a non-factor. But lately we have been seeing less tiptoeing and more North-South running.  His first few carries are generally slow but by his 3rd of fourth carry he seems to be running harder.  Could the team improve its running back situation in the off-season? Sure. A hard downhill runner like Ben Tate would be the perfect compliment to a back like Bradshaw. But you work with what you have and right now Jacobs is what the Giants have.

If 27 keeps running with passion and 44 can build off of H2 last week (with that leg drive that we all have come to love), then maybe, just maybe, we can take the Giants sad ground game off of life support.

It’s going to take GIANTS FOOTBALL to win this one on Sunday. Here’s to hoping that they have it in them. I think they find a way and I think Jacobs plays a big part in it.

A couple of site notes:

1) I heard on ESPN during lunch today that some tickets for this Sunday night's game went for ~$2,200.  When I checked with our ticket sponsor's site, TiqIq, they were going for far less.  (Seats were offered for as low as $191+.  You can use that link, but remember that they have a permanent link on the right sidebar also.)  You should always use TiqIQ as a good resource for pricing.  They also give you an ability to dial in to get any tickets at any particular part of the stadium.  We may not like the idea of management selling PSLs, but at least it gives you a better opportunity to go to any ONE particular game without having to pay for the license, the season's tickets, or the preseason games.   

2) Speaking of the right sidebar,  take a look below on the right.  I finally got around to updating the 2011 Draft Project's links for Wonder, Pete, Draft Daddy and Anthony Carillo.  Now that we have two years of drafts in the books, all we will need is one more year, and then we will finally be able to begin grading how these analysts have done.  Verfication is key.  You take the good with the bad, the great calls and the ones that missed.  Together we are going to get concrete understanding of just how good (or not) these analysts do versus the NFL General Managers.  We are only 1 year away from beginning to grade these guys.  All of them deserve a lot of credit for the work they put in and their willingness to do what no one else is willing to do- get verified. 

Steve Spagnuolo is rumored to be gone after the season ends this weekend.

How many times have we seen it, where a new head coach comes in somewhere and doesn't get it done?!  Who was responsible?  Was it him?  Was it management?  Can injuries be purely blamed for it?  Politics? OR, was the coach simply a less effective leader in his new position than he was as a coordinator beforehand?

I cannot speak to what happened to Spagnuolo at St. Louis.  He was doing fine, got them back to 7-9 respectability in 2010 before the team's performance sagged once again in 2011.

What we can all speak to is how his aggressive schemes leveraged the talent of the defense.  He reinvigorated the career of Corey Webster, instilling in him a sorely needed confidence that was previously destroyed by Lewis.  How many of you think we could have won 4 straight games for Super Bowl XLII without Webster, or for that matter Spagnuolo?

Now there is talk that he may go back to Philadelphia.  NO.  POSITIVELY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLY NO.  He would be a great addition back in NY because there are more than a few players that would already be familiar with his defense.  Terrell Thomas, coming off an ACL tear, was a rookie in 2008 with Spags.  Ross and Webster could get a career booster with more press coverage.  Spags and Rolle would be a very good fit in my opinion.  JPP would fit right in as the edge rusher. 

Pay the man.  Get him back.  Promise him a monster bonus for being ANY coach of the Giants if we get another Super Bowl title. 

Separately, in other news, Osi is back in practice.  His contract is up [correction: at the end of 2012], so he has to audition on film for the other 31 teams.

Greg Cosell of NFL Films analyzed the game tape of this past Saturday's game.

When the Giants had the ball.

When the Jets had the ball.

While I did not agree with all of the observations, there were more than a few which were consistent with our view of what took place:

Giants offense lacked consistency but they made a number of explosive plays which compensated for it

A significant problem for Sanchez is his accuracy, misses too many throws that are there- Not the kind of QB that makes receivers better with precise ball location

Onto matters of popcorn and cotton candy, the Pro Bowl announcements arrived yesterday...

Eli Manning and Jason Pierre-Paul made the Pro Bowl.  Elliot Harrison is so wrong on Eli Manning.  My biggest criticisim in the past 7 years is that Eli could not carry the team when the team needed him to do so.  So this year he finally has that sonic boom year where he does it all, and this terd is trying to tell us he wants Romo or Stafford?  In 2011, in the NFC, it is very easy: Rodgers, Brees and Eli Manning, in that order.  Period.  

To be fair to Harrison, he is spot on re Cruz.  400 more yards than Jennings?  Sorry Green Bay, but if your team is loaded enough that it has to spread the cheese around a little too much, then Jennings is going to come up short because Cruz has delivered too often and too much.  This is one of the reasons why the Pro Bowl is such a joke.  I apologize for even mentioning this bubble gum, but it is an 8 day week and I am off from work, so I have been seeing a lot of fluff movies lately.