DMN: Giants' Triumph Adds to Dallas Cowboys' Pain

[stwasm]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/football/cowboys/stories/020508dnspocowlishaw.39798d9.html

The New York Giants are Super Bowl champions and, for that, the Dallas Cowboys can only be kicking themselves.

On the one hand, the Cowboys go into the 2008 season knowing that they will play the Super Bowl winners twice. And knowing they beat them twice during the 2007 regular season has to instill confidence

On the other hand, it has become even more obvious just what the Cowboys let slip through their fingers three weeks ago.

No, they weren't just playing for the right to get to the Super Bowl and get kicked around by the invincible Patriots.

New England wasn't unbeatable after all. The Giants did a thorough job of proving that Sunday night.

But the Cowboys have to think: "The Giants? Why not us?"

Who had a better chance to beat New York, based on how the playoff games unfolded, than the Cowboys?

New York out-gained Tampa Bay by six yards, the Patriots by 64 and the Green Bay Packers by 116.

The Cowboys out-gained the Giants by 106 yards.

New York did a masterful job of controlling the clock for most of the playoffs. The Giants held the ball one more minute than the Patriots, seven more minutes than Tampa Bay and 18 more than Green Bay.

The Cowboys had the ball for 13 more minutes than the Giants.

We all know the Cowboys didn't accomplish much with a couple of those long, clock-eating drives, and I'm not saying they deserved to win. They didn't.

But it was right there for them, and we realize only in hindsight that a record sixth Super Bowl victory was a possibility. That's something we didn't think for the first two months of the season when the Patriots were winning all their games by landslide margins.

And the difficulty now comes in assessing what lies ahead.

Who's your favorite to win the NFC East in 2008? The Cowboys because they won 13 games? Or the Giants because they won four playoff games, all away from Giants Stadium, and are Super Bowl champs?

The Giants will have to be laughing when they see 13 Cowboys in Honolulu for the Pro Bowl.

New York's Super Bowl team will be represented by defensive end Osi Umenyiora. That's it.


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[Cowboy8467]

In as much as this article is true, I think I feel better knowing we lost to the eventual world champions. At least it wasn't a complete fluke...the Giants are actually a good team.

[tr1]

Six playoff losses in a row...NFL record!

[Popeman38]

This article ignores the key issue that would have been the Cowboys undoing:


Dallas has to bring 5-7 to get pressure on the QB consistently. The Giants brought mostly only 5 and got consistent pressure. This allowed the Giants to pressure and cover, something we can all agree was the Cowboys weakness.

So to say it was right there for the taking is dishonest and ignores the issues the Cowboys had all season - pass coverage.

[jrockster21]

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

[DGreenistheBest]

Anything that adds to the Cowboys' pain is fine by me.

[HapHaszard]

You know, I don't feel their pain at all. I must be a truly unfeeling person.

[Siven]

You know, I don't feel their pain at all. I must be a truly unfeeling person.

You're a jerk haphaszard. You know that? A jerk.


And so am I

:cheers:

[HapHaszard]

You're a jerk haphaszard. You know that? A jerk.


And so am I

:cheers:
My goodness I believe I am. :D

[Riggo#44]

This article ignores the key issue that would have been the Cowboys undoing:


Dallas has to bring 5-7 to get pressure on the QB consistently. The Giants brought mostly only 5 and got consistent pressure. This allowed the Giants to pressure and cover, something we can all agree was the Cowboys weakness.

So to say it was right there for the taking is dishonest and ignores the issues the Cowboys had all season - pass coverage.

Two players accounted for more then half the Cowboys sacks: Ware and Ellis. Ware is a monster, I will give you that. But no one else had more then 3.5 sacks -- their defensive line cannot bring the pressure on their own, so the have to blitz, exposing a weak secondary.

Umeniyora, Tuck and Strahan make it quite easy to defend the pass when they are generating 13, 10, and 9 sacks -- plus you have Fred Robbins in the middle w/ 5.5.

That is the difference right there, if you ask me.

[Popeman38]

Two players accounted for more then half the Cowboys sacks: Ware and Ellis. Ware is a monster, I will give you that. But no one else had more then 3.5 sacks -- their defensive line cannot bring the pressure on their own, so the have to blitz, exposing a weak secondary.

Umeniyora, Tuck and Strahan make it quite easy to defend the pass when they are generating 13, 10, and 9 sacks -- plus you have Fred Robbins in the middle w/ 5.5.

That is the difference right there, if you ask me.Did we just say the same thing? :laugh:

[Riggo#44]

Did we just say the same thing? :laugh:

No, totally different. Just like Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby," and David Bowie's "Under Pressure"

[ABQCOWBOY]

I don't know if we could have beaten the Pats or not but I will tell you that I believe we could have beaten them. Doesn't really matter now. The Giants are the Champs and they earned it on the field.

However, I will say this. When Strahan was asked if the Pats were the toughest team they played, Strahan said that they were not and that the Cowboys were the toughest team the Giants played this year.

[ptr77]

I don't know if we could have beaten the Pats or not but I will tell you that I believe we could have beaten them. Doesn't really matter now. The Giants are the Champs and they earned it on the field.

However, I will say this. When Strahan was asked if the Pats were the toughest team they played, Strahan said that they were not and that the Cowboys were the toughest team the Giants played this year.

For sure he would say that, I would of thought them or the redskins personally. The redskins got up 17-0 on them then let it slip away and then stomped the giants the second time. The cowboys whooped the giants twice and lost a hardfought battle in the third game. The giants were in the patriots game the first time the entire game and could of won it, they just matched up better i guess. The only time the giants beat the cowboys this season was ugly and hard fought, its gonna be a great battle for years to come imo.

[bonecrusher31]

Some consolation for the Cowboys?

11:31 AM Tue, Feb 05, 2008 | Permalink
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips


Superstar columnist Tim Cowlishaw writes that the Cowboys must be kicking themselves after watching the Giants win the Super Bowl.

As Wade Phillips infamously noted the morning after the Cowboys' playoff loss, the Giants only won that game on the scoreboard. The Cowboys kicked some serious tail on the stat sheet.

If it makes the Cowboys feel any better, Michael Strahan offered quite a compliment to America's Team.

"Trust me, that is the best team we played, the Cowboys," Strahan told the New York Post...

[dallasfan]

It goes both ways. Even though we beat the Giants twice, it's hard to say we chocked when they went on to win the super bowl, but it also means that it could've been us.

[BigRay]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW:laugh:

[Popeman38]

It goes both ways. Even though we beat the Giants twice, it's hard to say we chocked when they went on to win the super bowl, but it also means that it could've been us.No, it couldn't have. The Giants were able to pressure Tom Brady with the 4 D-Linemen, occasionally brining a 5th on a blitz. This allowed the Ginats to both pressure the QB and drop 7 into coverage. Rarely did you see a receiver get a free releae from the LOS.

Dallas, on the other hand, has to bring 5 or 6 to get consistent pressure on the QB. Ware is an OLB who has 1 primary job - rush the passer. When the Boys bring the blitz, you are most likely seeing 6 rushers, and sometimes even a 7th. This leaves fewer in coverage, exposing a secondary that is the achilles heel of the Cowboys D. Roy can't gover anything, Hamlin was considered the weak link in Seattle. Both take horrible angles. Newman is an above average cover CB, but not elite (definately not #2 in the league behind Champ like some on this board thought :laugh: ), but opposite him was garbage. Reeves is not good in man situations. His skill set would be better suited in a Cover 2 scheme. On an island, he is toast. The Pats would have done to the Cowboys exactly what they did in Dallas - throw all day.

[dallasfan]

No, it couldn't have.

Any given sunday.........

[Popeman38]

Any given sunday.........Except the ones in Jan and Feb for you guys! :laugh: