wow, sounds like we have no chance. giants sound like the greatest team ever assembled.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/da...ony-romo-might-be-fearing-wednesday-night.ece
Why Cowboys' Tony Romo might be fearing Wednesday night
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Comments (8) A Text Size Associated Press
Associated Press The Dallas Morning News
Published: 31 August 2012 05:42 PM
RelatedEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Stepping into the room used by the New York Giants' defensive linemen is like walking into a game.
Everything is a competition. Getting off the best joke. Hitting more baskets. Claiming bragging rights for most tackles and most sacks. And making the best plays in practice, preseason and, of course, games.
It never ends, and this is just competition among teammates.
Imagine when the defensive line of the Super Bowl champions goes against someone they want to really beat, like the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL season opener Wednesday night at MetLife Stadium.
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo better be ready.
At least that's the game plan for what might be the NFL's best defensive line. It was the formula it used in a season closing six-game game winning streak where they played a major part in limiting opponents to an average of 14 points while recording 23 sacks.
It carried them to a second Super Bowl in five seasons and, with All-Pro Jason Pierre-Paul, who is coming off a 16 ½- sack season, and two-time Pro Bowlers Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora once again leading one of the league's deepest lines, they believe they can make a run on a second straight title.
It's not a popular opinion, and Tuck likes that.
"It's very similar to what happened last year, if I recall," Tuck said. "There were some teams already fitting their fingers for rings before they even played a football game. It doesn't look like people learned too much from last year. We relish having the opportunity to defend the title, and do it with people thinking that we can't. We are looking forward to having a great season."
The secret to the line is a combination of talent and depth. Besides the big three, the group has three solid tackles in Linval Joseph, Rocky Bernard and Chris Canty, who will start the season on the physically unable to perform list. It also adds another pass rusher when linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka moves to an end in what defensive coordinator Perry Fewell calls his "NASCAR package" for passing situations.
The lineup is even deeper when rookie tackle Markus Kuhn and ends Adewale Ojomo, Craig Marshall and Matt Broha are added to the mix.
"What makes us go is we all push each other," Bernard said. "We have so much talent. You don't have much time to show what you can do. You really have to go out and show what you can do, because we have this guy and this guy ready to come in and play."
Giants backup quarterback David Carr said the talent and depth reminds him of playing with the Houston Texans and going against the Tennessee Titans front that featured Albert Haynesworth, Jevon Kearse and Kyle Vanden Bosch.
"I think we have eight or nine guys who could start anywhere," Carr said. "It's not something you get everywhere else."
The pressure never seems to go away, Carr said.
"You never get a play off. It's never like I am just going to drop back and go through my reads," Carr said. "You always have someone at your feet, someone grabbing your arms. It can affect your read. You can call a play and you want to throw this route, but you don't know if you'll have time to do it. You end up taking what they give you, and that's where you get three points."
The line is going to have changes with Canty, who started all 20 games last season, out for a while and defensive end Dave Tollefson lost to free agency.
Canty, who will not be eligible to return until at least the seventh game while he recuperates from knee surgery, has not seen a dropoff in the preseason.
"What I see is the guys are competing at a very high level," Canty said. "When you turn on the film, you watch the guys playing, it's like watching the varsity defense against the JV offense of other teams. They're dominant. They're playing at a very high level. Coach talks about building a bridge from the 2011 season to the 2012 season. Guys have picked up right where they left off and it shows in their play."
Umenyiora, who had nine sacks last season, has seen opponents change their protections against the Giants.
"Sometimes, their whole game plan is changed when they play us," Umenyiora said. "They are keeping extra people in to protect, receivers are running shorter routes, quarterbacks are throwing the ball in less than two seconds," the 10-year veteran said. "I think even when we are not getting to the quarterback we have affected the game in a way that just mentally teams are coming in knowing that they won't be able to do things they are supposed to be doing. As long as we carry that advantage into every game, we have a better chance of winning."
Offensive tackle Sean Locklear said the Seahawks did a good job protecting Charlie Whitehurst in a start against the Giants a couple of years ago with three-step dropbacks, quarterback rollouts and a variety of other formations that kept the defense off balance.
"We didn't win," Locklear recalled. "We got blown out."
There is one final factor that makes the defensive line even scarier. Coming off his All Pro season, Pierre-Paul still has untapped potential. The 23-year-old thinks he was only at 50 percent when he dominated most opponents.
Fewell remembers discussing the defense with him at training camp and the third-year pro wasn't asking questions about the defense. He was offering answers.
"You don't try to coach him too much because you don't want to screw him up," Fewell said. "That is the best thing about coaching him right now because he understands the game to a certain degree but he has a lot more. I have said this before, he is just scratching the surface of what he can do and how much he can learn and where he can go with his talent.'
If Pierre-Paul and his buddies up front can dominate again and Eli Manning can deliver the big plays in crunch time, the Giants have a shot at repeating.
"I think everybody is ready to go," Pierre-Paul said. "I am ready to go, defense and offense is ready to go. We will try to have some fun."
