Day After Thoughts Week One

[dbair1967]

I don't recall many (if any) plays where we blitzed and we were still getting fairly consistent pressure. Definitely a good sign.

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Just saw this blurb:

Jordan Raanan
✔
@JordanRaanan
Cowboys blitzed on just 3 of 41 dropbacks (7%), per ESPN Stats & Info. They produced 3 sacks and INT with a standard four-man rush.

 

[bbgun]

I was surprised Dak was as off as he was. That's a little concerning because I didn't expect that at all. I guess playing forever like he did last year was just too much to expect, though.

he was inaccurate and his "elite" #1 receiver was seldom open. the lack of big, downfield plays continues to be a problem.

 

[dbair1967]

Still think you guys are reading a little too much into it. it's one game, and it was a game against a team we struggled with a ton last year because of their defense.

Their defense is probably at least as good, if not better in terms of talent and experience and there arnt many defenses around the league that have the DL and secondary they have. Last night was a step forward, not a step backward for us.

 

[bbgun]

Still think you guys are reading a little too much into it. it's one game, and it was a game against a team we struggled with a ton last year because of their defense.

Their defense is probably at least as good, if not better in terms of talent and experience and there arnt many defenses around the league that have the DL and secondary they have. Last night was a step forward, not a step backward for us.

no one's suggesting we have a better defense than NY. that would be retarded.

 

[dbair1967]

no one's suggesting we have a better defense than NY. that would be retarded.

Uh, dude.

I was suggesting that you and TE were reading too much into "Dak's struggles" because of the Giants defense being good.

I guess all that time you've spent with a 380lb woman of color sitting on your face has deprived your brain of much needed blood supply.

 

[bbgun]

Uh, dude.

I was suggesting that you and TE were reading too much into "Dak's struggles" because of the Giants defense being good.

you have a short memory. you were slagging them not too long ago.

Who's gonna win the NFC East?

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

The Giants' run D is and was legitimately good. They're obviously good overall.

But Dak was missing some relatively easy open throws where he wasn't even pressured. Not saying he'll keep doing that all year or even for another week, but for last night, that surprised me.

 

[dbair1967]

you have a short memory. you were slagging them not too long ago.

Who's gonna win the NFC East?

All I said I wasn't sure if their defense was better than last years, but I do think Dalvin Tomlinson is an upgrade over Hankins ultimately so it very well could be in the end.

I was pretty sure their OL was bad and they seemed to prove that right again last night.

 

[Doomsday]

He also had an acre to run on the fake jet sweep he was on the field for.

Right, and what i said immediately after was they should have actually gave him the ball there, to set up the play they ran off the fake. The play they ran off the fake didn't work because the fake was no threat.

 

[theoneandonly]

i'll take everything we can get from dlaw this year but i don't want to get my hopes up on him long term because back problems don't just go away.

Yep, D Law is a guy I have zero interest in paying. Let somebody else make that mistake.

 

[theoneandonly]

If it makes you feel any better I thought the roughing the passer penalty on Maliek Collins was harsh. He got to Eli just a split second after he released the ball and I don't think he planted Eli into the turf particularly hard either. The difference was that we took advantage of our good fortune and they didn't.

Nah, that was a boneheaded play IMO.

 

[theoneandonly]

dbair you didnt mention the no huddle and the Cowboys running 47 plays in the first half. I think that played a big part in them wearing out the Vagiants defense and the out come of the game.

 

[dbair1967]

dbair you didnt mention the no huddle and the Cowboys running 47 plays in the first half. I think that played a big part in them wearing out the Vagiants defense and the out come of the game.

Yeah I did forget it. They kinda showed it a little in preseason when Dak played and continued it last night.

Prescott is awfully comfortable doing it, we're gonna gas a lot of teams this year that way I suspect.

 

[dbair1967]

Yep, D Law is a guy I have zero interest in paying. Let somebody else make that mistake.

It depends on the prognosis of his back, that would be the worrisome part IMO.

If he has a huge year maybe instead of a long term deal you think about tagging him for a year or two.

That's a long way off though. he's got 15 more games to continue to prove himself. He did have a really good game last night though.

 

[Dodger12]

The Giants' run D is and was legitimately good. They're obviously good overall.

But Dak was missing some relatively easy open throws where he wasn't even pressured. Not saying he'll keep doing that all year or even for another week, but for last night, that surprised me.

I still think Dak is a bus driver TE and this season is starting to play out the way last season did....with the D playing above it's head. Dak needs to take over a game and carry this team at some point for us to have any shot at the playoffs. This D will not hold Rodgers or Matt Ryan to less than 20 points.

 

[cmd34]

1) Prescott missed a few throws that we had been accustomed to seeing him make. But he also didn't throw any picks, have any fumbles or hold onto to the ball too long and take big hits/sacks. His game last night was a significant improvement over his two starts last year vs NYG. CZ is loaded with people complaining about him sucking or something (which is further proof they have the lowest cumulative football IQ of any sports board anywhere) but he had a really solid game and constantly got the Cowboys into good looks. He clearly has more freedom than last year at the LOS, and he looked in total command. Of course people seem to willingly discount that he played against an outstanding defensive team, one that really confused him last year. Didn't happen last night. Another of his really positive traits is while he doesn't look to take off and run, he does have the ability to make a defense pay when something is there (like he did on that FG drive before halftime). Those are plays Romo (and many other QB's) would never make.

His early throws were consistently high, which is almost always the sign of an overly-amped, excited QB. Hard to critique him for being too excited on opening night. He calmed down and did what he needed to do.

2) Other than the extremely well designed 3rd down 30 yd gain on the little backside screen Zeke didn't have any explosive plays, but he gained a ton of tough yards. He constantly turned no gains into 2-3-4 yd gains and late in the game when everyone knew we'd run, he moved the chains. He also was rock solid in blitz protection again. Really solid season opener for him against a really good defensive team.

It's what we need. The defense is young so keeping them fresh and off the field is extremely beneficial. If Zeke breaks a bunch to the house, it's obviously points scored and a great thing, but it does put the defense on the field longer. Again, it's exactly what we need right now.

3) Terrance Williams had 6 catches for 68 yards, all after the really bad looking ankle sprain he had on the 1st play of the game. He toughed it out and had a really nice night (after the game I saw the clip of him trying to get to the lockerroom, he was really messed up). Even if he had to miss a game or two, we're obviously fine but he deserves kudos for what he did last night. Dez is Dez and probably should have easily drawn 4 or 5 other PI/illegal contact penalties on Jenkins. Beasley is just money and his ridiculous highlight film catch was just epic. Brice Butler only caught one ball but it was a great catch as well. And whatever Witten did to prepare for this season obviously worked. He looks much quicker and like he's actually picked up a step or two in the speed area.

All we need from that 5th or 6th option (Zeke, Dez, Witten, Beasley, Dak running) is for the guy to be able to beat one of the opposing defense's worst players. Terrance and Brice are completely capable of that. I think Rico Gathers will be able to do the same.

4) My one complaint offensively would be with the playcalling on the first FG drive after Butler's 30 yd gain. We had 1st and goal inside the 3, and didn't attempt a single running play. Elliott was in the game, but they called 3 straight passes. Now I cant say for sure whether the plays were called by Linehan or if Prescott called them himself, but not running Zeke behind this OL even once was pretty stupid. Hopefully it's something that wont happen again. That said, Prescott should have had the TD on the slant to Dez.

Garrett is going to Garrett. I look forward to the day when Dak feels confident and selfless enough to check out and just hand the ball to Zeke three times.

5) Pretty stiff test for first game of revamped OL, and my guess is they'd have to be thrilled with the results. Only one sack allowed (and that appeared to on Prescott) and they were able to rush for almost 130 yards. Dallas didn't have a single 3 and out and had two drives of 11+ plays, including their last drive of 11 plays, 34 yards and using up almost 6 mins to get another FG and ice the game.

Collins has some Erik Williams to him so he's gonna get calls for his aggressive play. Just have to hope he reigns that in some. Chaz Green didn't break into a million pieces so that was surprising.

6) Obviously the Giants not having OBJ was a huge positive for us, but you still cant dispel how well our defense played. We got 3 sacks (Mayowa had a 4th that should have counted, but didn't. He was even held on the play) We got a pick (and had a great Jaylon Smith forced fumble that we recovered taken away). We held the Giants to only 35 rush yds on 12 carries.

I still feel the deep ball is our Achilles Heal so them losing their vertical threat was key. We may have dodged another bullet with David Johnson expected to miss week 3. The Cardinals like to attack vertically as well but now they are one dimensional without Johnson.

7) Plenty of good individual play defensively, but Demarcus Lawrence had a pair of sacks and another nice TFL on a screen pass. Sean Lee was everywhere and led team in tackles. Jaylon Smith's debut was solid and he did show glimpses of the explosive speed he had at ND. Charles Tapper had a sack and should have had another. Maliek Collins commanded a double team almost every play. Anthony Brown is looking like a very legit starting CB. Stephen Paea was a load in the middle. Jeff Heath didn't do anything really good, but he didn't do anything bad and that is more important IMO. It's only one game, but Nolan Carroll looked ok as well. Taco Charlton rotated in and didn't do anything great (had 1 or 2 pressures I saw) but he wasn't an issue either. On another note, while the Giants clearly have a below average OL, I don't recall many (if any) plays where we blitzed and we were still getting fairly consistent pressure. Definitely a good sign.

Defense played extremely well. I am skeptical of Demarcus Lawrence who is suddenly playing lights out in a contract year. Jerry is way too loyal so I fear he will overpay to keep Lawrence, who will then shift right back to cruise control. In the meantime, I will enjoy the play this year. I just don't want to see a repeat of Anthony Spencer taking up a huge chunk of salary cap room for two years.

 

[dbair1967]

This D will not hold Rodgers or Matt Ryan to less than 20 points.

Those D's wont hold us under 20 either though. We scored 30+ on Green Bay twice last yr in case you forgot.

Prescott's two games vs Green Bay:

18/27, 247 yds, 3 tds 1 pick, 9.1 yds per attempt, 117.4 rating
24/38, 302, 3 tds, 1 pick, 7.9, 103.2

 

[dbair1967]

And as far as complaining about his throwing ability, I guess I need to remind everybody that as a ROOKIE he completed 68% of his passes, 23 tds, only 4 picks, averaged right at 8.00 yds per attempt and put up an overall QB rating of 104.9

He had the best rookie season ever for a QB and then followed that up with arguably the best playoff game ever by a rookie QB.

 

[Scot]

Dak had a decent game against a team he couldn't find a way to beat in two outings last season. Yes he struggled and had some high throws. Remember it's also the first game of the season and he was playing the team that just a season ago was his Achilles Heal. I'm sure his nerves and emotions were running high.

This is the first game of his second season. The kid is only going to get better. He just overcame his biggest hurdle of least season by beating the Giants.

The sky isn't falling. He's a second year QB who has developed faster than we could have ever hoped for.

 

[MrB]

Saw this funny tweet.

New York Giants on Twitter: "Watching some film, shoutout to Bobby Hart for making Demarcus Lawrence look like a 5X All Pro. Really nice improvement!"