Divisional games with meaning in Week 17, this will please the NFL brass. In an odd game in the pouring rain at the New Meadowlands Stadium, the Giants jumped out to a huge lead, making it to the half up 21-0. It looked as if the Cowboys simply hadn’t turned up and it was going to be a complete walkover, but then Dallas began to make a game of it.
The Cowboys pegged the game back with some scores and some defensive stands of their own before Tony Romo threw a pick just as it seemed the momentum was back with Dallas. The Giants were able to control the game from that point onwards and closed it out 31-14 to win the NFC East in a season where none of the teams stood out.
For Dallas, it’s back to the drawing board again, and an offseason of heat on owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, for a roster with plenty of issues. New York, on the other hand, rolls into the playoffs on a run of form, and will not be easy outs.
Dallas – Three Performances of Note
Nightmare on Newman Street
You’ll find worse performances at corner if you really search, but there aren’t many more embarrassing than the day turned in by Terence Newman this week. Newman wound up with a -3.7 grade overall for the game and a -5.0 in coverage. He was targeted nine times and allowed eight receptions for 178 yards and a touchdown. What will probably live in his memory the most about the day was that he was hurdled by two different players, Bear Pascoe and Henry Hynoski. Things got so bad that a third Giants player attempted to hurdle Newman, but by this time he had learned his lesson, stood tall, and made the tackle. To crown a wretched outing, he managed to injure himself in the act of diving forlornly to try and bring down a sprinting Hakeem Nicks, having been beaten in coverage yet again. Newman is going to have all offseason to think about this performance and it’s not going to slip from mind quickly.
Flipping Tackles
Last season, Doug Free played extremely well at left tackle, but always seemed a far more natural right tackle and was a far more punishing run blocker than he was pass protector. When Dallas drafted Tyron Smith it seemed a logical step to move Free to the right side and start the athletic and quick-footed rookie on the left. For some reason they elected to keep Free where he was and play Smith on the right, seemingly ending up with a pair of tackles playing on the wrong side of the line. Smith has been an excellent pass protector over the season, and ended this game with a +1.4 PFF grade while Free on the other side was less successful, winding up with a -2.1. The big left tackle surrendered a pair of sacks and two more pressures, while Smith on the other side was responsible for three pressures, but didn’t allow his quarterback to hit the ground. An offseason swapping of sides would seem like a logical, albeit late, move.
Some Defensive Studs
It wasn’t all bad for Dallas. In fact, aside from the torturing of Newman, the Dallas defense actually played pretty well, with a few real standouts. Sean Lee (+4.2) seems only to be getting better in the middle for Dallas, which should scare the rest of the NFC East given how good he already looks. Lee was constantly around the line of scrimmage making plays, including a stuff on fourth down late in the third quarter. DeMarcus Ware (+4.0) and Jason Hatcher (+5.3) both chipped in with fine performances of their own, combining for three sacks, two knockdowns, and four more pressures on the day. Kenyon Coleman (+4.3) also contributed with one of the most violent rip moves you will ever see to get pressure past Kareem McKenzie (Q1-02:14).
New York – Three Performances of Note
The Real Diehl Needs Help
The Giants can’t continue to be a viable force for long without a significant upgrade at left tackle. David Diehl isn’t cut out for life on an island, and in this game his -6.9 grade came from surrendering a pair of sacks, a pair of knockdowns and three more pressures on the quarterback. To make matters worse, he didn’t make up for it in the run game either, surrendering a pair of defensive stops to his defenders. Diehl was joined in struggling on the other side by Kareem McKenzie (-4.4) who surrendered three pressures but was equally poor against the run. He also had the ignominy of being rag-doll-tossed to the ground by Kenyon Coleman’s devastating rip move discussed earlier. Nobody on the Giants’ O-line played particularly well in this game (Chris Snee came the closest with a +0.1 grade), but the biggest issues were around the edge, the two spots where a quarterback can least afford to be finding pressure.
The Haitian Sensation
I’ve loved that nickname since I heard an announcer break it out during his college bowl game for South Florida, but Jason Pierre-Paul (+3.4) has been earning it this season and then some. This game saw him notch yet another sack, as well as a knockdown and four more pressures as he was a constant irritant for the Dallas offense. He seemed to have Romo nervous in the pocket for much of the game, causing him to take off just at the threat of pressure, even when his O-line had it under control. Pierre-Paul wasn’t even on the ballot for the fan vote of the Pro Bowl and yet he made the selection anyway, that is the kind of impact that coaches and players know he has had this season. His 59 snaps on defense were 13 more than any other Giants defensive lineman.
Nicks and Cruz are a formidable duo
We finally saw the real Hakeem Nicks (+2.2) in this game, having seemingly banished the dropsies that had been plaguing him in recent weeks. Cruz (+1.7) on other hand, we have been seeing for weeks as a real weapon, and he continued to dominate in this game, making a mockery of more than one Dallas defender in coverage. Nicks made several nice plays in the game, scoring a touchdown on an end zone fade, but also making a nice move earlier in the game against press coverage to get open down field (Q1-02:54), and then breaking loose across the field to extend the drive and get into scoring range before his touchdown reception. Cruz, as we know, has been on a tear recently, but the reason his grade isn’t higher is that he continues to have more disconnects with his quarterback, Eli Manning, than any receiver I can remember in recent memory. Every game you will see at least one or two plays where Manning expects Cruz to do one thing and he does another. In this game it cost them a simple first down when Manning expected his receiver to settle down in the middle of the field in between zones and Cruz continued his crossing pattern. When these two sort out their miscommunications they will be unstoppable.
Game Notes
– Giants Receiver Devin Thomas saw one snap in the game, and caught a pass on it for 14 yards and a first down.
– Throwing at Terence Newman didn’t yield a perfect quarterback rating, but at 155.8, it very nearly did.
– Tony Romo’s QB rating without pressure: 124.3, with pressure: 46.8
PFF Game Ball
Despite the miscommunications with Eli Manning, Victor Cruz has been a sensation this season and was a huge difference maker in this game. His long touchdown run seemed to demoralize the Cowboys before they had really gotten into the game.
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