Ah, the Joy of Six.
I said
six.
The Cowboys were
the benefactors of six – count ‘em, six – turnovers last Sunday night in their 36-31
win over the New York Giants. Dallas hadn’t created six takeaways in 10 years
(since a win over the Washington Redskins in ’03) and never in the history of
the 54-year-old franchise had it produced three takeaways in the first quarter
of a game. It was reminiscent of Super Bowl XII (eight takeaways of the Denver
Broncos) or even Super Bowl XXVII (nine takeaways of the Buffalo Bills), though
obviously the stakes were a tad less significant.
In all, the
Cowboys – who produced only 16 takeaways under defensive coordinator Rob Ryan
in 2012 – recovered three fumbles and picked off three Eli Manning passes to
finally beat New York in Arlington. Call it the Full Monte (Kiffin). Usually an NFL home team with a +5 turnover
margin wins by 21 points. The Cowboys had to survive, escaping only when Sean
Lee recovered an onside kick with 11 seconds remaining.
Still, a win is
a win is a win is a …
“You can’t win
turning the ball over,” said Giants’ head coach Tom Coughlin. “That’s the
bottom line.”
But were the
Cowboys good? Or just at-the-right-place-at-the-right-time lucky?
Let’s break down
all six takeaways and make a fair determination.
(continued from page 1)
1. DeMarcus Ware
interception – On his first play as a hand-on-the-ground defensive end, Ware
shed the block of Giants’ tackle Will Beatty and sniffed out the imminent
screen pass to running back David Wilson. Don’t know how or why, but an
unhurried Eli Manning threw the ball off his back foot right into the waiting
arms of No. 94. Good thing, because the play was going to go for big yardage.
Behind Ware the Giants had five blockers set up to take on only four Cowboys’
defenders. A little help from Eli, but that’s a good play by a great player.
Score: Good.
2. George Selvie
fumble recovery – Giants had 1st-and-Goal at Dallas’ 8 when Wilson took a
handoff and swept left. Safety Barry Church shot a gap at the 10, beat fullback
Henry Hynoski’s block and literally tackled the ball, yanking it free from
Wilson’s left arm and forcing a fumble that Anthony Spencer’s replacement
jumped on to save at least three points. Score: Good.
3. Will Allen
interception – Facing 3rd-and-10 from Dallas’ 49, Manning dropped back and
looked for Rueben Randle at the 35. Mildly pressured by a stunting Jason
Hatcher, Manning sailed the ball well over the receiver’s head and into the
waiting arms of Allen for New York’s third turnover in three possessions
covering barely more than five minutes. Cornerback Mo Claiborne had decent
coverage on Randle and Allen was in position to make a tackle, or a pick. Score: Good.
(continued from page 2)
4. Barry Church
fumble recovery – Facing 2nd-and-15 from their 25 and trailing by three the
Giants again hand off to Wilson with epic implications. The running back runs a
draw by is hit at the line of scrimmage by defensive tackle Nick Hayden, who
spins Wilson to the ground. The ball is stripped free just before Wilson’s knee
hits the turf, and Church scoops it at the 27 and scores untouched. Wilson is
benched, but he again had lotsa help in fumbling. Score: Good.
5. DeVonte
Holloman fumble recovery – As Chris Jones’ mediocre 34-yard punt bounded around
New York’s 20-yard line it suddenly took a sharp right turn. It was there that
rookie J.J. Wilcox was engaged with Giants’ blocker Trumaine McBride, who was
unexpectedly hit by the ball in the right arm. Holloman fell on the loose, live
ball, but the play that pushed Dallas’ lead to 27-10 had little to do with
game-planning and a lot to do with a quirky carom. Score: Lucky.
6. Brandon Carr
interception – With everyone in AT&T nervous and fearing another horrible
ending to another Giants’ comeback, Manning dropped back to pass on 1st-and-10
from New York’s 48. His team trailed by only six. There were more than two
minutes remaining. He had two timeouts. And we wanted another screen pass. When
the Cowboys showed blitz with both Lee and Bruce Carter threatening to shoot
the A gaps, Manning audibled to a dump pass to his running back, Darrell Scott.
But Scott was slow to turn his head around, and by the time he saw it – too
late – Manning’s on-target pass glanced off his left shoulder pad to Carr, who
had sniffed the play out and waltzed into the end zone to seal the deal. It was
a second defensive score, both easy and untouched. The Cowboys took advantage
of the miscue, but they didn’t exactly force it. Score: Lucky.
So of the six takeaways, the Cowboys “earned” four of them. And, in the end, they owe a big
thanks to the Giants’ running backs for two fumbles and deflected pass that resulted in a pick.
Moral to the
season-opening story: It’s better to be lucky and good.
I smell a hint of references to my posts yesterday...but way to scratch out a decent post here RW. Yes it is definately better to be lucky AND good rather than lucky OR good. And the Cowboys needed ALL of the 6 turnovers to win by a MEASLEY 5 pts. You cannot expect lady luck to save your ass next week, so the Cowboys better thank their lucky stars and get some good reps in practice this week (especially the secondary).
ReplyDeleteSometimes being lucky is a product of being good. Like my dad always said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." Let's hope that theory applies here, but overall it's a product of both.
ReplyDeleteThe upside is over the past few years, the Cowboys have invariably lost these types of games, committing a turnover late, giving up a long game-winning drive, or failing to convert a scoring opportunity late to tie or win. They won this one. We should realize that and see that that is the ultimate step in the right direction.
-JC