Through two regular season games, the Dallas Cowboys have their defense to thank for their 1-1 record. After falling to Carolina in the opener, Dallas dominated the Giants in Week 2 due in large part to its suffocating defense that limited Eli Manning and company the entire night.
The game started with the loudest play Dallas’ offense could make, a 64-yard touchdown strike from Dak Prescott to Tavon Austin that gave Dallas the early 7-0 lead. Although the offense was absolutely better than they were a week ago, it was the defense that was more impressive and carried the team to victory.
Dallas surrendered just 255 yards to the Giants, as its defensive front was able to consistently disrupt Manning and everything around the line of scrimmage. New York averaged only 3.8 yards per play.
If someone didn’t see the game and only looked at the box score, one would have thought Eli played a pretty good game. This was not the case.
Manning completed 33-of-44 pass attempts, but only accounted for 279 yards. The majority of the 33 completions were within a few yards of the line, resulting in minimal gains throughout. The Giants punted 6 times and didn’t score a touchdown until there was less than two minutes remaining in garbage time.
Another interesting headline was that rookie Saquon Barkley set New York’s team record with 14 receptions. Even though 14 catches in one single game for anyone is remarkable, the fact that he gained only 80 yards with them is the more telling story.
The Cowboys were able to hold the elusive Barkley to 5.7 yards per grab and that was with missing a number of tackles. Every time he touched the ball, it seemed the first Dallas defender would always miss the tackle. Some of these were Barkley showing off his talent, others were defenders not wrapping up and tackling properly. With that being said, the defense did a terrific job of swarming and gang tackling as a whole, limiting both Manning and Barkley’s yardage.
The biggest difference between this defense and the one we saw last year has to be the ability to generate pressure.
The Cowboys sacked Eli six times and either hit or hurried him a number of other times. He was uncomfortable from the get-go and it showed the entire game. By getting to the quarterback early, Eli was more than happy to dump off short check-down passes to his new running back to avoid further punishment.
Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence once again led the Dallas attack. Despite being double and triple-teamed often, Lawrence tallied another sack and two tackles for loss. The attention he drew from the Giants was noticeable, and truly opened things up for his other teammates to join the sack party.
Six different Cowboys recorded a sack. Tyrone Crawford, Antwaun Woods, Taco Charlton, Damien Wilson, Kavon Frazier and Lawrence all brought Manning down.
The coaching had a large part in this as well. Although Dallas was able to generate pressure from simple four-man rushes, Rod Marinelli and Kris Richard were able to draw up several blitz packages that were extremely effective. The Cowboys aren’t known to blitz as much as they did, however, they brought linebackers and slot corners often to give Eli and his helpless offensive line headaches for four quarters.
The rest of the defense was strong, too.
Chidobe Awuzie and Byron Jones combined for 14 tackles and provided great coverage in the passing game. Odell Beckham Jr. mustered only four receptions for 51 yards.
Dallas’ young linebackers were also excellent. Jaylon Smith led the team with 10 total tackles, while first-round selection Leighton Vander Esch had seven of his own.
Through the first two weeks, Dallas now ranks fourth in the NFL in yards allowed and third in points allowed. Its currently surrendering just 274 yards and 14.5 points per game.
The Cowboys defense is clearly talented and has room to get even better. Randy Gregory missed this game with a concussion. Sean Lee is still not looking like himself and David Irving can’t return from suspension until Week 5. If they can get back to form, there’s no telling how far this defense can lead the Cowboys.
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