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All eyes on defense
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

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Jan 10, 2008

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The big question for the Giants prior to last week's NFC Wild Card Game at Tampa Bay was whether their offense would score enough points against the Buccaneers' second-ranked defense to win the game. Three touchdowns later, the answer was a resounding "yes" and the Giants had a 24-14 victory.

This week, the question is just as crucial, but it comes from a different direction: can the Giants' defense prevent the Dallas Cowboys No. 2 scoring offense from posting a point total that will make winning difficult? Without a big game from the defense, they'll likely have a tough time winning Sunday's NFC Divisional Playoff Game in Texas Stadium.

Stopping the Cowboys offense is a huge task. Dallas scored 455 points this season, second in the NFL's behind New England's league-record 589.

"If there is a team with more offensive weapons, I would like to see them," linebacker Reggie Torbor said. "They can run it, they can throw it, probably one of the best quarterbacks in the league (Tony Romo) running the whole show, so it is definitely a test for our defense."

The Cowboys posted 76 of their points against the Giants - 45 on opening night in Dallas, and 31 in the rematch on Nov. 11. In those two games, the Cowboys had 10 passes of 20 or more yards, including four that gained more than 30 yards and two 50-plus throws, one in each game.

"Our defense gave up too many big plays to Dallas," linebacker Antonio Pierce said. "Out of the eight or so touchdowns that they had in two games, five of them were either because of mental errors, alignments, or assignments. Those things you can fix. We can fix that on the practice field every day and work on it. If they had beaten us just by physically one-on-one matchups, then that is a different thing."

Dallas' offense is a virtual all-star team unto itself. The unit boasts seven Pro Bowlers, including five starters: wide receiver Terrell Owens, tight end Jason Witten and linemen Flozell Adams, Leonard Davis and Andre Gurode. The reserves are Romo and running back Marion Barber.

Romo set a Cowboys record with 36 touchdown passes, including four in each game against the Giants. Not coincidentally, Romo was sacked just once in each game by the defense that led the NFL with 53 sacks.

Unlike most quarterbacks, Romo does some of his best work on the move and outside of the tackles. So instead of chasing him from the pocket, the Giants will try to capture him in it.

"He is obviously a hard guy to get to, not simply because they have a very good offensive line but because he is very, very shifty in the pocket," Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. "He eludes people very, very well. So I think the most important thing will be to keep him in the pocket because once he gets out he is able to make a lot of plays that way."

"The second game we definitely had more success than we had in the first game and the first game we also lost Osi (with a knee injury) as well," Michael Strahan said. "I think pass rushing is about being relentless and I know everyone is like, 'Oh, they didn't get that much pressure.' Well, they do a lot of six-, seven-man protection, so if you have seven on four it is very hard to win those things. We understand that, but if it comes down to us doing things to get to the quarterback I am sure (defensive coordinator Steve) Spagnuolo has some tricks up his sleeve to make sure that we do our best to make Tony not as comfortable as he usually is. Hopefully, we can have some of the same success as we had last week against Jeff Garcia."

The other part of the equation is mitigating the impact of Owens, who set his own Dallas record with 14 touchdown catches this season, including four against the Giants. He caught 81 passes for a team-high 1,355 yards.

Owens returned to practice today on a limited basis. He missed the regular season finale at Washington with a high ankle sprain suffered the previous week at Carolina. Officially, the Cowboys are saying Owens' availability for the Giants game will be determined shortly before kickoff. But it's easier to find a Cowboys T-shirt in the Giants locker room than a player or coach who believes he won't be on the field Sunday. They cite Owens' rapid recovery three years ago when he played for Philadelphia against New England in Super Bowl XXXIX barely a month after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured ankle.

"Come on now," cornerback Corey Webster said. "It is a big game. He is a great receiver, a great player, so you know he is going to be out there giving all he has. It doesn't matter what he has in his tank, he is going to be giving all of it."

"He is going to play," Strahan said. "I mean, come on. I have a bridge in Brooklyn, do you want to buy that sucker if you believe he is not going to play? He is going to play. The guy came out there three days after breaking a leg and played in the Super Bowl. He sleeps in a hyperbaric chamber like Michael Jackson, he does all that stuff he needs to do, the guy is going to play in the game, and that is what we are going to prepare for and practice for. He is not the type of player that if he plays he limits himself, so if he is in there, expect him to do everything that he always does."

Even a hobbled Owens will draw more attention from the Giants defense than any other Dallas player.

"If he is on the field, he is our focus," cornerback R. W. McQuarters said. "It is not, 'Is he 90 percent? Is he 85? We are going to show him a little attention because he is 85 percent.' No, that is not how it is. If they are on the field, then everybody is 100 percent."

If Owens shocks everyone and doesn't play, or is not as effective as usual, the Cowboys still have plenty of offensive weapons to help them light up the scoreboard. Witten caught 96 passes, seven for touchdowns. Receiver Patrick Crayton caught 50 passes and also had seven scores. Barber rushed for 975 yards and 10 touchdowns and averaged 4.8 yards a carry.

Despite the impressive statistics and point production, the Giants believe they have the defense that can slow down that vaunted attack and keep them in the game.

"When you go back and look at the games that we played against them we just had some critical mistakes that came up at times in the game," defensive lineman Justin Tuck said. "I know it is easy for me to just sit here and say, 'Well, if you take those mistakes away, then that is a different ball game.' But for the most part I am just confident in the fact that we are executing at a much higher level right now than we were when we played them last. I am looking forward to seeing how we come out and play on the road again. For those two matters alone, it makes me more confident."

So are his teammates. On Sunday, they have to turn that faith into action to give the Giants a chance to win the game.

*Center Shaun O'Hara sounded today as if he's going to play Sunday. O'Hara again practiced on a limited basis because of the knee injury that kept him out of the Tampa Bay game. Coach Tom Coughlin said O'Hara, "took probably half of the reps. He seemed to do okay. We will see how he is tomorrow."

O'Hara hurt his knee on Dec. 29 against New England.

"Mentally, I am preparing for the game," O'Hara said. "I am feeling better today than I did yesterday and I am hoping that will be the case for tomorrow. If I feel strong and if I feel like I can make all the blocks, then obviously you have to get the clearance from the doctors and from the coach, but I am pushing as hard as I can hoping that it works out."

Has O'Hara tried a hyperbaric chamber like Owens?

"I don't think I would fit like the skinny guys," O'Hara said. "But if T.O. wants to donate one, I will take it."

O'Hara was asked if he was wise to sit out last week's game and let Grey Ruegamer play center in his place.

"Yeah, I might have screwed up the game," O'Hara said. "We won. I thought that Grey did a great job of stepping in there. He is a true veteran in every sense of the word. It is nice to have that luxury to have a guy like Grey that can just jump in there and the offense doesn't miss a beat. It was tough to not be out there with your teammates but they did great and I was happy that we got the win and now we get to keep playing."

NOTES

*Tight end Kevin Boss missed practice with an illness, but Coughlin hopes to have him back tomorrow. Cornerbacks Sam Madison (stomach) and Kevin Dockery (hip flexor) did not practice. Wide receiver Plaxico Burress (ankle) and tackle Kareem McKenzie (ankle) were limited.

For Dallas, linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who was second in the NFC with 14.0 sacks, did not practice because of a team decision.

*The Giants are 4-7 in Divisional Playoff Games, including 3-5 since the 1970 merger. The NFL counts pre-merger Division or Conference Championship Games as Divisional Playoff Games. The Giants lost such games in 1943 and 1950, but won in 1958.

The Giants are 0-5 on the road in the divisional round, 0-4 since the merger with losses in San Francisco in 1981, '84 and '93 and Chicago in 1985.

This is the Giants' first divisional round game since a 20-7 victory over Philadelphia on Jan. 7, 2001.

Dallas is 15-7 in the Divisional Playoffs (14-5 since the merger), including 11-3 at home (10-2 since the merger).

*Chris Mara, the Giants' Vice President of Player Evaluation, issued the following statement today:

"I have withdrawn my name from consideration for the position of general manager for the Atlanta Falcons," Mara said in a statement released today by the Giants. "I want to thank Arthur Blank for his interest in me, and we had a very good discussion earlier this week in Atlanta; however, I am no longer a candidate for the position."