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5 Questions with Blogging the Boys

It's '5 Questions' time again. This week we are, of course, checking in with David from our spectacular Dallas Cowboys blog, Blogging the Boys.

My answers to his questions should also be posted some time today. Stop over there and check that out.

Here is this week's Q&A.

Big Blue View: The first time these teams played the Cowboys scored 45 points. The Giants have played much better in recent weeks. Do you think the Cowboys offense will dominate the Giants again?

Blogging the Boys: No, I don't. I expect it to be a much tougher game this time around and I don't expect either team to score as much as they did in the opening game. It's obvious that the Giants defense has gotten better as the personnel have settled into the new defensive coordinator's schemes. New York's defense was in its infancy in that first game, and Strahan wasn't quite ready, but that defense is now growing up. The Cowboys have also improved greatly on defense since that first game with the return of Terence Newman and Greg Ellis and our personnel settling into Wade Phillips' defensive scheme.

BBV: I've seen people start trying to put the Cowboys on the Colts-Patriots pedestal already. Is that premature, or are you on that bandwagon, too?

BTB: That's premature. We got whipped by New England just a few weeks ago and even though we hung close in the game until the 4th quarter, it was obvious they were on a different level. The Colts are probably also on another level. But, I'm very happy with the progress Dallas has made this year and hopefully by the end of the season we can do something about that loss to New England.

BBV: What is different about this team at this point in the season compared to Week 1? Have any surprising players emerged?

BTB: What's different is the normal things you'd expect with a team that's having a good season. Our defense is improving because they are getting used to the new defensive scheme. The offensive line is playing better and better and that's a result of playing together for a while now and getting continuity. We've also got back the aforementioned Newman and Ellis, so we have almost all our starters back in place. We're still missing Terry Glenn, but Patrick Crayton has done a nice job of filling in. The guy who really stepped up was Jacques Reeves, a forgotten cornerback who has started every game in the absence of Newman and Henry for various injuries. And he's done a pretty solid job, especially in the last few games.

BBV: What concerns you most about the Giants? Do you think they are for real, or from your perspective do you expect them to fade like they did last season?

BTB: I don't expect them to fade because those teams over the last few years were different teams from this one. Two things concern me about the Giants more than anything else. Number one is obviously the pass rush. A good pass rush can produce big plays, from sacks, to fumbles, to interceptions, along with the ordinary play of forcing an incompletion. A good pass rush can cover up a lot of other things. The other thing is the running game, I always feel like you have to get the run stopped or a team can control the game. So that is what scares me.

BBV: Fill in the blank -- really a two-part question. For the Cowboys to win they have to ...? For the Giants to win they have to ...?

BTB: For the Cowboys to win they have to protect Romo, or at least give him enough room to move around and make plays, we can't let the Giants defensive line get off cleanly and start hitting Romo. The other thing I'd like to do is to be able to run the ball because that forces the Giants to respect the run on play-action passes and can really open up the middle of the field. It also takes away from having to face the pass rush. Finally, stop Brandon Jacobs.

For the Giants to win they have to force Romo to make mistakes and turn the ball over. They can't let him run around and extend plays because that is when he can really burn a defense. And the Giants have to get control over Jason Witten who abused the defense in the first game. But I'm a broken record because I always believe a team must stop the run before anything else.

0 recs  |  Comment 10 comments

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BTB
Great analysis BTB. I agree completely with the "to win" segment, but if I was to add one thing that the Giants absolutely have to do to win, its to get Shockey going. He's had some big games against Dallas and if he starts mowing people over early in the game, then the crowd in be in a frenzy.
If I'm going to break them, I'm going to break them both. - LT

by potroast on Nov 9, 2007 8:25 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

Right Potroast.
I'm particularly impressed by BTB's emphasis on the 'boys need to stop the run.  I'm convinced we've got to establish it to win.

by george cronin on Nov 9, 2007 9:19 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Whats the chance
of making this segment 10 questions? I realy have started looking forward to this every week(almost as much as the Thursdays check out the opposong talent segment).It's pretty cool hearing some intelligent discussion on both sides. Probably getting soft in my old age but even Terrible T has had a few reasonable statements! Have to agree to most of the points made as keys to the game. It's always best if you can establish the run, and BJ has something to prove against this defense anyway. I bet the Cowboys do evrything possible to shut down Plax so Shockey potentialy could be a big factor.

by big blue wrecking crew on Nov 9, 2007 12:45 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

10 questions
10 questions? 10 questions? Dude, you think I'm smart enough to come up with 10 questions? Actually, I enjoy this segment, too. Some of the bloggers are bored by it, but it's a great chance to learn a little bit about the opposition and about how they perceive the Giants.

by Ed Valentine on Nov 9, 2007 2:43 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

i enjoy it
it gets a little repetitive on the baseball blogs that are interviewing the same divisonal rivals for like the 9th time but as we only get it once a week here i think it works well.  

by DieEaglesDie on Nov 9, 2007 4:24 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Baseball
I don't think this format would work for baseball, unless you did it only occasionally in special circumstances. It is great in football, though.

by Ed Valentine on Nov 9, 2007 4:51 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Baseball
It works for baseball when teams are about to play out of division teams (and especially interleague play), where you really don't know about the other team. So, for example, when the Mets are playing the Reds (or, since most of you are probably Yankees fans, when the Yankees are playing the Rangers, et. al), it helps to hear a little bit about the team, since they usually play once towards the beginning of the season, and then play again a few months later, when lots of things might have changed. It does get very  repetitive when you get the 4th interview with the Nationals or Devil Rays blog though...

It's definitely a cool concept though, because I like seeing what the enemy is thinking. I try to check out the Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins blogs once a week or so, just to gauge how the fanbase is feeling about the team.

by cjmulrain on Nov 10, 2007 9:29 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

No way am I bored with 5 questions....
In my opinion the 5 question segment trumps any analysis we get from ESPN.  I think that the fans know more about their teams than most of the so called professionals we suffer on ESPN.

I also appreciate the objectivity from the other blogs.    

by giant fan since 57 on Nov 9, 2007 4:57 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Fans
I was part of the mainstream media for a long time, though I was covering college and high school mostly instead of professional sports. One of the things MSM does not want you to figure out is that a great many fans (not all -- there are blowhards everywhere) are just as knowledgeable as the so-called 'experts.' Our opinions, especially when we research them and use facts to back them up, are just as valid as theirs. Access to players and team officials gives MSM advantages, and I have a great respect for many of them, but that access does not mean any of them know more than I do -- or many members of Big Blue View Nation, for that matter.

by Ed Valentine on Nov 9, 2007 5:14 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

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