ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys' defense had zero sacks and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was upright for the majority of the game. There were three pass breakups and no interceptions. The defense, run by Rod Marinelli, isn’t going to scare offensive coordinators, but it is doing enough to win.
And that was the case on Sunday when the Cowboys upended the Giants, 31-21, in Dallas' first NFC East game of the season.
The Giants didn't have top weapons Victor Cruz or Rashard Jennings but they still have Manning, a two-time Super Bowl winner. The Cowboys' secondary provided tight coverage most of the day and limited the deep passing game. Manning had just one completion of more than 25 yards, a 27-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Fells in the second quarter. There wasn't much blitzing from the Cowboys and a four-man pass rush applied much of the pressure.
It was nice how the game ended with Justin Durant forcing a fumble with 35 seconds remaining and Henry Melton recovering the ball to close the show. The credit for this 6-1 start goes to DeMarco Murray and Dez Bryant but the Cowboys' defense deserves some mention, too.
“We had a bad game,” Durant said. “We didn’t play our game. I felt like we gave up a lot of stuff. A couple of those plays were definitely on me. I have to clean up what I’m doing and get my eyes right. We have a lot of stuff to get better at.”
It is great that Marinelli is stressing the little things: Open field tackling, making sure you don’t give up first downs on long-down-and-distances, play your responsibilities within the zone defense, no free-styling and go after the ball carrier no matter where you are on the field.
While it will not be mistaken for the "Doomsday Defense," it’s a unit that’s efficient enough to beat teams.
“We’re a physical defense and we’re not going to back down from anybody,” safety Barry Church said. “There are corrections to be made but we’re a physical team and we’re not going to be out-hit by anybody.”
“Everybody plays for each other and plays hard,” linebacker Rolando McClain said. “It’s paying off.”
At this stage it is.
This defense isn’t perfect of course. There is no outstanding pass rusher and the secondary doesn’t get enough interceptions, but it’s doing just enough help win games. In the big picture of things, that’s really all that matters.
“We didn’t perform as well as I thought we could have,” defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. “We put it all together at the right moment to win the game.”
