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Ravens and Giants Prove that Defense Still Matters in the NFL Playoffs

16 Jan

By Chris Murray

Giants Defensive End Osi Umenyiora Strips Aaron Rogers, causing one of four Packers turnovers in Sunday's NFC Divisional Playoffs.

For the Chris Murray Report

The Sunday games of this weekend’s NFL playoffs was a reminder that no matter how explosive your offense is during the regular season, the strength of your defense will ultimately determine how far you advance in the postseason.

Yes it’s that old cliché about defense winning championships, but in today’s games it was the defense that helped both the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants to clinch spots in next week’s conference championship games.

In Green Bay, the Packers (15-2) came into their NFC Divisional Playoff game with New York Giants (11-7) with the league’s highest scoring offense at 35 points per game. With quarterback Aaron Rogers, the league’s highest rated passer, under center this game was supposedly a mere formality on the road to defending their Super Bowl title.

But the Packers also have the league’s worst defense and Giants quarterback Eli Manning exploited it to the tune of 330 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-33 passing. Perhaps the big back breaker came seconds before halftime when Manning hit Hakeem Nicks on a 37-yard touchdown pass to give the Giants a 20-10. Green Bay would come no closer than 10 points for the rest of the game. Nicks ran roughshod through the Packers secondary catching seven passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

On the defensive end, the Giants roughed up the Packers explosive offense by sacking Rogers four times and forcing four turnovers. It didn’t help that Green Bay receivers dropped numerous and if the Giants defense didn’t make the sack they forced Rogers to overthrow and under-throw his receivers.

“We just boosted it up a notch. We just came out here and played even harder and we just rose to another level,” said defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. “Our cornerbacks and safeties did well and our defensive line did a great job. That’s all that really counts. Everybody played as one.”

Throughout the 2011 season, the Packers simply outscored their opponents while ranking at the bottom of the league statistics in total defense and passing defense. The saving grace for the defense was that it had the best league’s best takeaway/giveaway percentage.

However, it was the Giants defense that came up big against the Packers high-powered offense. They held Rogers to under 50 percent passing. They were the ones forcing the turnovers and they slowed down the Packers offense.

If there was an MVP in this game, it was the physical Giants defense that dictated the outcome as well as the Packers 32nd ranked defense’s inability to stop Manning and the New York offense.

(from left to right) cornerback Jimmy Smith, safety Ed Reed and middle linebacker Ray Lewis celebrate stopping the Houston Texas offense late in the game.

Meanwhile in Baltimore, the defense coming up big is a familiar story.

The Ravens jumped out to a 17-3 thanks to a pair of turnovers that gave the offense a short field to score touchdowns in the first quarter.

After the first quarter, the Ravens offense scored just three points for the rest of the game and managed just 227 yards of total offense. The Texans offense, thanks to the running of Arian Foster who gained 95 of his 132 yards in the first half, cut the Ravens lead to 17-13 and seemed to be on the verge of taking control of the game.

But in the second half, the Ravens held the Texans scoreless, forced two turnovers including a drive-killing interception by Ed Reed. Foster was held to just 37 yards on the ground in the second half.

“Defensively for us to come out and pretty much pitch a shutout that’s our standard of football,” Lewis said after the game. “You really have to take your hat off to our team.”

For all the talk of high-powered offenses like the Saints and the Packers dominating the 2011 season, you still need a solid defense to ultimately win a Super Bowl. For all the points and yardage those two teams racked up during the regular season, they are out of the playoffs because their defense failed to stop the other team’s offense.

Baltimore proved today that even when your offense is in a deep freeze, a good defense will not only keep in the game, it can also help you win it.

With Win Over Washington, Birds still have a shot to win the NFC East

16 Oct

By Chris Murray

For the Sunday Sun and the CM Report

LANDOVER, Md.–If there is any conclusion that you can come to with the Eagles 20-13 victory over the Washington Redskins is that they not only have a pulse, but they still have a legitimate shot, even at 2-4,  at winning the NFC East.

Huh? Did I really say that?

I know optimism is not necessarily a Philly trait, but if look at the rest of the NFC East, it’s a division that’s fit for the taking provided that one of the four teams in question- the Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys and Giants don’t  shoot themselves in the foot.

That’s something that all four teams have had a tendency to do with alarming consistency so far this season.

What has to bother the Eagles and their fans about their current record is that the four games they’ve lost were winnable. Take away the turnovers, mental lapses by both players and coaches, and plain old lack of execution, the Birds could be 5-1 or 6-0 instead of 2-4.

“Every game we’ve lost so far has been because of us,” said Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who caught four passes for 46 yards. “We’ve been stopping ourselves. As long as we can come out here and not have turnovers. As long as we can stop doing that part of the game and stick with what we do best which is go out there, fly around and make plays and take advantage of what the defense gives us.”

Sunday’s win over a first-place Redskins team that doesn’t scare anybody seem to lift the spirits of a team mired in a frustrating four-game losing streak.

“We know right now how our division is as far as record,” Jackson said. “We’re actually not at a bad spot. Even though we would like to win more games than we lost, we still have a good chance to win out and just keep winning and still have a chance to control the NFC East.”

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick said winning Sunday’s game will be the start of a rebirth of his team once they come out of the bye week when they host another NFC East team—the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field on Oct.30.

“We’ve got to start from (Sunday) and in each and every game,” said Vick, completed 18-of-31 passes for 237 yards with one touchdown and one interception. “We’re going to enjoy this victory and this bye week and start the season all over again. We definitely feel good where we are right not. Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done. ”

For the much maligned Eagles defense, which after being beaten up on for the first half and part of the third quarter of the loss to Buffalo, came out Sunday and intercepted Rex Grossman four times. More importantly, they held on to a lead and didn’t give up too many big plays as they have in their four-game losing streak.

“That’s progress for us,” said cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. “A lot of times you’ve seen something wrong that happens in the second half, then it’s like,’oh no, how do we respond. But today something wrong happens, you know what to do, let’s fix it.

“It wasn’t a perfect game obviously, in the second half they made a couple of plays, but after that we came through and we were able to stop them.”

Asomugha said that while the defense had a nice outing against the Redskins, they still have a lot of work to do.

“We haven’t been where we wanted to be and the fact that we got a win today is something we can build on,” said Asomugha, who had a bone-charring tackle on Redskins tight end Chris Cooley in the first half. “But at the same time, we’ve got to keep everything in perspective and play it one game at a time.”

The winner of the NFC East will be that team can avoid assisting their opponents efforts to give them a butt-whuppin.  Stay tuned.

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