Talkshoe gave me a bit of scare, indicating it had eaten my podcast.

I got to everyone's questions and answered them the best I could. Thanks everyone for participating. It took an hour, but anytime I'm talking time passes fast for me. It's pretty strong. If you can survive it, I drop an F-bomb at the end.

Up the Gut: Dallas owned Green Bay's defensive tackles, and little wonder:

Dallas: Adjusted Line Yards Offense: Mid/Guard: 2nd

Green Bary: Adjusted Line Yards Defense: Mid/Guard: 32nd

Green Bay attempted to address this by drafting Justin Harrell, but Harrell underachieved his rookie season and was placed on the PUP list before the start of 2008. What's left is a bona fide Achilles heel. With Ryan Pickett down with a knee injury, Colin Cole has seen considerable time at left defensive tackle. Cole aspires to the quickness of Howard Green and the stoutness of Craig Terrill. He's a true last available talent on a team that didn't see itself so thin at the position, but has been torn down by injury. On the right, Johnny Jolly is inconsistent but can penetrate and, given his youth, has rotation potential.

Marion Barber is a bruising and productive back, but watching the two yard bubbles he could pick a hole from, again and again and again, I think a back with more boom, more long potential, would have gouged Green Bay for even greater yardage. What he did do, though, was keep Dallas out of passing downs and neutralize Green Bay's pass rush. More on that shortly.

For Seattle, this is a matchup advantage. Despite mixed results, Seattle has one very good run blocker and two capable run blockers up the middle. Luckily, its best run blocker, Mike Wahle, also matches against the Packers best run stuffer, Jolly. Watching Cole, I believe this will look like a bit of a breakout game for Chris Spencer, as Spencer should have little trouble single blocking and freeing Floyd Womack to do what he's does best, pull block.

Red Party: Green Bay absolutely, positively, does not blitz. I recorded three blitzes all game. In 2007, the team rushed 4 on 76% of all plays. Green Bay's pass rush is off and on. In balanced downs, downs that can be pass or rush, most downs, they provided almost no pressure on Tony Romo. Only when it was clearly a passing down, like following this play

1-10-DAL 38 (1:37) F.Jones right end to DAL 33 for -5 yards (C.Jenkins).

did the Packers loose the dogs. It's a matter of technique and style. In balanced downs the Packers were hesitant off the snap and couldn't recover. In pass downs they exploded off the snap and could create pressure.

This plays into Seattle's hands two ways. First, where Seattle excels in pass coverage is at creating time. Green Bay's hustle pass rush, slow developing and dependent on cover, should allow slower, but zone carving players like John Carlson and Bobby Engram the time to get open. Watch for A.J. Hawk to match against Carlson. The Packers did not dedicate a DB to Jason Witten and won't commit one to Carlson. Hawk is a good cover LB, but after facing safeties and corners, I expect Carlson to rebound against Green Bay. Second, Charlie Frye is crap under pressure and good time can help mask his greatness weakness. Good time, and a rushing attack that can keep him out of passing downs.

Memories: Green Bay's safeties are active around the line, and it helps impact their run defense, especially along the edges, but also leaves them susceptible to deep passes. If Seattle produces deep, I would expect it come from the seem. Watch for Carlson, Engram and even Bumpus to attempt to exploit the deep middle.

Square: Defenses don't get more vanilla than Green Bay. The Packers have two formations: 4-3 and 4-2 Nickel. I witnessed one exception, a 5-3 on short yardage. One.

The Return of Ryan Grant: Despite a 28^th ranked ALY ranking run blocking, Green Bay looked much stronger run blocking than pass blocking. To be clear, Dallas is also better at pass rushing than defending the run: 9th in ASR but 22nd in ALY. Still, I saw good line play by Green Bay and a back that looked like a shadow of himself. The back that took the league by storm in 2007, looks slower, stiffer but still upright. In the first quarter Adam Jones forced a Grant fumble with little more than a shoulder tackle. Grant's style and build never looked equipped for the NFL, and it's reasonable to think it's catching up with him. On the flip side, the Packers run blocking was rewarded when Brand Jackson took the field. Jackson runs a little like Julius Jones, not flashy but steady and productive.

Excuse Me: Despite a 22nd ranked Adjusted Sack Rank, the Packers pass defense looked abysmal. Pressure came early and often, and there wasn't but a handful of plays Rodgers really had time in the pocket. It's crystal after watching tape that Green Bay is a very poor pass blocking team held up by a pocket aware quarterback with a quick release and eyes trained down field. Rodgers is excellent at avoiding the first tackle and even under pressure looks for the open man. Quarterbacks like that have given Seattle trouble, and it's necessary that Seattle's secondary doesn't drop coverage even when the play looks like a sure sack. Seattle will get pressure, consistent, punishing pressure, but if the secondary fails it won't matter.

Greg Jennings versus Seattle's right-side secondary: There is no matchup, Jenning will produce. His incredible agility and strong set of open field moves is the perfect foil for two can't tackle DBs Kelly Jennings and Brian Russell. The key for Seattle is to minimize the damage or importance of Jennings receptions.

I'll post formation breakdowns tomorrow.

Cowboys 3 - Packers 3

2-10-GB 48 (Q1: 3:23)

The Dallas Cowboys align 2 WR, Rb (left); WR, TE (Right), Tony Romo in shotgun. The Green Bay Packers align in a 4-2 nickel. At the snap, right tackle Marc Colombo and right guard Leonard Davis double left defensive tackle Colin Cole. Cole looks a little like Howard Green: Short, stout and too easily blocked. Tight end Jason Witten engages right defensive end Aaron Kampman. Left guard Kyle Koser pulls right. Marion Barber receives the handoff and begins, methodically right. Step. Slowdown. Step. Colombo and Davis swallow Cole. Left linebacker A.J. Hawk charges downhill into the suddenly gaping right "C" gap, is met and then cut by the pulling Koser. Barber enters the beginning of the hole, ashoulder Kampman. Kampman pushes Witten high, grabs Witten and then tosses him aside, but the momentum leaves him unbalanced and behind Barber. Barber advances. Colombo disengages Cole, blindsides linebacker Nick Barnett, leaves Barnett stumbling towards the exiting Barber; Barnett attempts to tackle but buries his left shoulder into strong safety Aaron Rouse. The collision picks Rouse, Barnett can't wrap, Rouse manages only an arm, and Barber, so adept at getting low and powering through tackles, gets low and powers through Rouse. Barber explodes out of the broken tackle, cuts up field and records a tidy 25.

Cowboys 3 - Packers 0

1-10-GB 26 (Q1: 13:07)

The Green Bay Packers align in a 2 WR, 2TE, RB set with Aaron Rodgers under center. The Dallas Cowboys align in a base 3-4, OLBs wide. Greg Jennings is on the offensive left. Anthony Henry is playing 10 yards off opposite Jennings. At the snap, Rodgers takes a single step drop, opens his stance right and throws cross body left. The fake right draws both inside linebackers. Jenning slants hard in, receives, never breaks stride, continues three yards in, stops on a dime, swims Henry, breaks left, gives a slight stutter step up field that wobbles Ken Hamlin, continues towards the sideline and records 26 before Hamlin recovers for the tackle out of bounds.

I was asked to contribute something small to the New York Time's blog and it ate up my afternoon, so in the effort to get this out at a good hour, here's the ultra hasty version of Matchupalooza.

Floyd Womack versus Justin Tuck

Floyd Womack sucks. In 14 active games, but one started, Womack allowed 2 sacks in 2007. The logical choice with Sean Locklear returning would be to move good pass blocker but ehh run blocker Ray Willis inside to right guard. But even after the stomach staple (ahem), Mike Holmgren's appetite for Pork Chop rivals Homer Simpson.

That's a problem, because Justin Tuck has a peekaboo inside move that cauterizes wounds and parts the Red Sea. Tuck is going to live in the hog house, and when Pork Chop inevitably misses his assignment or is simply overmatched by Tuck's speed and power, one of the game's great pass rushers is going to get a free release right into Matt Hasselbeck's grill.

Beating Tuck will be a team effort, and if ever there were a time for Chris Spencer to show his first round chops, Sunday is it. Getting a second man cheating right, anticipating inside movement or blitzers, and trusting Mike Wahle and Walter Jones to thrive against New York's lesser right defensive line, will do wonders to prevent untouched stunts and Womack bacon bits.

This matchup isn't about winning outright, but preventing another right guard deflowering like one-armed Rob Sims suffered against Marcus Stroud. It's barely winnable, eminently losable and so damn important my liver quivers at the possible ramifications.

Deon Grant and Brian Russell versus Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw

Nothing fancy, safeties Grant and Russell must maintain contain against cutback lanes. Seattle's linebacker corps needs an aggressive search and flow style to be at its best, but that only works when Seattle's safeties can be counted on to hold down their assignment and prevent disaster when all those blockers pulling one way are defied by a little navy blue speedball running the other. Safeties holding outside contain, not making a bonehead glory move towards the ball carries, and ferchristsakes accomplishing the tackle is all Seattle needs to stymie New York's rushing attack. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Seattle must put as much onus for the Giant's offense on Eli Manning as possible. Smother the rushing attack, force long down and distances and put Tom Coughlin into pass mode is the best method for a Seattle victory.

John Carlson versus James Butler (Not Kenny Phillips)

Whatever you expect out of Bobby Engram, halve it. Whatever you expect out of Deion Branch, abandon it. If those two can work as effective decoys, it'll make my day. If either contributes, effin' whoopee.

Like the three weeks that preceded this Super Bowl preview (wha?), Seattle's air attack runs through John Carlson. The man who wrote "A Grecian Urn" with his route running is already a top ten total contributions tight end. His DYAR is 59, fourth in the NFL. Arr, he be a fine tight end, the yarest ball catchin' tight end thar be. And his competition this week is either real good or real damn bad. In 2007 and 2006, New York was woefully awful against tight ends, 29^th and 31^st in the NFL. Perhaps they were woefully unprepared to face a tight end. Practice be Shockey's hair frostin' time. Because this season the team has leapt to 7^th in the NFL. Rookie free safety Kenny Phillips might have something to say about that, but he's not New York's starter.

James Butler starts at strong safety and plays it a bit like a fourth linebacker. He's not Boulware bad in coverage, but he is the type to be mesmerized by Carlson's route running, obey Carlson's feet, break left on a subliminal stutter step and watch helplessly off camera as the ball falls for the first. Keeping Butler around and Philips in sparingly starts with an effective run game. From there, Carlson must continue his trend defying hot start as a rookie. Seattle needs Carlson, it can only wishcast performances from Engram and Branch.

There's this guy at my work. He's mid-thirties; stout. In his work area he hangs a modest boom-box, hooked up to an Ipod, and from the way he passionately belts out choruses, you can tell his music is very important to him. The big lines and soaring hooks define him. If you'd ask him what music he likes, he'd certainly say "all kinds", but his playlists are strictly top 40. He walks slow, deliberate from his car, a gray hoodie worn thuggishly over his brow and eyes; Stitch open mouthed and innocent on its back. He has the body of a bouncer, and the presence of someone you wouldn't want to be cornered by, but a cherubic face. In guarded moments he whispers wide-eyed warmth about his children.

When Tiki Barber retired, it was little debated that the Giants would suffer, but their rush offense held steady and New York won the Super Bowl. This season they've performed an even more miraculous reversal. Losing two defensive ends, the legendary Michael Strahan and top ten sack artist Osi Umenyiora, but improving defensively. With all the names and accolades, it might be surprising to read New York was mediocre on defense in 2007: tenth ranked against the run, 15^th against the pass and 14^th overall. This season they're 11^th against the run, ninth against the pass and eight overall. Maybe Strahan and Umenyiora weren't so important, or maybe we're just not looking hard enough.

Defense

The truth is, the 2007 Giants badly declined after losing Tiki Barber. Winning has a way of washing away all sins, but the Giants were a below average offense minus Barber, dropping ten spots overall, from ninth in 2006 to 19^th in 2007. Dropping exactly where an informed fan would expect: passing and on third downs. The Giants, minus Barber's 7.2 receiving DPAR and without an adequate replacement, suffered collaterally. Manning was significantly worse on third down than he was on first or second down and was terrible under pressure. Among quarterbacks with thirty or more attempts under "pressure" (as defined by Football Outsiders), Manning was the worst in the NFL.

The offense did decline. Given time, so will the defense.

The loss of Umenyiora and Strahan removes Steve Spagnuolo's "Four Aces" package. Coined by Mike Tanier, Four Aces describes Spagnuolo's innovative four defensive end package. In it, rotation end Justin Tuck and linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka join Umenyiora and Strahan, creating a line consisting of four current, occasional or former defensive ends. The mismatches were overwhelming. Ends Tuck, Strahan and Umenyiora combined for 101 hurries (37), hits (32) and sacks (32). That, and a heavy dose of blitzing -- ranking in the top half of the NFL blitzing 5 (27.2%, ninth), 6+ (10.6%, tenth) and 7+ (2.1%, 12^th) -- powered a sack happy defense especially effective on third down. The team's adjusted sack rate, already a robust 8.8%, first in the NFL, jumped to 12.6% on third downs, more than three percent higher than any other defense.

Through three games, that pressure has held. The Giants rank second in adjusted sack rate, 11.3%, and have thirteen sacks. Twelve of those sacks came against the Bengals and Rams. The Rams are the lesser team, and playing from deep deficits throughout accumulated sacks somewhat because of sheer desperation. In 54 offensive plays, the Rams faced nine third and long downs (7+ yard to the first), six of which were third and very long (10+ yards). Those desperation downs included two third and 16s and one third and 17, 19 and 28. My point isn't to malign the Giants defense, after all they put the Rams in such awful predicaments, but to point out that facing third and 19, the extreme dearth of potentially successful plays forces a quarterback to idle in the pocket just for lack of better options. The Rams suffered two sacks in their nine third and longs.

The Bengals have the lesser line. The once proud unit has fallen on dark days. Cincinnati ranks 23^rd in pass protection and 32^nd in adjusted line yards.

Does that impugn the Giants. No, not really. There's a kind of suck cap, where a good team can only be expected to dominate a miserable opponent so much before expectations become unrealistic. New York handled the Rams and their defense stifled Cinci's suddenly netless aerialists. But on a unit that's lost significant talent, two early stompings could be red herrings long forgotten by season's end.

My attitude is always trust talent. Though Justin Tuck looks primed for a series of dominant seasons and Fred Robbins continues his run as quiet badass in the interior, there's no losing a strong pass rushing linebacker in Kawika Mitchell, a top ten defensive end in Umenyiora, and a top ten all-time defensive end in Strahan, and avoiding decline. Much less improving.

Early impressions can be deceiving. I'm confident New York's defense, that has many a Seahawks fan quivering in their boots, is soon to show a softer side.

I'm introducing some new features next week (they're good), but don't have the ammunition needed to do them right this week. So, this all important matchup coincides with a bit of transition week for Field Gulls. Nevertheless, there're some old standards still worthy wheeling out. Let's start with a look at the Giants strategic tendencies on offense.

Offense

The Giants run a lot of three receiver sets. Consider, in 2007, Seattle ran many more 3+ WR sets (63%) than New York (49%), but Seattle also ran many more 4+ WR sets (17%) than New York (3%). Take the difference and you have two teams that employ 3 wide receivers on 46% of all plays. We can also deduce that (removing the small number of plays New York goes one wide or wide-less) New York employs 2 or 3 wide receivers on over 90% of all plays. Good news for a Seattle team three deep at competent corner.

The Giants run a traditional, run-heavy offense. In 2007, they ran on 43% of all plays, 10^th in the NFL. That included some opponent blowouts, though, and given the chance, Tom Coughlin will run, run, run, run, run with a back or two. Or three. In contests they were down by fewer than ten points entering the half, or ahead, the Giants ran on 51.5% of all plays for the game. They were also 10-1. Still, the run wasn't simply a function of salting away a victory. Against the Bills, the Giants were ahead only 3 at the half and behind by 4 entering the fourth quarter, but ran the ball 47 times to only 16 pass attempts, scored 21 in the fourth and won by 17. Against the Bears, the Giants were down 6 at the half and 9 entering the fourth quarter, but ran the ball 37 times to only 28 pass attempts, scored 14 in the fourth and won by 5. Against the Jets, the Giants were down 10 at the half and 3 entering the fourth, but ran the ball 39 times to only 25 passes, scored 28 in the second half and 14 in the fourth and won by 11. In other words, short of a Seattle blowout, Coughlin won't abandon the run, no he'll run, run, run...

Just to round this out, and kudos Pro Football Prospectus for all the great info, the Giants are a play action team, running play action on 23% of all pass plays in 2007, fifth in the NFL. They're also old school when it comes to short yardage, running on short yardage 78% of the time, first in the NFL. And if Mike Martz likes to get the ball around, Kevin Gilbride keeps it in the family. In 2007, Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer and Jeremy Shockey (who missed two games) accounted for 59% of all targets. Losing Shockey has just moved the targets to Steve Smith. In 2008, Burress, Toomer and Smith account for 60% of all targets.

It's an old school, smash mouth offense. Perhaps outdated, perhaps built for postseason success, but, whichever, as brutal and efficient as Fielding Yost's point-a-minute Wolverines when it's on.

I pieced together this short video from available highlights. NFL.com isn't real keen on run defense, so it's shy on anything but Giants backs kicking ass. Nevertheless, though limited in scope, I think it offers a good look at the strengths and limitations of Brandon Jacobs. I included clips of Ahmad Bradshaw for comparison and to control for offensive line and play calling. You'll notice the first clip is Bradshaw.

Clip 1

Ahmad Bradshaw's Loose Upfield Cut

Toss play left. Bradshaw moves outside, plants and runs a looping cut up field. Bradshaw is more agile than Jacobs and sometimes it's to his detriment. Bradshaw runs for a good gain, but is slow into the second level.

Clips 2 & 3

Brandon Jacobs' Driving Upfield Cut

In the next two clips, you can see Jacobs driving into the second level with an efficient, powerful cut up field. Jacobs is fastest and strongest when his shoulders are parallel to the goal line. Jacobs has excellent feet and can cut well, but when in motion, his cut range becomes much more narrow.

Clips 4 & 5

Bradshaw's Quick Lateral Cut

Two perspectives on the same run. Here's where Bradshaw has it all over Jacobs: a high speed, lateral cut. Bradshaw is above average cutting "against the grain" on the move, and that cut, coupled with his balance helps him break a long run in the open field.

Clip 6

Jacobs' Narrow Cuts on the Run

This run examples an ideal Jacobs' rush: north to south. A few things are evident. First, his strong second gear, but also the negligible difference between his second and third gear. Jacobs has great burst on the second level, but he won't outrun a DB. More importantly, notice Jacobs' limited cutting range on the move. Some of this is simple momentum, 260 pounds is hard to stop -- even for Jacobs. Jacobs ran a 4.56/40, but a 7.53 three cone drill. The latter is linemen country. Offensive. Jacobs has excellent feet and is no doubt more agile than a linemen, but has limited cutting ability when running downhill. His cuts, sharp and assertive approaching the pile, become restricted and narrow when he's running hard.

Jacobs is a powerful, quick downhill rusher with incredible feet for his size, but his cuts become narrow and deliberate on the run. That's where I think Seattle's gang tackling, penetrative defense will shine. Jacobs is not strong at cutting laterally. His best cuts are up field. If Seattle should get early penetration, Jacobs is poorly fit to cut back away from defenders or scramble for daylight. Jacobs lack of elusiveness should allow Seattle to get bodies on him, and that should negate his power. I have all the respect in the world for Jacobs and think he's a top flight running back, but I see this matchup in Seattle's favor. Their run defense, already dominant, should turn Jacobs into a non-factor.