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Same coach, same pattern, most of the time the same players. Very different results.
What’s wrong with the Giants’ defense? In short, absolutely everything.
Lack of haste? Yes. Porous blanket in high school? Yes. Missed tackles? Failed missions? Undisciplined sanctions? Yes. Yes. Yes.
“We’re not at the start we wanted right now,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said. “We hold ourselves to a high standard and we hold ourselves accountable. So there is only one way for us to go, and this is where we tend to evolve. “
Don’t be so sure it’s only from here. Anyone who has watched the Giants in the past decade knows it can always get worse.
The Giants were sent off to a 0-2 start for the eighth time in the past nine years by an unlikely pair of quarterbacks: journeyman Teddy Bridgewater and former XFL Taylor Heinicke. Former MVPs Matt Ryan, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes are just a few of the quarterbacks looming ahead of Thanksgiving.
“At this point in the year, it’s not a magic plan that we’re making,” said head coach Joe Judge. “It’s all about the details. It’s about fixing the little things one by one. If everyone does their job the right way, we will be successful.
One theory to explain the drop is that last season, when the Giants ranked 12th in total defense and 9th in defense, was the peak, not the start of a foundation. First-time Pro Bowl cornerback James Bradberry (18 passes defended), new $ 21 million-a-year pass thrower Leonard Williams (11.5 sacks) and others have had career years that could be difficult to reproduce.
Coordinator Patrick Graham oversaw the NFL’s final goal defense with the Dolphins of 2019 before joining the Giants. His innovative weekly schedules earned him nicknames such as “The Computer”, maximized talent, and turned him into a candidate for coaching leadership.
“It’s a complete reset,” Graham said before Week 1, the last time he was available to the media. “There are probably more patterns we can achieve at this point than we were last year. I’m looking for us not to fight, no penalties, reduce mental errors, make sure we place.
Computer malfunctions.
Up front, the Giants average one sack for every 3.7% of passing attempts, up from 6.7% in 2020. They have just three sacks and six other quarterback hits (nine in total) on 82 attempted passes. They bombed 20% of the snaps, more than five other teams.
At the back, the Giants gave pre-snap pads against Washington for 9.4 yards to Adam Humphries in the lunge, 6.6 to Dyami Brown and 6.5 to Terry McLaurin. Graham is sticking with the zonal covers that worked in the second half of last season, after dropping his man-to-man press project. But the results are much worse, especially on the third and fourth downs (16 for 33 conversions).
“It’s hard to have a standstill against an offense that has guns,” Bradberry said.
Bridgewater and Heinicke combined for a 110.5 passer rating – to the detriment of the Giants’ top players. The completion numbers against Bradberry (12 for 15, two touchdowns), Adoree ‘Jackson (8 for 14, one touchdown) and Blake Martinez (9 for 9, one touchdown) are telling.
The Giants played three defensive streaks in the final five minutes Thursday night and have collapsed twice:
–Handling 26-20, Washington ran for 75 yards on two plays in 17 seconds, exploiting a gap with linebacker Tae Crowder.
– Leading 27-26, Washington was intercepted by Bradberry.
– Trailing 29-27 with one timeout remaining, Washington traveled 50 yards on 11 plays to establish the winning basket.
“During that time, that’s just when you need to know they’re probably going to do their best – and we need to stop them,” Lawrence said. “We’re going to play here and there, but we have to get up and make the right play at the right time to help the team win the game.”
In week 1, the defense committed three personal foul penalties. In Washington, on recall, Bradberry received two penalties for the first automatic downs, Lorenzo Carter was hit with a stopwatch penalty on the last down and Lawrence (on special teams) jumped offside at worst time.
“We strive for perfection,” Bradberry said. “We weren’t perfect. We are below our standard. They definitely scored too many points.
Points are just one problem among many.
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