Giants' defense needs a tune-up

by Ed Valentine on Oct 15, 2008 6:00 AM EDT in New York Giants News

Aside from Eli Manning's health, let's talk about the thing that has me most concerned in the wake of the New York Giants' 35-14 loss to Cleveland Monday night.

The Giants defense.

There are some issues on the defensive side of the ball, and coach Tom Coughlin knows it. He hinted Tuesday that Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will need to come up with some new wrinkles.

I really don’t think for the last two weeks we have had much pressure on the quarterback. I think there has to be a lot of self-analysis there in terms of not only how we are going about our business but exactly who is doing what. I think we need to look hard at that and we are talking about that.

Even after giving up 455 yards Monday the Giants are sixth in the league defensively, giving up 279.6 yards per game. The Giants have 15 quarterbacks sacks, third in the league among teams who have played just five games.

The numbers are misleading.

Against both Cincinnati and Cleveland the Giants generated little to no pass rush. If I could find stats on quarterback hurries and knockdowns I would think the Giants would not be anywhere near the top of the league in that category thus far this season.

The Giants should also be concerned about a couple of other things defensively -- their run defense and the lack of turnovers generated.

New York is a pedestrian 12th in the league against the run through five games, and Monday the Browns simply ran straight ahead and pushed the Giants around.

As for turnovers, the Giants have just two interceptions and no fumble recoveries thus far, ranking them last in the league in takeaways.

The Bengals and Browns seem to have uncovered a way to attack the Giants. Run directly up the middle, use three-step drops and rolling pockets to defeat the Giants pressure, then go ahead and try to get the ball deep down the field when Spagnuolo plays it straight and rushes just four.

So, what can Spagnuolo and Coughlin do about it?

There is no question Big Blue misses the injured Osi Umenyiora and the retired Michael Strahan. Partially because of his talent, and partially because having Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka allowed Spagnuolo to move players around and create mismatches along the line.

I would like to suggest that -- even with the personnel the Giants have now -- they need to move Tuck and Kiwanuka around a bit to find those mismatches. Use Dave Tollefson or Jerome McDougle at end sometimes and move Tuck inside, or let Kiwi stand up occasionally and rush from an outside linebacker slot -- a little of the hybrid kind of player he was last year.

Spags also like to bring tons of pressure directly up the middle, and teams are now rolling away from it. Maybe some blitzes from the outside linebackers instead of directly up the middle would keep opposing quarterbacks from rolling the pocket.

I know the Giants are hardly a defense in crisis, but they have not been nearly as dominant as they were during last season's championship run.

I also know Spags knows a lot more about defense than I do, and he will make adjustments.

Your thoughts?

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Comments

Linebacker....

This is the weakest area of our defense. It seemed to me that our linebackers were chasing down Cleveland’s runners from behind instead of blasting them head on, like the linebackers of earlier great Giant defenses usually did. I don’t remember one punishing hit by our linebackers. This suggests to me that maybe they didn’t read correctly or were caught out of position.

Another telling sign of our weak linebacker play is that the team must have felt that Pierce, playing hurt, was the best option we had. The poor linebacker play put too much pressure on our secondary to overplay the run, which put them out of position too many times, leading to wide open receivers.

I will say though that #31 has always run like superman against us, even going back to the ill fated Super Bowl game against the Ravens.

by giant fan since 57 on Oct 15, 2008 6:34 AM EDT reply actions

LB

Agreed. LB play has got to get better. I was hoping Wilkinson would flourish with increased playing time, but it looks to me like we can officially call him a bust. I don’t know what the solutions are here. Losing Kiwi to the line might have hurt, but I honestly don’t think Kiwi has been playing very well. I saw him read plays badly a couple of times in that game & I can’t remember him making any big plays at all this year.

Also, the thing with Pierce in that game is that I thought the D actually played better when he was out there, yet he was clearly hurting. I love Blackburn, but he can’t fill those shoes even when AP is at half speed.

by potroast on Oct 15, 2008 8:27 AM EDT up reply actions

i dunno if I'd call Wilkinson a bust

He was more a pick for depth anyways. At the time we had very scant linebacker depth, and he could play all three positions. I mean you always hope for a diamond in the rough, but I don’t think we drafted him expecting him to be All-Pro

by queler on Oct 15, 2008 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Don't give up on Wilkinson just yet.

I think he still has a chance to break into the lineup.

by giant fan since 57 on Oct 15, 2008 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't know

He played quite a bit this past Sunday & it seemed like he wasn’t even there.

by potroast on Oct 15, 2008 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions

which could also have been said about Tuck this past Sunday

by JoshNY on Oct 16, 2008 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Good post Ed

I think our depth at DE is a major problem. McDougle has a gimpy knee (which is why Philly cut him in the 1st place), I think Wynn is hurt too (?), and Tollefson is probably the least talented of the bunch. This is where our D flourished last year, sending DEs from everywhere. It also appears that out DTs can’t step up and bring pressure from the middle like Tuck can.

I’m not sure about blitzes from the outside either, since they’ve blitzed corners with little success as well. Basically, I don’t have any solutions, but that’s what Spags gets the big bucks for.

by potroast on Oct 15, 2008 8:34 AM EDT reply actions

Thanks, Pot

What I see is a defense that is good, but not as versatile and dominant as last years. It will be really interesting to see how the Giants try to cover the weaknesses that have been exposed. As for LBs what I see are guys who are decent players, but there isn’t one big-time playmaker — including Pierce. Unfortunately, Kiwi could have been that guy but it isn’t going to happen.

by Ed Valentine on Oct 15, 2008 8:58 AM EDT up reply actions

"...what Spags gets the big bucks for."

That says it all. He’s got to do the best he can with the hand he’s got. Let’s not forget that in the Browns game our usually potent DL was pushed around like a bunch of rag dolls. Improving LB play alone won’t fix things. On the other hand, I think (hope?) we’ll be okay vs. teams with smaller OLs. The Steelers game should tell usa a lot. It puzzles me that our DL handled the ‘boys so well in the playoff game, but got manhandled by the Browns. Let’s hope it was no more than a let down that can be corrected.

by george cronin on Oct 15, 2008 9:28 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed

I like Robbins and Cofield, but they aren’t exactly Pro Bowl defensive tackles.

by Ed Valentine on Oct 15, 2008 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions

57,Pot , Etv , George,

Go back and watch the LT vid recently posted and you can put your heads down and pout like I’ve been!

We're only gonna score 17 points?

by big blue wrecking crew on Oct 15, 2008 9:52 AM EDT reply actions

I really, really wouldn't want to be the guy

LT was yelling at from the sidelines saying “Wait till I get back in the game, a**hole…I’m going to kick your f**king ass!”

by giant fan since 57 on Oct 15, 2008 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Ah, well, a fan is downright lucky to have a guy like LT

play for his team. He was a once-in-a-generation player, one of the top five NFLers of all time. Maybe the rest of you will be fortunate enough to see another such play for the Giants, but it’s highly unlikely I’ll be around that long.

by george cronin on Oct 15, 2008 11:05 AM EDT reply actions