The New York Giants have a lot to be happy about on both sides of the ball after Week 1. The offense was methodical and suffocating, while the defense played well against a tough opponent.
But that was last week.
Now Dennard Wilson’s squad is preparing to travel across the country to take on the Los Angeles Rams. The Giants’ defense will have to contend with an offense that was the best in the NFL a season ago, masterminded by a coach who has helped to revolutionize offensive football, and quarterback
who’s bound for the Hall Of Fame.
Oh, and the Rams are coming off of an embarrassing loss to open the season.
If the Giants want to stun the NFL and get off to a 2-0 start to the year, they’ll need their defense to step up and make sure the offense doesn’t have to keep up in a shootout. In order to do that, Wilson is paying attention to the areas of improvement as well as what the defense did well against the Dallas Cowboys.
On how the Giants’ defense can improve
The Giants’ season got off to about as good a start as they could hope for against the Cowboys. The offense and defense both looked much better than expected and the Giants came away with a win after methodically suffocating the Dallas offense.
But the Giants’ win wasn’t exactly dominant and left the coaches with areas of improvement on which to work, which is also a good outcome. The Giants were good, but still in a position where they can chase perfection.
“We came out and played tough and played physical like we asked them to do,” Wilson said. “Were we perfect? No. We’re still chasing that. I think the guys tried to execute the game plan. They tried to execute it well. They believed in the game plan, and we got the results that we wanted. But there’s some things we need to clean up. First week, we got to get better and keep growing. And if we keep doing that, I think our defense will just keep getting better and better as the season goes.”
While coaches always want to see perfect execution, teams also don’t want to peak at the start of the season. Getting an early win as proof that the team’s off-season work will pay off is great, but so too is having goals to chase. No coach wants their team to become complacent, and Wilson definitely has a list of things for his players to work on.
In particular, the Cowboys were able to convert 8 of 11 third downs (72%). That would be a fantastic percentage and usually good enough to win a game — if the Giants’ own offense didn’t convert 90% of their own third downs.
Getting better at getting off the field on third downs will be a point of emphasis this week as the Giants prepare for the Rams’ offense.
“First and foremost, leveraging on route concepts,” Wilson said when asked how the Giants can improve on third down. “There were some plays where we were supposed to have outside leverage and we gave up outside leverage. A couple of those third downs were penalties.”
Penalties were a big factor in the game for the Giants, and they were hit with four defensive pass interference penalties. While even wide receiver turned commentator Cris Collinsworth disagreed with some of the DPI calls, the fact remains that they were called and that needs to be cleaned up.
“That’s the number one thing we need to correct going forward is the penalties,” Wilson said. “And when you look at the game, the penalties hurt us. All the penalties led to scoring points, right? So, we got to clean up that part of it. And then, on third down we just got to have a tighter game plan, be able to surround what they do offensively, and just go execute. And if we do that, we get them on a couple third downs, we get off the field, no penalties, we play an even cleaner game. So, we’re chasing that. That’s what we’re doing going forward. Those are two areas that we must get better at going into this game because this offense is an efficient offense. So, it’s eliminating the penalties, and being able to produce on third down and get off the field.
“The teaching point is this,” Wilson added. “You don’t need to grab. We are in position at the top of the route. It’s just cleaning up our hands. We’re going to be physical. We’re going to challenge people. But at the top of the route, we have to understand how they’re going to call it. And it’s no excuse. When they get to the top of the route, we can’t grab. We can be in the pocket, understand where your leverage is, where your help is, and everything else but we have to clean that up. We cannot hurt our team and hurt our defense by getting penalties. And that’s something that we’re going to correct and it’s been pointed out. And it’s one thing that we’re going to get better at going forward.”
Wilson’s defense strives to force low-percentage, tight window throws. The defense will take the next step once they can force quarterbacks into either forcing those throws or holding the ball. And it sounds like that’s an area of real emphasis for Wilson, as well as position coaches Donald D’Alesio and Addison Lynch.
On the defense’s versatility
The Giants have one of the — if not the — longest and most athletic defensive fronts in the NFL, and certainly the most invested. All told, the Giants have five first round linebackers, all of whom are between 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-5, 243 and 258 pounds, and run between a 4.40 and 4.58-second 40-yard dash.
The length, athleticism, and versatility of the Giants’ linebacking corps is truly outstanding. And Wilson is only scratching the surface of how he can deploy all of those pieces.
“I like the versatility in all those guys,” he said. “As we progress, Thibs might have a better matchup on a guard. He might have a better matchup on a tackle. It could be (inside linebacker) Arvell (Reese). It could be (outside linebacker Brian) Burns. So, we have flexibility. The guys do a good job because our defense is really, when they learn it, is exceptional. So, it’s just pieces. It’s just X’s moving across the board. So, I like it. It presents problems to other teams and we become a faster defense when they’re all up there. So, we’ll continue to keep sprinkling that in and expand the package.”
Speed kills.
And while the New York media is bringing back the “NASCAR Package” terminology from the Perry Fewell days, perhaps Steve Spagnuolo’s “Four Aces” is a better term. Or maybe “Royal Flush” is even more apt with the inclusion of Chauncey Golston with Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Tremaine Edmunds, and Arvell Reese.
The addition of Edmunds and Reese has really changed the complexion of the Giants’ defensive front. Their length and athleticism make each fairly unique among off-ball linebackers in the modern NFL. Having two players like that is even more uncommon.
“There’s really not a mismatch problem,” Wilson said. “When Arvell is on and playing the WIL or dime linebacker position. And then, Tremaine is another good athlete. So, it calms the defense a little bit. You can move them around. They can play different spots as well. So, it makes the defense even easier not to be able to have to substitute all the time for favorable matchups for the offense.”
“It is unusual now, like in today’s game,” Wilson added. “Because you still have the ability to go dime and take one off or vice versa. But with us, with our flexibility and their athletic ability and their football intelligence, it’s a good thing for us that they can play every snap.”
Generally egos can be a problem in a collection of elite athletes, particularly at positions that are known for racking up stats. However, the buy-in from all of the Giants’ front seven players is, as Wilson says, “huge.”
“It’s not about individuals,” he said. “It’s not about all the stats. It’s us playing together because when we all play together and we excel on the football field, we’ll all get the results that we want. So, the buy-in is huge. There’s a bunch of guys that are here that’s very selfless. And that’s why I love being around them. They are team guys. They want to excel. They want their teammates to have success. And if we keep feeding on that same energy, we’ll keep growing.”
On defending the Rams
But while the Giants are still basking in the afterglow of their win over the Dallas Cowboys, they still have to get ready to face a Super Bowl favorite in the Los Angeles Rams.
Few gave the Giants’ defense a chance against the Cowboys’ offense and now they get their second high-octane offense in as many weeks. As good as the Cowboys were a year ago, the Rams fielded the best offense in the NFL. They were first in yards, first in yards per play, first in points scored, and first in total touchdowns. They didn’t just do it through the air, and were also 7th in rushing yardage and 6th in rushing yards per attempt.
Wilson’s squad once again has its work cut out for it.
“It’s the National Football League. It’s nothing easy, right? We understand the challenge that the first game presented to us,” he said.
“That’s why we played the style of football that we had to play, right? Every week you go into a game, it’s not about what you just want to do. It’s about how do you stop or slow down this team. And we went in with a certain game plan against those receivers. We’ll have a game plan going against this offense, who is a very good offense. They run the ball extremely well. They have two elite receivers. They’re big. They block. They have good tight ends. So, we have to have a game plan to surround what they do as well. So, it’s a challenge, but it’s going to be a challenge all year. And we have the guys willing to take those challenges and go out there and compete at a high level.”
The Giants did far better stopping the run than many expected against the Cowboys. They held Dallas to just 69 yards rushing and 3.8 yards per carry. Running back Javonte Williams had just 41 yards and 3.4 yards per carry.
And for all the attention the Rams’ passing game (deservedly) gets, much of what Sean McVay has done over the last decade has been in service of the run game.
“Sean wants to run the ball, to set up his play actions,” Wilson said. “They have a Hall of Fame quarterback that has seen it all, that can make all the throws. He’s decisive where he’s going. He’s fast to get the ball out. Sean does a good job of attacking players as well with scheme. I think he’s one of the best football coaches in the National Football League, and we have a hell of a challenge going against this offense.”
