The Giants collected the horses to dominate games with their pass rush.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s one potential pitfall that could make the whole plan seem as pretend as spotting a pack of unicorns.<\/p>\n
For two years, the Giants have searched for solutions to improve their rushing defense because no smart opponent is going to leave its quarterback as a sitting duck to be hunted by Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and now Abdul Carter if presented with the alternative of running for 4.7 yards per carry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want to talk about our D-line and all this,\u201d Lawrence said, \u201cbut we haven\u2019t done anything yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
But what about the tantalizing possibilities of facing no double-teams and registering easy sacks?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can get teams to pass the ball,\u201d Lawrence said. \u201cSo, we have to win on the first and second down first, and that\u2019s the most important thing. We can\u2019t get to third without winning first and second, and that\u2019s the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II speaking to the media after practice on July 23. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen speaks to the media during OTAs. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n
Before he hired Shane Bowen as defensive coordinator in February 2024, head coach Brian Daboll directly asked if he could fix the Giants rushing defense to look more like the successful numbers the Titans had under Bowen\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t happen last season, when the out-talented Giants were gashed for 19 runs of 20 yards or more (second-most in the NFL), including five of 40 yards or more (tied for most in the NFL).<\/p>\n
So, Bowen was retained and given better personnel in the form of veteran free agents Roy Robertson-Harris and Jeremiah Ledbetter, as well as third-round draft pick Darius Alexander on the interior. Plus free agent Chauncey Golston and first-round pick Abdul Carter on the edge.<\/p>\n
Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Abdul Carter #51, during practice at the Giants training facility. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s still the No. 1 focus,\u201d linebacker Bobby Okereke said. \u201cWe\u2019re harping on that we have to earn the right to rush the passer by dominating the run on first and second down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will the changes \u2014 and the depth to have fresher fourth-quarter legs \u2014 add up to creating more third-and-longs? Opponents averaged 4.2 yards per rush on second down and more than one-quarter of their third downs were with 1 or 2 yards to gain to the marker.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where it starts,\u201d linebacker Micah McFadden said. \u201cIf you can\u2019t stop the run, you can\u2019t stop anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Giants will be in shell pads when training camp resumes Sunday and full pads \u2014 when the run game and linemen on both sides truly can be evaluated \u2014 come Monday. But already, the newcomers, especially Carter, are showing they can make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a play [Thursday] where he took on the puller and the second [blocker],\u201d McFadden said. \u201cWe talked about it in our meeting: A lot of times in the run scheme, you\u2019ve got to make up the math because [the offense] might have more numbers than we have. When you have a player that can do that, it helps everybody out.\u201d<\/p>\n
A case could be made that improvement stopping the run is the clearest path to the Giants being a better team. It\u2019s no lower than Path No. 1B \u2014 sharing top billing with getting better play at quarterback.<\/p>\n
As Daboll sees it, the two factors go hand-in-hand.<\/p>\n
Giants offensive tackle James Hudson III #55, blocking New York Giants linebacker Brian Burns #0, during practice at the Giants training facility in East Rutherford, NJ. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t where we needed it to be [last season], but the run defense is a collective team thing,\u201d Daboll said. \u201cWhen you get behind in games quite a bit and they keep handing the ball off, handing the ball off \u2026 it\u2019s not just a defensive stat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re not scoring enough points or playing good enough team football, that affects the other side. There were a lot of good plays, but there were too many explosive plays down the field. Whether that\u2019s a run fit, getting off a block, making a tackle, we have to play better team football to help our team run defense.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Giants open the season against the Commanders, who ranked No. 4 in rushing offense last season. No time to waste.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will say we\u2019re glad about all the additions,\u201d McFadden said, \u201cbut I think, first and foremost, [run defense] comes down to communication and guys talking in the backfield behind us and letting us know the rotation and where is everybody\u2019s gap. And then playing aggressive and playing true up front.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Giants collected the horses to dominate games with their pass rush. But there\u2019s one potential pitfall that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[291,1483,1489,7,519,755,1917,56,2321,2469,6,9],"class_list":{"0":"post-236695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-giants","8":"tag-abdul-carter","9":"tag-brian-burns","10":"tag-dexter-lawrence","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-giants","13":"tag-kayvon-thibodeaux","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-giants","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkgiants","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}