Fans who watched the New York Giants in Week 1 against the Washington Commanders would have sworn they were watching Groundhog Day, because that is exactly what the season opener felt like.
A new year, a fresh start with a veteran quarterback, and a lot of hype from an exuberant preseason: The result was the same old Giants.
The hyped-up front seven, particularly the pass rush, has been performing as-advertised on its own, but without a good scheme and without a run defense, they can’t carry the New York Giants in the way that fans were hoping they would.
Issues From Week 1
That 21-6 loss revealed that the Giants have numerous flaws and just how easily teams can exploit them. New York’s horrible offensive line made it look like the Commanders had seven Hall-of-Famers on defense, as Russell Wilson was sacked twice and was pressured on almost every drop-back. The running back room only scraped together 30 total rushing yards.
And then for a while in Week 2, there was hope. Hope that the Giants would win a divisional matchup after losing seven straight. Hope that Week 1 was just some fluke. That hope went away rapidly.
Unfortunately for Giants fans, Mr. Unlimited is actually only limited to four decent quarters of football, and Brandon Aubrey‘s foot has been kissed by the kicking gods. New York would go on to lose its eight straight divisional matchup in a 40-37 overtime loss.
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The opening weeks were dark and dreary for the G-Men faithful; a darkness New Yorkers have come to terms with over the last several years. However, a sliver of light and hope shone through all that darkness.
A Promising Pass Rush for Giants
There was a lot of positive offseason discussion about this Giants pass rush, and for good reason. The front seven showed a lot of promise against both teams.
Brian Burns is playing some of his best football to date, and the season opener exemplified that. He was able to bring down Jayden Daniels twice, once being completely untouched. He also finished the game with six tackles.
Burns recorded another sack against Dallas, and eased by a pair of defenders to help lead to another.
It also appears that Kayvon Thibodeaux made a tremendous leap this year. The fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft seems to be finally turning a corner in his fourth year. Him maintaining a high run defense grade will also be key for the Giants moving forward.
Thibodeaux had his way with the Dallas O-line as well. He played with a power and speed that has not been on display during his professional career prior to this season. He was also the Giants’ highest rated run defender in Week 2.
Carter Already Delivering
Abdul Carter had an outstanding debut, making some key plays that kept the Giants in the game for the first three quarters, one of which came on special teams.
Carter also made some incredibly smart plays, like this NBA-style closeout on Daniels to force him to throw it away.
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Fans surely mocked it on social media, but this patience and adaptability to breakdown on an elusive quarterback in Daniels is impressive for a rookie. The initial thought would be to sack the quarterback.
Most rookies, and honestly most vets, would have likely charged after Daniels. But Carter stayed patient and didn’t let Daniels beat him with his legs. Instead, he forced an intentional grounding call.
Dexter Lawrence has been virtually invisible in the box score, but drew double teams for most of the two games. The attention he commands opens up holes for his teammates to pressure opposing quarterbacks. When the guys around him are as good as they are, Lawrence doesn’t have to be posting two-plus sacks a game. And if the Giants continue to get to opposing backfields as well as they did against Washington, teams will have to adjust their blocking strategy for “Sexy Dexy”.
Even the linebackers were heavily involved in this defense, as Bobby Okereke led the team and the NFL in tackles with 16.
This Giants pass rush was as advertised and was the only exciting thing for Giants fans to watch in Week 1. However, the defense was definitely not perfect.
Giants Need Help Containing the Run
The Giants let up an abysmal 220 rushing yards against Washington, the second most of the week in the NFL, trailing only the Buffalo Bills. However, in the Bills game, there were 929 combined total yards from scrimmage.
They did improve against Dallas, allowing 135 total rushing yards. Even so, Cowboys running back Javonte Williams was able to bust through the seams to average 5.4 yards per carry. The Giants currently stand as the worst rushing defense in the NFL.
Okereke sits at 26 tackles through two weeks, which is great, except that most of the opposing rushes are being stopped by a linebacker well beyond the line of scrimmage. The Giants also lost one of their best run defenders in Micah McFadden to a foot injury in Week 1.
The Giants could have the best pass rushers to ever play the game of football, but it would mean nothing if teams didn’t have to pass the ball. They are getting torched on the ground, and if they don’t clean up the run defense, the pass rush they spent years solidifying will be all for nothing.
Strengthening the run defense is a must-do for this Giants front seven, and it starts with the defensive coordinator.
Shane Bowen is Failing
After the pair of losses, Giants fans are out on defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. From the lack of a run defense, to boring and predictable schemes, to only having his four biggest defensive playmakers on the field together for eight out of 65 defensive snaps in Week 1 — someone has to be blamed, and that somebody is Bowen.
The fantastic four did play together for most of the game in Dallas, but in total conjured up 25 pressures and three sacks against a pretty middle-of-the-pack Cowboys offensive line. That didn’t stop Dak Prescott from throwing for 361 yards. The defense did all they could, but the coverage was weak, particularly in the middle of the field and in the most crucial moments of the game. That’s on coordinator, not the players.
Bowen has not fixed any of the problems from last year that pertained to the run; the Giants’ run defense ranked 27th in total yards allowed in 2024. In fact, they have shown a regression so far, sitting in dead last.
With four extremely talented defensive linemen, a defense should not be ranked at the bottom of the barrel against the run. Bowen is seemingly wasting the potential of an incredibly talented pass rush, and fans are calling for a change.
What New York Can Do Moving Forward
Any success they see this year needs to happen on the defensive side of the ball, especially since they are remaining patient in the development of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart. But these changes to the defense need to be made with serious urgency. Otherwise, this will be another wasted year with even more wasted potential.
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