The New York Giants’ change at quarterback has dominated the headlines this week as Big Blue is set to launch the J.J. McCarthy era, with the hope that the more mobile McCarthy will change how opposing defenses approach the Giants’ offense, particularly the stagnant running game.
But another area of concern has been flying under the radar for the team: run defense, which remains an issue despite the resources pumped into the unit’s improvement.
The Giants’ run defense has surrendered the fourth-most rushing yards (813) through six weeks, and its 5.0 yards allowed per carry is the second-worst mark in the league, trailing only Carolina’s 5.1.
The Giants’ run defense has also allowed opponents a 63.7% success rate on their runs (10th in the league) and a 73.3% conversion rate on third-down rushing attempts, the second-worst rate in the league.
It goes without saying that the run defense has not been good enough, especially given the investment in the defensive front.
Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson has taken notice.
“We put some stuff on tape that was not characteristic of a New York Giants defense, and it’s unacceptable, and it will be changed,” Wilson said.
Wilson said those things included players not running to the ball and sloppy tackling technique.
“I look at guys that don’t run to the ball, and I call them traitors because they’re traitors to the defense. At the end of the day, when you have a traitor to the defense, you either have to make adjustments to get them off the field, you have to get somebody else on the field, or they have to correct their behaviors,” he said.
It Starts with the Run Defense
The Giants have been trying to beef up their run defense ever since Wilson was hired by head coach John Harbaugh to run the unit, and it seems like they have been trying to get it right for years.
While each year might have its own story, the recurring theme seems to be discipline.
“I think sometimes just a little bit of the fits on just some of the stuff — cleaning up that type of thing,” said defensive lineman D.J. Reader. “We’ve let some quarterback runs beat us in some places.
“I think it is just a discipline of play in and play out. Teams are going to keep trying to attack you with different runs. The plunge play was a play that we fit well sometimes, and we didn’t fit as well sometimes. So, it was just about seeing more looks and getting those fits figured out.”
The Giants’ run defense, which also ranks second worst in the league for the most big-play runs of 20+ yards allowed (4.5%), has especially struggled against pre-snap motion, which has put defenders in gaps they haven’t adjusted to or that leave them at a disadvantage.
“Sometimes a motion here or something like that might put you in a different gap. And you’ve just got to revert to knowing your basics and be confident in the rest of your brothers to make sure they’re going to be where they’re at, so you need to be where you’re at,” Reader said.
Trying to Tackle a Problem
Besides the pre-snap motion giving the run defense some fits, the Giants’ tackling in their Week 6 loss to the Saints also left a lot to be desired.
Per PFF, the Giants had 13 missed tackles, seven of them against the run. In an even more alarming stat, the Giants had 16 run plays last week in which a defender made contact with a ball carrier but failed to get him to the ground on first contact, which ranked 11th in the league in Week 6, per PFF data.
“Last week was one of our worst tackling games for whatever reason,” Wilson admitted.
“It’s really going back to the basics. We have to go near hip, near half. We have to attack the ball carriers in the center mass, and we’ve got to run our feet on contact. A few plays got out, especially in the pass game, because of missed tackles. Then last week, we weren’t happy, and I wasn’t happy with our effort running to the ball.”
Wilson believes the poor tackling stemmed from not enough people running to the ball and, more importantly, poor technique.
“A couple of plays that we had last week, instead of going near hip, near half and trying to run through a ball carrier, we stuttered our feet,” he said.
“When you stutter your feet, you give them a two-way go. So, we have to be like heat-seeking missiles. When we break in coverage, when we break on the ball coming out of the stack, we need to attack the near hip and near half, and we need to run through ball carriers instead of catching them.”
Do Your Job
Wilson is determined to get the team playing up to the level he believes it’s capable of as a collective, especially against the run. He said it all starts with everyone communicating and doing their assigned jobs.
“It takes all 11. That’s a huge emphasis for us,” he said. “For us, it’s about getting lined up, getting set, and then with the motions, the pre-snap and post-snap movement, we have to communicate a lot better.
“That’s been a big point of emphasis, not only from the start, but even picking up even more right now. Once we get our feet in the ground and they start moving, we have to communicate. … Then we’ve got to come downhill, and we’ve got to tackle.”
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