Another week, another disappointing loss for the New York Giants, with the team once again blowing a fourth-quarter lead. One week after giving up a ten-point lead to the Chicago Bears, Big Blue had a 20-19 lead against Green Bay in the fourth quarter, but the defense allowed the Packers to get out of a jam, and the offense could not respond. It has become a trend that is all too familiar for the Shane Bowen-led Giants‘ defense this season.
Giants Allowed Packers to Escape the Jaws of Defeat
After Jameis Winston capped off a near eight-minute drive with a quarterback sneak to give New York the one-point lead, the Giants had the Packers where they wanted them. Facing a third-and-10 from their own 47-yard line, New York’s star pass rushers had a prime opportunity to get Green Bay off the field, but instead they were unable to capitalize.
The Giants’ vaunted defensive line was not able to generate pressure, allowing Jordan Love to dance in the pocket and wave receivers around before launching the football off his back foot. Savion Williams made a huge catch downfield, with Cor’Dale Flott unable to make a play on the ball or cover the rookie receiver well enough to force an incompletion.
Love proceeded to find Christian Watson on a go ball to the back corner of the end zone to give the Packers the lead, before the Packers converted their two-point try to go up a touchdown. Sure enough, Jameis Winston was picked off in the end zone, with Jalin Hyatt stopping in the middle of his route and allowing the interception to take place.
Another Week, Another Fourth Quarter Collapse
This week was far from an exception. After double-digit collapses at New Orleans, Denver, and Chicago, the Giants brought their ineptitude to MetLife Stadium for their home faithful to see firsthand. Granted, this week’s fourth-quarter lead was by far the smallest, but New York’s inability to get a much-needed stop with a defense this talented is simply unacceptable.
Other than Brian Burns, who now has a career-high 13 sacks in 11 games, this defense is vastly underperforming. Star nose tackle Dexter Lawrence has been nowhere to be found for weeks on end, while around Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux has just 2.5 sacks, and Abdul Carter has just half a sack this season.
Injuries have not helped matters, with multiple members of the secondary missing time, including cornerback Paulson Adebo and safeties Tyler Nubin and Jevon Holland. Yet the two prized offseason acquisitions in Adebo and Holland have zero interceptions and just eight pass breakups on the season. Green-dot linebacker Bobby Okereke has regressed in his second season with the team, while fellow inside linebacker Micah McFadden is on injured reserve.
The statistics are mind-numbing, with the Giants allowing the fourth-most yards per game (383.0) and ranking 28th in the NFL in points allowed (27.3). The run defense is even worse, ranking 31st out of 32 teams, allowing 152.1 yards per game and a staggering 5.5 yards per carry.
Considering Shane Bowen’s defenses are geared towards stopping the run, having a run defense near the absolute basement of the league is even more baffling. With the linebackers failing to stop the run and the secondary allowing deep catches on the regular, this Giants defense is not doing its part to support an offense that is putting them in positions to win football games.
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