Seahawks versus New York: 5 questions about the Giants
By Lee Vowell
12th Man Rising: Everyone gives the NFC East a hard time because of the collective team’s records, but the Giants have a good defense. What are some happy surprises about the Giants to you this year and a couple of disappointments?
Danny Friedman: First off, the NFC East naturally gets a bad rep. All four teams are in major cities and are in the national eye seemingly every week. Obviously this year, the division’s pedigree is at an all-time low but three new head coaches, injuries, COVID-19, and the shortened season may have something to do with that. For the Giants, their defense has made significant improvement from last season.
The secondary is the first thing that stands out to me as they have been the most improved unit on the roster. Logan Ryan and James Bradberry have been terrific additions to this team and their leadership and tremendous play are evident week in and week out. Also, Jabrill Peppers has had a very solid season flying all around the field and lining up as a deep safety and in the box.
The linebacker corps has also improved dramatically as Blake Martinez is heads and shoulders the Giants best linebacker they’ve had since Antonio Pierce of the 2000’s defense. The D-line returns all three starters from last year in Dexter Lawrence, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Leonard Williams. They have played some great tough and gritty football for 12 weeks and they have greatly impacted the defense’s run game.
On offense, a positive surprise has been the success of the run game, especially without Saquon after he tore his ACL in Week 2. Wayne Gallman has had a career year and is making the most of his opportunities. The biggest disappointment for this Giants team would have to be their passing offense. Simply put, it hasn’t been nearly good enough especially where they left off last year.
Daniel Jones didn’t make the jump many hoped for in Year 2 but if he takes NY to the playoffs, many of those complaints will be silenced. However, that doesn’t mean Big Blue doesn’t have a passing problem. Jones has not had nearly the impact he had last year throwing the ball in the intermediate and short windows.
Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, and Golden Tate haven’t been the formidable trio many hoped for and expected. Shepard and Slayton have been banged up all year with nagging injuries and that is the same thing we’re dealing with this week.
The biggest disappointment this season has been our starting tight end, Evan Engram. Every week, it seems Evan is responsible for a key drop or a turnover. The drops have been a steady issue throughout Engram’s career and it hasn’t been fixed. To make matters worse, Engram botched the easiest of handoffs for a fumble earlier in the year, he fumbled this past weekend and has a drop seemingly every week in a key spot.