An aggressive and evolving defense gives team a chance
Xavier Mckinney mostly has played deep safety in the NFL.
In Sunday’s 19-16 win over the Panthers, the Giants’ rangy free safety was often down in the box or on the defensive line, blitzing and hounding Carolina running back Christian Mccaffrey.
“It was the first time that I had to do that at this level,” Mckinney said after the game. “I got to play in the box. I got the responsibility of Wink putting me on Mccaffery. That was my job this game: to guard him. I thought I did a pretty good job of doing that, taking him out of the game.”
Coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale’s three-safety plan, including Julian Love and rookie Dane Belton, was a big change from his personnel plan in the Giants’ Week 1 win at Tennessee.
Mckinney had plenty of help, too, with Love, safety Tony Jefferson and linebacker Micah Mcfadden among the defenders who
made key tackles on Mccaffrey.
But that’s exactly what has driven the Giants to a 2-0 start: smart, evolving defensive plans that have kept the Giants in low-scoring games.
“What you saw, playing in the box, down low, that’s the Christian Mccaffrey effect,” Love said Monday on Zoom. “We needed speed out on the field to account for what he can do with the ball in his hands. So that’s what that was. We’re going to switch it up every single week depending on what puts us in the best position to succeed.”
Unfortunately, defensive lineman Leonard Williams likely will miss some time after having an MRI on his right knee on Monday.
Head coach Brian Daboll said the results were “better than it could be” and called
Williams “day to day,” but that only appeared to rule out the worst case. The Big Cat, as they call him, is on the mend.
Martindale, though, still seems to be the X-factor that could help the Giants continue to exceed this season’s low expectations. Their schedule is not jam-packed with elite opposing quarterbacks.
The aggressive, veteran Martindale has proven against the Titans’ Ryan Tannehill and Panthers’ Baker Mayfield that average QBS will not overpower his scheme.
The Giants’ DC has manufactured timely pressure with blitzes, absent a consistent pass rush rushing four. The Giants rank fifth in passing down blitz rate at 23.9%, per Pro Football Reference.
Mckinney batted down two Mayfield passes at the line of scrimmage on Sunday. He played 14 snaps on the line, 18 in the box, eight in the slot and 18 at free safety, per Pro Football Focus.
That was a much more aggressive deployment than Week 1, when he logged 36 at free safety, six on the line, 19 in the box and four in the slot.
So there is plenty of reason to believe that the Giants will at least keep games close this season, if not win them, against teams without star passers.
That could start with the Dak Prescottless Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football” in Week 3 and continue this season against Justin Fields’ Chicago Bears, Geno Smith’s Seattle Seahawks and Davis Mills’ Houston Texans.
“When it comes to this week, it’s a divisional game,” Love said. “There’s animosity between these two teams [the Giants and Cowboys]. But with all that involved, it’s important that we maintain who we are. And we’re just a grimy team. I’m going to be honest with you. We’re just a grimy team who knows it’s never going to be easy, but we’re going to try to find a way to win.”
The latest wrinkle in Martindale’s defense came Monday with the re-signing of inside linebacker Jaylon Smith, announced by his agent on Twitter.
The veteran former Cowboy played well late last season for Joe Judge’s Giants on Pat Graham’s defense. He already faced Dallas in a 21-6 Giants loss last December. He was allowed to walk into free agency. Now he’s back.
The Giants are terribly thin at inside linebacker since the abrupt, late release of Blake Martinez in the lead-up to Week 1.
That was another reason they went to the three-safety look against Carolina: linebackers Tae Crowder and Austin Calitro had struggled in pass coverage against Tennessee.
Calitro was dropped to just five snaps against the Panthers, while Belton logged 46 at safety in his NFL debut.
How sudden was Martinez’s release? Inside linebackers coach John Egorugwu said recently that he was not aware, while talking alone with Martinez at the start of that Sept. 1 practice, that Martinez would be released hours later.
“No. At that point, no,” Egoruwgu said. “We were just taking it day by day. To me it was just another day at practice. We usually had some time together. So ...”
Regardless, Smith’s signing signals Martindale is looking for a run-stopping linebacker he can trust to face a Dallas offense that likely will lean on running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard with Cooper Rush at QB.
This is how the defense will proceed each week. So far, it’s given the Giants a chance. They are tied for ninth in points allowed per game (18). They rank 12th in average yards allowed (317).
And most importantly, they are 2-0.