Bradberry’s importance was on full display
Save the highlight clips of interceptions, forced fumbles and blanket pass coverage.
The game film that should get Giants cornerback James Bradberry selected to his first Pro Bowl took place Sunday when he presumably was quarantined in a hotel room watching his teammates get picked apart in a 20-6 loss to the Browns at MetLife Stadium.
With all due respect to dynamic running back Saquon Barkley (sidelined since Week 2 with a torn ACL) and quarterback Daniel Jones (missing his second game with leg injuries), Bradberry is the Giants’ most irreplaceable player in 2020. And his inability to play because of a mistaken assumption that led him to be a high-risk close contact of COVID-19 loomed as large as expected.
“You can’t replace James Bradberry,” safety Logan Ryan said. “We really weren’t good on third down or in the red area, which is situationally how you win football. James missing wasn’t the only problem tonight.”
Perhaps Bradberry would’ve shadowed Jarvis Landry (six catches, 71 yards, touchdown) into the slot or taken away Rashard Higgins (four catches, 76 yards) to allow double teams elsewhere. But Bradberry’s decision to visit a chiropractor he thought was following the NFL daily COVID-19 testing protocol — instead of a Giants-approved doctor — made those potential chess matches impossible.
Baker Mayfield completed 27 of 32 passes, including nine of his first 10, for 290 yards and two touchdowns.
The Giants moved No. 4 safety Julian Love to outside cornerback opposite Isaac Yiadom and settled into a zone that simply did not work. Of course, it wasn’t helped by a pass rush that generated just one quarterback hit.
“We sold out to stop the run and made Baker be a pocket quarterback,” Ryan said. “He was extremely efficient at that.”
Love played on the perimeter at Notre Dame and was moved to safety as a rookie last season because of speed concerns. Yiadom was acquired via trade with the Broncos for a seventh-round pick in September and benched for three games earlier this season.
Not exactly Bradberry’s NFLleading 17 passes defended or team-high three interceptions. Actually, it was more of a painful reminder of recent failed cornerback draft picks Deandre Baker,
Sam Beal and Corey Ballentine.
The Giants also played without rookie slot cornerback Darnay Holmes, who missed his second straight game with a knee injury. Safeties Xavier McKinney, Ryan and Jabrill Peppers rotated through the slot, the box and deep center field.
But Mayfield wasn’t rattled. At all.
“They used the run game to set up the pass,” coach Joe Judge said. “They found some open windows and took advantage of them. It’s our responsibility to have the players at the game coached up and ready to go.”