NO MORAL VICTORIES, JUST REAL VICTORIES!
Giants have to take major step, starting with Broncos
The Giants’ 2021 season has to represent a step forward. Only their leaders can set that tone. That is why defensive coordinator Pat Graham’s flippant response to his new nickname meant so much approaching Sunday’s opener against the visiting Denver Broncos.
Graham, often praised for his masterpiece game plans, rolled his eyes on Thursday and rejected his new moniker, ‘the Black Picasso,’ courtesy of safety Logan Ryan in a recent profile.
“Ask Coach [Greg] Roman in Baltimore,” Graham said of the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator. “He’s probably like, ‘What the hell are they talking about [with that nickname]? [I scored] 70 points in two years [on him].”
That’s 86 points to be exact: Roman’s Ravens hung 59 on Graham’s Miami Dolphins in 2019 and 27 on Graham’s Giants in Week 16 last December.
The point is this: Graham and Joe Judge’s Giants don’t gloat over moral victories from a 6-10 season in 2020. They’re focused on the tough and uncomfortable conversations that help teams get better.
And that’s what the Giants need.
This franchise hasn’t won a season opener since 2016 under Ben McAdoo, the year of their only playoff appearance since the 2011 Super Bowl. They have started the last four seasons 0-5, 0-2, 0-2 and 0-5, respectively.
Judge’s and Graham’s ability to disguise coverages and tailor defensive game plans to individual opponents was definitely one of the silver linings of this program’s first year.
Their bottling up of Russell Wilson in Week 13 at Seattle was masterful. It paced the Giants’ biggest win in four years dating back to a 10-7 home victory over the Dallas Cowboys in December 2016.
But Graham knows what matters now is improving his run defense to handle these Broncos.
Graham knows his Giants defense allowed at least 100 yards rushing in last season’s final five games, including 159 to the Arizona Cardinals and a jaw-dropping 249 to the Ravens.
Giants middle linebacker Blake Martinez, one of Graham’s biggest fans, unforgettably lamented that “guys weren’t in the right spots to start the play” after the Ravens bulldozed Big Blue.
And remember that awful first joint practice against the Patriots in New England in late August? Graham is clearly still referencing it in defensive meetings.
“We go back to those joint practices,” Martinez said Thursday. “We want to start fast, and I think that as negative as that could’ve been that day, it was a positive thing for us taking it and knowing that we don’t want that to happen continuously throughout the season.”
Now here comes Denver offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, the former Giants head coach, ready to run the ball with Melvin Gordon III and rookie Javonte Williams until the Giants prove they can stop it.
“I was around a guy, Saquon Barkley,” Shurmur said this week. “We ran the tires off of him and he was rookie of the year. He was ready for it and did a great job. We expect Javonte to come out and play at a high level, much like Saquon did as a rookie.”
Meanwhile, Teddy Bridgewater and a receiving corps of Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, K.J. Hamler, Tim Patrick and Noah Fant have Graham sweating bullets.
“You ask any coach, the first thing [question] is who are the people that can run by you? They have several of those guys. They can run by you,” Graham said, breathlessly listing their talents. “So, yeah, it’s tough. That’s why I haven’t shaved.”
The Giants’ offense, justifiably under the microscope, obviously has to start doing its part.
Barkley, Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Kyle Rudolph all are expected to play and add new elements to Daniel Jones’ attack.
“I feel like that’s why they brought me here: to make big plays,” Golladay said Friday. “I just want to do that. That’s what I’ve been doing pretty much my [whole] career.”
Jones needs his shaky offensive line to hold steady against pass rushers Von Miller, the NFL’s active sack leader (106), and Bradley Chubb (ankle), who is a game-time decision.
Jones rejected the idea that this is a make-or-break third NFL season for him, but he understands the organization’s expectations and he shares them.
“I’m not really seeing it that way, I guess,” he said. “I think my mindset is just to go out and help this team win games. I think we’re in a position, we’ve had a good camp and we’re prepared, and my job is to put the team in a position to win games, to protect the football and distribute the ball to guys who can make plays for us. That’s kind of how I’m looking at it.”
Protect the football: a mantra of Jones born out of the hard but fair coaching happening on Jason Garrett’s offense, too, as Judge’s staff continues to rebuild this from the ground up.
It’s the only way to correct mistakes: by identifying them and being accountable for fixing them.
Not that it needs to be perfect. The Giants don’t need masterpieces here. They just need more wins.