Giants' defense wants out of its rut

[jobberone]

By Dan Graziano | ESPN.com

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The question was about the New York Giants' sparkling 4-0 record at Cowboys Stadium, which is now called AT&T Stadium and is where the Giants will open their regular season Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. It was a leading question, about a point of Giants pride, and its author was asking it of almost everyone in the room. But the answer from Justin Tuck, captain of the Giants' defense, may have transcended the topic.

"I've never left from Jerry's World feeling good about our performance on defense," Tuck said. "Obviously, you feel good about the win, but we don't like to put the pressure on Eli [Manning] and the offense to have to score 30 points to win a game. I hope they only have to score 10. We have to play a great game."

Such this the state of the Giants' defense at the dawn of the 2013 season. They intend to be great. They believe they can be great. But when you get right down to it ... they haven't really been great for some time. Oh, there are spurts, sure. They were unquestionably great for a six-week stretch from late December 2011 to early February 2012, and that stretch helped deliver the franchise's fourth Super Bowl title. They were great last year in San Francisco, when they dominated the eventual NFC champs in a game that seemed to stamp them as a serious threat to defend their title.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/giants/post/_/id/29134/new-york-giants-defense-wants-out-of-its-rut

 

[jobberone]

I'm reasonably certain our defense will play well. I have no idea how their's will although I'm not going to dismiss them. I think it will hard to run on them but easier to pass. We'll see soon.

 

[dmq]

I think we all know what Dan Connor can bring to the table.

 

[Echo9]

I spent the the last few days in NJ and was talking with a friend of mine who is a Giants fan. I mentioned that the Giants OL looks pretty beat up. He responded by saying that the real problem is the defense. He's normally a pretty even keel fan of the Ginats, but he has a bad outlook concerning the LBs especially. So from a fan's perspective, this is the weakest D they've fielded in years.

 

[jobberone]

I spent the the last few days in NJ and was talking with a friend of mine who is a Giants fan. I mentioned that the Giants OL looks pretty beat up. He responded by saying that the real problem is the defense. He's normally a pretty even keel fan of the Ginats, but he has a bad outlook concerning the LBs especially. So from a fan's perspective, this is the weakest D they've fielded in years.

I have a suspicion they are going to have problems outside the DL but I'm not counting on it. I love these little personal tidbits BTW. Especially when they're as objective as this one.

 

[CATCH17]

Middle of the field should be open all night.

Big game for Witten and Miles is coming imo.

 

[speedkilz88]

Cowboys 30 Gnats 10 works for me.

 

[Future]

I cant believe that people actually think we are going to go in and just blow them out.

its possible, but idk what in the last decade of this team makes people think thats going to happen lol

 

[Eskimo]

I don't think the Giants can win games from their defense anymore. They'll have to outscore people. Tuck and Kiwi are not dominant pass rushers but are just okay. The Giants have had two elite pass rushers for about the past 10 years. First it was Strahan and Osi and then it was Osi and Tuck and then it was JPP and Osi. But now Osi is gone. JPP had 0 sacks over his last 7 games, failed multiple cortisone shots in his back and failed several months of offseason PT before ultimately going for back surgery in June.

Maybe he'll be the rare guy who doesn't lose core strength and explosiveness from such a procedure but I doubt he'll return to his 2011 form when he was arguably DPOTY.

I doubt he plays but I hope we run at him a lot if he does play.