New York Giants Week 2: Adjustments We'd Like to See in This Week's Gameplan
After a first week marred by an ineffective run game, costly turnovers by the quarterback, and a secondary still looking to get together, there is much to improve before the Giants head into Week 2.
Looking at what the Giants were able to do well in Week 1 and combining that with what their next opponent, the Chicago Bears, struggled to do, Joe Judge and his staff should have a pretty good idea of what they want to change up to maximize their chances for a win on Sunday.
Here are some of our recommendations.
Feature Saquon Barkley running and in the screen game.
Yes, we know the offensive line struggled in run blocking against Pittsburgh, but we think that will probably be their worst game the entire season.
The Bears have a formidable defense, but their gift is against the passing game where they can unleash Khalil Mack and that pass rush and use their good backend coverage to blanket receivers while the rush gets home.
The run defense is another story. Without nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who opted out for the season, and outside linebacker Robert Quinn, who missed the game with an ankle injury, the defense could not stop the Lions from collecting over 400 yards of total offense and 138 yards rushing.
That should inspire the Giants run game to take advantage as well. Adrian Peterson amassed 93 yards on 14 carries, so the Giants will be looking to exploit Chicago’s run defense.
Sticking with Barkley, he was effective in the passing game, where he hauled in six receptions on nine targets for 60 yards. So get him more targets, especially in the screen game.
Barkley is dangerous in the open field, so doing everything you can to get the ball to him there would pay dividends.
Let's hope offensive coordinator Jason Garrett designs more pass-action and run-action screens to get the ball into Barkley’s hands early and often.
Spread the defense out.
One of the negatives of a multi-tight end offense is that it usually means defenses employ more of their run-heavy defensive packages. That means more players to account for in the running game and fewer lanes for the running back to attack.
If the commitment to run the ball is real, then the approach may need to change. Barkley operates better when he is in space, so more spread formations with receivers instead of three and four tight ends would force the defense to adjust accordingly and possibly provide better rushing lanes for Barkley.
Another way to soften up the defense when you are spreading them out is to attack down the field. Daniel Jones averaged 6.8 yards per attempt in Week 1.
Outside of his 41-yard touchdown pass to Darius Slayton, Jones did not really push the ball downfield (he went one for two on pass attempts of 20+ yards).
Deep pass attempts force a defense to respect the passing game more and create a six- or seven-man box instead of the eight-man boxes that are a running game's worst nightmare.
Pressure, pressure, pressure!
The Giants defense pressured Ben Roethlisberger on nine of his Week 1 dropbacks. In Week 2 against Mitchell Trubisky, they need to turn up the heat exponentially.
Trubisky does not handle the blitz well, and as a result, the Giants should force him to make throws with defenders in his face.
According to Pro Football Focus, last week, Trubisky went 3 of 8 for 35 yards in the face of pressure and 17 of 28 without pressure.
His struggles against the blitz have been well documented, and as a result, opposing teams who don't usually blitz a lot find themselves increasing their five- and six-man pressures when they play the Bears.
This should be right up Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham's alley, assuming, of course, the problems in the defensive secondary where the zone coverage was at times a little too loose for the liking, are fixed.
Because of the diversity created within this defense, it should be a perfect opportunity to showcase the many variations Graham can employ with his personnel groupings and pressure packages.
Expect to see more five- and six-man pressure packages that force the ball out of Trubisky's hand quicker.
Flood the gaps against the run.
In Week 1, the Steelers were able to find lanes to run through. Benny's Snell Jr. was able to gain 113 yards on 19 carries.
The Bears have a couple of backs that can chew up some yards in David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen, and it's pretty much a given that they will look to establish the run to keep the pressure off Trubisky.
Look for the Giants to commit more bodies to the line of scrimmage to reduce the number of rush lanes the Giants backs can attack.
Inside linebacker Blake Martinez picked up right where he left off last season. The tackling machine finished with 13 tackles against the Steelers in Week 1. He will be in charge of slowing down the Bears backfield duo.
The Giants will use their interior down linemen to close off the inside gaps and their rush linebackers to take away the outside running lanes. That should leave Martinez one-on-one to make the tackle with assistance from safety Jabrill Peppers.
Closing Thoughts
You could see signs of what Judge wants this team to look like on both sides of the ball based on Week 1, but he can't be rigid. The genius of his former boss Bill Belichick is that his game plan not only adjusts to account for the talent that he has it also adjusts to take advantage of his opponent's weaknesses.
This Giants team has enough diversity in their personnel on both sides of the ball to do similar things.
