New York Giants: The Good, the Great, and the Ugly from the Week 2 Loss
New York suffered a Giant loss in Week 2, not just on the scoreboard, but also with the losses of running back Saquon Barkley (ACL) and receiver Sterling Shepard (toe).
Although these injuries hurt, a bright spot for the Giants came on the defensive side of the ball, where the Giants defense was asked to consistently answer the call and keep the score within striking range for an offense trying to figure out life without Barkley on the fly.
The Giants defense was not only able to hold the Bears to 17 points, but they were also able to give their offense scoring opportunities and gave them the ball back with a chance to win at the end of the game. Here is the good, the great, and the ugly for the Giants defense in week two.
Let's take a deeper dive into the good, the great, and the ugly for the Giants defense in Week 2.
The Good: The Giants were able to get sacks with their base defensive front.
The talk all offseason seemed to center on if the Giants would be able to generate a pass rush without a "premier pass rusher." Many didn't believe that the Giants had enough talent to create a consistent pass rush, especially without committing extra men to the cause.
Well, the defense has six sacks through the first two games, including four in Week 2.
In this first clip, the Giants get edge pressure that results in a sack.
After Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky picked up a first down on third and two with a pass, they followed it up with a first down pass play.
Lorenzo Carter was line up on the left side and matched up one-on-one against the Bears right tackle. Carter was able to push the tackle back into the quarterback with one arm. That made Trubisky try to escape up the middle where Carter was able to take him down for a five-yard loss.
In this second clip, the Giants front line creates pressure up the middle for a critical sack on second down.
With the Bears almost at midfield, they call a pass on second down. B.J. Hill lined up in a 4-technique inside the right tackle. He attacked the A-gap and was picked up by the center.
Hill was able to overpower the center, shed him, and bring down the quarterback who may have held the ball longer than he needed to because nobody was open.
The sack resulted in a third-and-long, which allowed the defense to get off the field and put the ball back in the offense's hands.
The Great: The Giants free-agent acquisition caused turnovers in the secondary.
That would be cornerback James Bradberry, PFF's Defensive Player of the Week, and a guy who might have been the NFL Defensive Player of the Week had his team won the game.
In this first clip, the defense took over after a three-and-out from the offense. On second-and-long, the Bears offense runs a play-action out of the shotgun.
They had plenty of success with that in the first half, but when they tried it in the second half, Trubisky stares down a receiver and tries to complete a pass, but James Bradberry was able to get a hand in and pop the ball up in the air.
Julian Love jumps up and catches the ball floating in the air and returns it for a few yards. The interception leads directly to a field goal for the Giants.
This second clip is the definition of what happens when preparation and opportunity meet.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, after the Giants scored a touchdown to cut the Bears lead to seven, the defense was able to get the Bears into a third down.
Trubisky tries to throw a fade pass outside to his receiver. Once again, James Bradberry was able to get a hand in on the completion.
The ball was jostled between Bradberry and the receiver, but ultimately Bradberry came up with the ball for a clutch interception. That allowed the Giants offense to add a field goal and get the score cut to four points.
The Ugly: The Giants don't always get themselves in a good position to make tackles.
The Giants had trouble getting off the field during the Bears' first drive of the day. During the 12 play drive, Chicago had already converted three times on third down.
The Giants forced them into a fourth third down, a third and long from the 28. They decide to play coverage instead of sending pressure. They rushed three men, and Trubisky could not find anyone open initially, but he was able to run to his right and dump the ball off to David Montgomery.
Five Giants had a chance to tackle him. Still, they all missed or took poor angles, and Montgomery was able to catch the ball on the close to the sidelines and slice across the field from 20 yards out, narrowly escaping the grasp of Giants defenders like a choreographed stunt in a movie.
The next clip comes from the Bears' final drive of the day. The Giants need to force a turnover or punt and give the ball back to the offense with a chance to win the game.
The Bears had a 9-yard gain on a run negated because of a penalty that made it 1st-and-25 with almost five minutes left in the game. This is when the defense should step up and keep the offense from picking up 25 yards over the next three plays. Instead, the Bears run a simple zone play.
Dalvin Tomlinson should be the defender in the B gap (between the left guard and tackle), but he allows the offensive tackle to scoop him and seal him away from the ball carrier.
If he had been in the B-gap, he makes the tackle for little to no gain. The two inside linebackers take questionable angles to the ball carrier. Devonte Downs doesn't attack the gap and overruns the play; this allows him to get picked up by a lineman.
Blake Martinez tries to backdoor the play but takes himself completely out of the play, and the result is a 23 yard gain on the run.
Final Thoughts
It was a tough loss on the scoreboard and in the locker room, but the defense's play overall has to be a bright spot.
They only yielded points on three of the Bears' nine possessions, and one of those was a short field due to turnover.
The Giants are continuing to gel as a unit and will continue to get better as they become more comfortable with the defense and their role in the defense.
