New York Giants Week 14 Opponent First Look: Chargers Defense

Let's get to know who's who on the Los Angeles Chargers defense.

Author:
Michael Lee
Publish date:
Dec 9, 2021 8:00 AM EST

The New York Giants will play the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14. New York will be without starting quarterback Daniel Jones and maybe without backup Mike Glennon, who suffered a concussion last week. This recent rash of injuries leaves the Giants with Jake Fromm as their possible starter.

Fromm will be in a tough spot against Brandon Staley, one of the best defensive-minded head coaches in the NFL. Despite the guidance of Staley, the Chargers haven't played great all season, even though they're capable of being great.

Los Angeles has allowed 26.3 points per game, ranking 27th. They've allowed 350.7 yards per game which ranks 16th in the league, and their pass defense only allows 209.5 yards per game, ranking 7th in the NFL.

The primary issue with Staley's defense is the inability to stop opposing rushing attacks, which will be the focus of Freddie Kitchens and the Giants' offense. The Chargers are 31st in stopping the run, just ahead of Houston. They allow 141.2 rushing yards per game.

Can the Giants have success running the ball? Saquon Barkley (ankle) is back on the injury report, his ankle flaring up again last week in which he had a poor showing, by the way. Besides that, we are not optimistic that the Giants will be able to run the ball consistently due to a poor offensive line and a new quarterback that allows the Chargers to load the box.

Let's get to know the key players on the Chargers' defense.

Defensive Front

Former Golden Domer Jerry Tillery is the best defensive lineman who isn't an edge rusher, but he isn't great in run defense. Tillery has pass-rushing upside and is more of a pass rusher than a run stopper. He has 24 pressures and three sacks on the season.

Former Giant Linval Joseph is probably the Chargers' best run defender, albeit he's not the same player he was with the Giants or the Vikings. He has missed time on the COVID-19 List and with a shoulder injury, but he should be returning to practice this week. He has 21 stops, 14 pressures, and a sack this season.

Big Christian Covington is the nose tackle upfront with 13 stops on 197 run defending snaps. The former Texan, Cowboy, and Bengal is still only 28-years old, but he's a solid defensive lineman in this system.

Joe Gaziano, Justin Jones, and Breiden Fehoko are situational defensive lineman. Jones has the most pressures of the bunch with 11. Jones injured his ankle last week and will be limited in practice, trending towards playing.

Gaziano is a more undersized defensive lineman with a solid upfield burst but is purely situational, and Fehoko is the backup nose to Covington.

Edge Rushers

Last week, star pass rusher Joey Bosa was injured against the Bengals. He left the game with a concussion that leaves him daily. Bosa has 50 pressures on the season, which ranks 7th in the NFL.

According to PFF, he has seven sacks on the season as well. Bosa is one of the best pass rushers in the league, and he's also a great run defender. His ability to use his hands to keep himself clean, combined with his athletic ability and instincts, is rare.

Last week, the versatile Uchenna Nwosu had seven pressures without Bosa in the lineup. Nwosu has 29 pressures and four sacks this season. He's very athletic, can cover when he's asked (although that only happens a handful of times a game), and he's a solid run defender.

Kyler Fackrell and rookie Chris Rumph II are the situational edge rushers. The former was on the Giants last year and performed well, and the latter stepped in for Bosa last week, recording three pressures and a sack.

Fackrell has 12 pressures and three sacks this season, and Rumph II only has one pressure on the season that didn't happen last week in Cincinnati.

Linebackers

The Chargers traded up in the 2020 NFL Draft to select Kenneth Murray, a linebacker out of Oklahoma. Murray's talented, very athletic, and has great range.

Murray played a lot of weakside-linebacker in Staley's defense that attempts to rely on a strong front to hold the point of attack, which allows linebackers and safeties driving downhill to fit the run. That's one reason the defense isn't great against the run; the front isn't great, which makes everything more difficult on the backend.

Staley usually wants to align in Cover-4/Cover-6 and not have liabilities against the run, so the alley defender is aggressive coming towards the line of scrimmage. Still, the defensive front, when aligned TITE, has to occupy space, and blockers climbing. Murray hasn't fit perfectly into this role, and his snaps have suffered.

Drue Tranquill has recently started over Murray and plays well. Tranquill had a lot of injuries at Notre Dame but fits well in Los Angeles. He has nine pressures and is used in the blitz package, and he's played on 411 snaps.

Hybrid safety Kyzir White aligns in the box a lot and could be included as a linebacker. White has a big responsibility to fill the B-gap from depth on running plays.

The defense heavily relies on him and star safety Derwin James. White has an incredible 39 STOPS on the season, 75 solo tackles, and nine pressures.

We may see more of Amen Ogbongbemiga and Nick Nieman on defense. They're "base" linebackers, but the Chargers use a lot of sub-packages.

Against the Giants with Fromm, the Chargers could put more traditional linebackers on the field to focus on stopping the run.

Secondary

The Chargers have an excellent secondary with a trio of stud cornerbacks. Rookie Asante Samuel Jr. is having a phenomenal season, but Samuel is in the concussion protocol at the moment.

He has 4 PBUs, an interception, and has allowed three touchdowns, but his skill-set has shined in man coverage. He's going to be a good player.

Michael Davis plays mostly on the right side, and he could be the most underrated cornerback in the league. Davis has a sub 60 percent completion rate (56.9 percent). He will more than likely see a lot of Golladay. He's a big physical corner who is only 26 years old.

Chris Harris Jr. is the slot defender who brings veteran Super Bowl leadership. He's physically and 32-years-old. Harris Jr. isn't very big, but he's still smart on the backend of this Staley defense.

If Kadarius Toney plays--a big if as of this writing--we think his athletic ability may be able to give the Giants opportunity for some plays against Harris, but that is still undetermined.

The Chargers have one of the best duos at safety with Derwin James and Nasir Adderley. It's great to see James have a healthy season because he is one of the more unique defenders to watch.

He's 6'2, 215-pounds, and he runs a 4.4.7. He can wreck a game when blitzing and is someone to avoid in coverage down the field. He's a 25-year-old absolute nightmare for offenses.

Adderley doesn't get the same hype as James, but he's incredibly valuable to the defense. Adderley has the range to play single high or deep half in Cover-6.

He doesn't have the same pop as James in the box, but he can deliver punishment at the catch point down the field. The Giants will struggle to move the football through the air, and it doesn't matter who the quarterback is.