Giants Defense Keeps Team Afloat During 2-0 Start

East Rutherford, N.J. - The New York Giants are 2-0 for the first time since 2016, following a 19-16 win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 2. With the offense dealing with its share of inconsistencies, the defense rose to the occasion in yesterday’s big victory.

Earlier this week leading up to their first home game, Giants Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale emphasized the importance of the 12th man and encouraged the fans to do their part.

“Be loud and have that place rocking where people don’t want to come to our stadium,” said Martindale. “We’ll take care of the rest, and we’ll give you something to be loud about.”

Martindale and his unit delivered on his promise. The Giants' defense limited the Panthers to 275 yards of total offense and held them to 2 of 12 on third-down conversion attempts.

The defense also forced a fumble on Carolina's first drive, giving the Giants offense optimal field position, which led to kicker Graham Gano's second field goal on the day. It was the first time the Giants recovered a first-possession fumble since a game at Washington on November 8, 2020.

“I thought the defense throughout the game played well,” said head coach Brian Daboll.

“Again, we gave up that one big one and squirted out there later, but they tightened back up in the red zone. They tackled well. We didn’t get hit over the top of their head.

"They stuck together. Again, it was a good team win. … I thought our guys showed grit and toughness and heart.”

Besides holding the Panthers to a 17 percent third-down conversion rate, the Giants' defense allowed just one Panthers touchdown on four red zone trips.

“They’re dogs, man,” said running back Saquon Barkley about the defense's performance. “They’ve been like that, to be completely honest, for the past couple of years. We just have to keep feeding off them.”

At the forefront of this defense’s rise in success is Martindale's leadership, whose aggressive style has made the Giants very tough to contend with.

“I think we have really good coaches, Wink being one of them,” said Daboll. “I have a lot of confidence in Wink. I think the players have a lot of confidence. They’re playing fast. Give a lot of credit to the coaches on the defensive side and the players out there executing the assignments.

"But again, Wink’s done this a long time. Wink’s not afraid of failure, and that’s really what we want for the entire organization: to not be afraid of failure, not to be afraid of the consequence.”

According to safety and defensive co-captain Xavier McKinney, Martindale's setting of the tone is particularly important for the players.

“The guys we have on our team aren’t afraid of failure,” said McKinney. “We’ve been at the bottom; you know what I’m saying? So, we’ve experienced all that. We’re not worried about messing up.

"For us, it’s just to keep chopping down, keep getting better, and keep working because it’s always the little things for us. As long as we get that corrected, we know we will have a breakthrough at some point. That’s what's been happening, and we just got to keep focusing on getting better, not being complacent with 2-0 but keep getting better each and every day and each and every week.”

In this league, having a short memory during the regular season is key, which Is why the Giants aren't going to dwell for long on the fact that they're 2-0.

“We still got to keep working because I’ve learned in this league that things can go south fast," McKinney said. "You have to keep looking forward, keep being in the moment, take each day as it is, and be present and keep working.”

And hopefully, keep winning.

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