New York Giants Notebook | Offensive Balance, Linebacker Competition and More
What is offensive balance?
Four games into the season, the Giants wouldn't give you any clear answers.
As the lowest-scoring offense in the NFL, the Giants have been off-balanced enough to fall off a bicycle with training wheels.
The Giants have run 149 passing plays to just 78 rushing plays so far in 2020 and haven't found much success through either strategy.
However, Giants head coach Joe Judge believes offensive balance isn't necessarily dictated by parity between pass and run plays.
"I think balance is what you want to be," Judge said. "To me, balance is not having to run it and throw it 50-50.
"To me, balance is being able to run it when you have to run it, and throw it when you have to throw it. No matter who the personnel is, no matter what the game plan is, you want to be able to be balanced to play the game on your terms."
Linebacker Competition
With Giants linebacker David Mayo returning to practice on Thursday, the Giants could be getting an effective veteran tackler back in their front seven very soon.
However, the team still has options at that position if they want to go younger.
Seventh-round rookie linebacker Tae Crowder, this year's "Mr. Irrelevant" as the 255th and final pick in the draft, nearly came away with his first career interception last week against the Rams, but after further review, it was deemed that the ball hit the ground.
Still, Crowder could prove to be an efficient and versatile piece for the Giants' defense, and a younger one that they could mold into a longer-term contributor than Mayo.
"Any young player you have and just how we see the process here as we work through it with the players, everything is a process," said defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
"The thing that shows up first for me is his diligence in terms of his work ethic off the field."
Crowder's work ethic has been his prized quality for the Giants so far. Graham even admitted that Crowder beat him to the meeting room when Graham went to get breakfast.
"I go to get breakfast and he was here when I was here this morning. I'm sitting here like, what are you doing here?" Graham said.
"You start seeing stuff like that--that means he's dialed in, locked in, trying to get his body right, his mind right to practice.
"I think the thing that shows up with him, he's instinctual, good football player, (and) comes from a good background of football. He's just been really working hard. He's a rookie, he doesn't know what he doesn't know. He's trying his best to improve every day."
Special Teams Spots
The Giants got some special teams contributions from two new faces last week against the Los Angeles Rams.
Seventh-round rookie Cam Brown took snaps at the gunner spot on punt team, and undrafted cornerback Madre Harper, whom the Giants signed off the Raiders' practice squad just last week, made a key tackle on kick-off that limited a Rams return in the second half.
Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey is hoping to get the young players involved more in special teams as the season goes on and has a lot of confidence in Brown's and Harper's abilities.
"Thank God Madre was out there, right? That could have got ugly for us," McGaughey said. "Cam is a young guy that's working his tail off, and Madre is doing the same thing. They're both working hard; they're both trying to figure it out as they go along.
"Teams are new to the process with it. Their two talented guys, they have good length, they have good speed. It's definitely two guys you want to build a core around. We're excited to have them.
"We're just going to keep working them, keep coaching them. Keep coaching them hard and hopefully, they will end up being guys that make some plays for us."
Meanwhile, veteran wide receiver Golden Tate emerged as the team's punt returner with safety and top punt returner Jabrill Peppers missing the game to injury.
While the Giants got Peppers back at practice this week, Tate could very well be leaned on as a punt returner going forward if Peppers needs more time to recover, and if the coaches want to limit further injury risk by keeping Peppers off of punt return.
"I just stay ready for punt returns," Tate said. "I'm always, no matter if I'm a starter or not, that's how it's been in my career. I understand that there are going to be times where Pep or whoever it is might need a breather or something happens, a shoelace breaks, whatever it is.
"I'm always ready on third down before a punt happens and just kind of feeling it out, counting guys, seeing if we need a returner or not. I'm just ready. I think both Pep and I, and really any other returner, just want an opportunity to make a big play and gain some momentum."
Three-Down Defense
The Giants' defense has quietly shown a surprising turnaround so far this year, as the unit currently ranks fifth in the NFL in yards allowed.
However, the unit has still given up its fair share of critical plays to opposing offenses that have swung the games' tide.
For the Giants' defense, the next step toward limiting those plays and establishing itself as a top defense is getting off the field on third down.
The Giants have allowed opponents to convert 30 of 56 third-down attempts so far this season, which is less-than-ideal for a defense looking to turn the corner. Defensive tackle Leonard Williams admitted that has been a top priority in recent days.
"We have been putting a lot of emphasis on getting off the field on third down," Williams said.
"That's been our Achilles heel on defense. I think we have been playing really well against the run. We have been good on first and second downs.
"We just needed to work on some small things. I think we were able to play a full game from start to finish this past game. It clearly wasn't enough; we didn't walk away with the win. I think playing against a high scoring team like the Rams and holding them to 17 that late in the game was pretty good by the defense."
