Giants Must Overcome This Challenge to Have Another Successful Season

If the New York Giants want to get back to the playoffs in 2023, they will have to, at minimum, match last year's nine-win total.

That might not be easy, though. Former NFL head coach Chuck Pagano, now with the 33rd team, recently ranked the top five NFL defenses at this point, and all five of them--the Dolphins, Cowboys, Eagles, Jets, and 49ers--happen to be on the Giants' 2023 schedule.

That means seven of the Giants' 2023 regular-season games are against top defenses, two of which happen to be in the NFC East and therefore are teams the Giants will see twice.

The Giants offense has been trending upward since the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. They had the fourth-best rushing offense with 2,519 yards on the ground and 21 touchdowns, with Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones contributing 2,020 rising yards and 17 touchdowns.

The problem was in the passing game. The Giants had the 27th-ranked passing offense last season, with 3,431 yards and 17 touchdowns. They lacked explosiveness when throwing the ball, having just 28 passing plays of over 20 yards, dead last in the league.

General manager Joe Schoen has made key moves to help the Giants' offense be more competitive. He traded for tight end Darren Waller and re-signed Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, and Isaiah Hodgins.

He also brought in Parris Campbell, Jeff Smith, and Jamison Crowder for depth via free agency. In the draft, he added center John Michael Schmitz to fortify the interior offensive line, receiver Jalin Hyatt to help stretch the field with his speed, and running back Eric Gray, who will likely take some of the load off Barkley.

Given all that, let's see how the Giants match up against Pagano's choices for top defense.

Miami Dolphins

2022 defense rank: 18

Will See the Giants: Week 5

In March, Miami made a splash move when they traded for star cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Pairing him with Xavien Howard gives the Dolphins a star-studded cornerback duo and an overall solid secondary. They also employ Jevon Holland on the backend with DeShon Elliott.

Their front seven could be considered underrated. They have Christian Wilkins in the middle of the defensive line, Jaelan Phillips off the edge, and Bradley Chubb, who they traded for last season. They signed David Long Jr to pair with Jerome Baker as their primary linebackers.

The Dolphins have a solid defense with a few big names. Their secondary is the one to watch out for, as Ramsey and Howard can lock down their respective sides of the field. Luckily, the Giants have Darren Waller now, who can line up anywhere.

If the Dolphins don’t have at least one of their top defenders on Waller, he will be a tough matchup. Even if Waller’s covered, it leaves the underneath game open for guys like Wan’Dale Robinson (assuming he's healthy by then), Campbell, Shepard, and tight end Daniel Bellinger to make an impact.

We’ve also continuously seen Ramsey get burned last season, which is where Slayton and Hyatt come in. So yes, the Dolphins defense is tough, but the Giants, of healthy, appear to have the skill position players to make this one interesting.

Dallas Cowboys

2022 defense rank: 12

Will See the Giants: Weeks 1 and 10

The Giants need to find a way to beat the Cowboys, and that starts with overpowering their strong defense. That test starts right out of the gate in Week 1 when New York hosts their division rivals on Sunday Night Football.

The Cowboys had a strong defense last season, led by stars Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs. Along with Parsons, they have Demarcus Lawrence, Dante Fowler, Osa Odighizuwa, and Sam Williams on the defensive line. Plus, they added defensive tackle Mazi Smith in the first round. Their linebacker core has Leighton Vander Esch and Jabril Cox, and now Demarvion Overshown, who they drafted in the third round.

But the big thing to watch with Dallas is their ability to force turnovers. The Cowboys had 33 takeaways last season, tops in the league. Their defense was already strong, especially up front.

Their secondary was solid last year but got even better after they traded for Stephon Gilmore, giving the Giants yet another top-shelf cornerback duo to face this year. And let's not forget Dallas's three solid safeties in Donovan Wilson, Jayron Kearse, and Malik Hooker.

If the Giants want to come out on top, it all starts with finding a way to contain Dallas’ front seven. Hopefully, adding John Michael Schmitz at center will help, considering Dallas added Mazi Smith to man the middle of their defensive line.

The Andrew Thomas-Micah Parsons duel will be fun to watch; meanwhile, the X-factor for the Giants is the Evan Neal-Demarcus Lawrence matchup which Lawrence won last season.

If Neal improves his game, the Giants will be in better shape when they go up against the Cowboys this time.

New York Jets

2022 defense rank: 5

Will See the Giants: Week 8

The Giants will “host” their crosstown rival Jets in Week 8, where Robert Saleh has built quite a defense.

The talk with the Jets this offseason has been mainly about them acquiring Aaron Rodgers from the Packers and entering a "win-now" mode. That overshadows their defense's dominance and will be again this season.

Sauce Gardner, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, quickly developed into one of the top cornerbacks in the league. The guy on the other side, D.J. Reed, isn't too shabby either, and neither is Chuck Clark or Jordan Whitehead. That's quite a challenging defensive backfield to face, and we haven't even discussed the front seven yet.

Speaking of which, the Jets have star defensive lineman Quinnen Williams headlining the front. He's supported by John Franklin-Myers and the newly added Quinton Jefferson. The Jets were also able to retain Carl Lawson on a reduced contract.

C.J. Mosley is there to anchor the middle of the defense, and they drafted Will McDonald in the first round to give them another solid option along the edge.

This is already a highly-anticipated matchup and a good test for the Giants' offense, particularly their passing game, which will face a Jets pass defense that was one of the best in the league last year.

Philadelphia Eagles

2022 defense rank: 3

Will See the Giants: Weeks 16 and 18

The Giants won’t face the Eagles until late in the season, but they need to finally get over the hump, which is Philadelphia’s insane defense.

The Eagles lost a few key starters on defense this offseason, but general manager Howie Roseman found replacements, some of whom might even be better than what they lost.

Philadelphia lost Javon Hargrave but drafted Jalen Carter to pair with Jordan Davis on the interior of their already talented defensive line. C.J. Gardner Johnson and Marcus Epps left in free agency, but they drafted Sydney Brown to fill one void.

They also kept both James Bradberry and Darius Slay as their cornerback tandem and drafted Kelee Ringo in the third round. Arguably their best pick was Nolan Smith, who will learn from Haason Reddick and Brandon Graham and add another weapon off the edge for an already insane Philadelphia pass rush.

The Giants' offense was embarrassed twice last year against the Eagles' defense (their Week 18 game wasn't the blowout that their Week 14 and divisional playoff games were). The Eagles held the Giants to 29 while scoring 86 in those games.

Thus, the Giants must find a way to stop the Eagles from overpowering their offense. Hopefully, with the improvements New York made on offense, that will happen starting this year.

San Francisco 49ers

2022 defense rank: 1

Will See the Giants: Week 3

The Giants will take an early season West Coast trip, including a Sunday game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2, followed by a Thursday night game at San Francisco in Week 3.

Speaking of the 49ers, their defense was no joke last season. They allowed 16.3 points per game and 300.1 yards per game, both first in the NFL. Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, and Drake Jackson made up the defensive front. Newcomer Javon Hargrave will join them this year, a huge addition to a 49ers line that was already dominant.

Fred Warner has been their anchor in the middle at linebacker for years now, along with Dre Greenlaw. Deommodore Lenoir and Charvarius Ward are their top two corners, with Talanoa Hufanga and Tashaun Gipson on the backend. The 49ers also drafted safety Ji’Ayir Brown out of Penn State, who will certainly provide valuable snaps for them as a depth piece for now.

The 49ers have a truly dominant defense to pair with their stellar offense, making for an even tougher challenge for the Giants coming in on a short work week to handle. But if there is a bright side to be found, it's that the 49ers defense is probably the toughest the Giants will face all season, and considering how it is coming up early in the year, it's a good litmus test for New York to see just how far their roster has come.

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