Joe Judge painted a sobering picture when asked how the 1-4 Giants can compensate for their jarring lack of a pass rush.
New York’s eight sacks are tied for the second fewest in the NFL, and the inability to create pressure has had a crippling effect on the pass defense. Opponents are completing 74 percent of their passes — the highest rate in the league — and averaging 7.6 yards per pass attempt — ninth most in the league.
Not a good sign entering next Sunday’s home matchup with the 4-1 Los Angeles Rams and their 28.2 points per game.
“I think it comes down to all 11 on the field,” Judge said. “In terms of the interior pressure we get to make sure we create the one-on-one matchups on the edge, maximize those opportunities and obviously covering to make sure that we have a chance to get home with the pressure up front. All 11 have to go out there and execute, got to be in the right call to make sure we give our players a chance and we’ve got to go out there and make sure that all 11 are doing their job.”
To sum it up: The Giants need every part of the defense functioning perfectly at all times.
That’s the reality when you don’t have any game-wrecking edge players. Since becoming general manager in December of 2017, Dave Gettleman hasn’t used any of the Giants’ six first-round draft picks on that position. And he hasn’t spent more than $4.5 million on an edge rusher in free agency.
The most draft capital devoted to the pass rush was a second-round pick this year on Azeez Ojulari, who has three sacks in five games. But the rookie is far from a consistent force, especially alongside the likes of mid-round picks Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines.
The biggest disappointment has been defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who signed a three-year, $63 million contract after a breakout 2020 with 11.5 sacks. That now looks like an aberration as the seventh-year veteran is back to playing like a solid run stuffer who occasionally creates pressures but simply doesn’t make game-changing plays.
But at least publicly, the Giants don’t seem inclined to hold their highest-paid player to a higher standard.
“In terms of the money, that’s a different department. I leave the money at the door,” Judge said. “When the players step in the meeting room, they step on the field, everyone’s on equal playing ground. So, in terms of money dictating expectations, that doesn’t cross the path with us. Everyone’s expected to be at their best, produce and put the team first.”
There doesn’t appear to be an immediate solution to the problem for coordinator Patrick Graham. The Giants have long preached the idea of manufacturing sacks via scheme rather than being enamored with acquiring players with sacks on their resume, but when the rest of your defense has holes, it’s harder to work around personnel limitations.
The Giants’ entire defense has taken a major step back from allowing 22.3 points per game last season to 27.8 this season, with much of the production drop-off coming in the secondary.
Pro Bowl cornerback James Bradberry is another player whose 2020 season looks like an outlier. He has surrendered four touchdowns in coverage through five games after allowing three touchdowns all of last year. Meanwhile, No. 2 corner Adoree’ Jackson has been shaky despite routinely drawing the opponent’s second-best receiver.
The Giants are also thinner at that position now because rookie Rodarius Williams suffered a torn ACL on Sunday. He had been playing outside corner in the Giants’ dime package as Jackson moved to the slot.
Collectively, the Giants’ safeties have been perhaps the most disappointing group considering the preseason hype. Jabrill Peppers has garnered inconsistent playing time while struggling in coverage, Logan Ryan hasn’t had the takeaways that sparked his strong 2020, and second-year pro Xavier McKinney has made little impact.
New York’s defense is tied for the fourth-most plays (five) of 40 yards or more, which is an indictment of the secondary.
But the Giants aren’t stopping anyone up front either, as they’re yielding 4.7 yards per rush (29th) compared to 4.1 (ninth) last season.
When you’re a unit that doesn’t possess any game-changing pass rushers and doesn’t have any genuine strengths, the poor results are unlikely to improve.
“I think we’ve just got finish,” Carter insisted. “We’re putting ourselves in good positions. If you watch the games, we’re not just getting our ass beat. We’re fighting. We’ve got a lot of fight. There’s no backdown from anybody in the locker room. That’s not expected from anybody, but we’ve just got to keep executing, execute and take advantage of situations that we can take advantage of.”
