TAMPA, Fla. — The convenient storyline entering Monday night went like this: The Giants had shocked Tom Brady before, so why not again?
Well, here’s why not, as the Giants showed in a 30-10 loss at the Buccaneers: Unlike the teams that upset Brady and the Patriots in those two Super Bowls, these Giants don’t have a strong defense — not even close — let alone a pass rush capable of rattling Brady.
The Giants on Monday let Brady sit in the pocket and dissect their defense, to the tune of 30-of-46 passing for 307 yards and two touchdowns, on a night with the Bucs racked up 402 yards. For the sixth time in 10 games, the Giants allowed 400-plus yards.
The Giants made it too easy for Brady, which is generally something you don’t want to do against the best quarterback ever. Brady didn’t even have to play the entire game. The Bucs, up 30-10, pulled him with 6:42 left.
“He definitely sat back there longer than we hoped,” defensive end Leonard Williams said after the Giants had just three quarterback hits all night and didn’t sack Brady at all. “We just didn’t get enough pressure. I didn’t do enough (zero quarterback hits, let alone a sack). We have to be able to get him off his spot. He was just sitting back there too comfortable.”
So the Giants are 3-7 with seven games left, and whatever playoff hopes (pipe dreams?) they had are fading fast. Gone, just like that, are the good vibes of the successful stretch (two wins in three games!) that preceded last week’s bye.
And it sure feels like Sunday’s home game against Philadelphia — at which the Giants will retire Michael Strahan’s No. 92 — will be packed with Eagles fans.
Happy Thanksgiving, Giants fans.
This Giants defense doesn’t have a Strahan. Not even close. But coordinator Patrick Graham’s side had played better lately. Still, his defense was 26th in Pro Football Focus’ ratings entering Monday. And without safety Logan Ryan, who contracted COVID-19, it needed a Herculean effort against Brady. That didn’t happen. Not even close.
On a whole, through 10 games, Graham’s defense hasn’t performed well enough. He got a lot of credit last season for overachieving (13th in PFF’s rating) with an undermanned group. The Giants have more defensive talent this season. And they’re not delivering.
Of course, they have other issues — like their underwhelming offense — because bad teams usually aren’t bad in just one area. Yet the defensive problems, when you look at the totality of this season, cannot be understated.
The Bucs (7-3) on Monday built a 27-10 lead entering the fourth quarter, behind touchdown drives that covered 71, 73, and 74 yards, and a field goal drive that covered 79 yards.
The Giants were still in the game at halftime, down 17-10, despite being out-gained 273 yards to 117. The Bucs, who had 19 first downs before halftime, looked like PFF’s third-rated offense. The Giants looked like a team that is 27th in those offensive ratings.
Clearly, the Giants’ offense didn’t do enough (season-low 215 yards Monday) — despite quarterback Daniel Jones having all his weapons back, other than wide receiver Sterling Shepard. But the Giants were still within striking distance of the defending Super Bowl champions.
Jones and Co. on Monday were attempting to overcome a lot of history.
The Giants, 11-point underdogs, were trying to tie their fourth-biggest regular season point spread upset of at least the past 32 years.
They were trying to hand Brady his second-ever three-game losing streak — and first since the Patriots dropped four straight in 2002, Brady’s second season starting.
And they also hadn’t won a primetime game since November of 2018 — a nine-game losing streak entering Monday, including seven Jones starts.
But none of that happened. Brady — who has won 76% of all games in his career — won again. The Giants stumbled in primetime again. And their defense stunk ... again.
They’re now 18-40 under general manager Dave Gettleman, who surely is heading for a well-deserved firing after failing miserably at — among many other things — developing a consistent enough pass rush, especially off the edge.
Maybe his replacement will have better luck at building a defense that can actually upset a quarterback like Brady again.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com.
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