The Giants badly needed a lift from their defense. Their offense entered Sunday’s home game against the Eagles in turmoil, after firing coordinator Jason Garrett. Only the most naive would expect an immediate turnaround from this offense under Freddie Kitchens’ guidance.
And coordinator Patrick Graham’s Giants defense badly needed a gem of its own — a thoroughly dominant performance, after so much uneven play during the season’s first 10 games.
The Giants’ offense looked unsurprisingly unimpressive Sunday. But fortunately for coach Joe Judge — who so desperately needed a win — his defense delivered, in a 13-7 victory that improved the Giants to 4-7 and dropped the Eagles to 5-7.
Graham and Co. suffocated the Eagles and quarterback Jalen Hurts, who ran for 77 yards, but showed zero competence throwing — 14-of-31 passing, 129 yards, three interceptions, and a 17.5 rating.
The Eagles, down 13-7, got the ball back on their own 30-yard line with 2:46 left in the game. Hurts, at that point, was 9-of-21 passing for 79 yards and three interceptions. (Is that bad?)
One more stop. That’s all this Giants defense needed (or so it seemed).
And they got it, thanks to Boston Scott — an infamous Giants pest in recent matchups — who fumbled the ball away as Dexter Lawrence tackled him at the Giants’ 45.
Because the Giants’ offense failed to competently run out the clock — shocker! — the Eagles did get one more shot at their own 41, with no timeouts and 1:11 left.
But in desperation time, against a patchwork Giants secondary, the Eagles couldn’t get past the Giants’ 27 before turning the ball over on downs. Hurts threw seven passes on that drive. He missed on four — including a Jalen Reagor drop at the goal line to end the drive. Giants safety Julian Love called it “a heart-stopping play,” as the ball hit Reagor’s hands.
It was that kind of day for Hurts, and for the Giants’ defense — especially their secondary, which delivered a gutsy performance in a big spot.
The Giants next week have a chance for another strong defensive showing, since they visit the Dolphins, who were just a smidge better than the Giants’ sputtering offense at the dawn of this week’s games.
The Giants’ defense, meanwhile, had allowed 400-plus yards in six of their first 10 games, including Monday night’s loss at Tampa Bay. Graham’s group — which overachieved with much less talent in 2020 — began Sunday 26th in Pro Football Focus’ ratings. Not nearly good enough, considering what the Giants invested in this defense.
The Giants’ defense simply had to show up Sunday, after laying an egg in Tampa. Of course, the Giants’ offense was even worse in that game — so putrid that Garrett got canned the next day. This was going to be a challenging, short-week game for the Giants’ offense. (Sure enough, the Giants gained just 264 yards Sunday, compared to 332 for the Eagles.)
And the Eagles’ offense — despite being led by a second-year quarterback with just 15 career starts — had looked plenty capable at times this season. The Eagles began Sunday fifth in PFF’s offensive ratings.
Perhaps the Giants’ defense would be inspired Sunday by the organization retiring Michael Strahan’s No. 92 — a reminder of the Giants’ glory years, especially on defense, which now feel like a distant memory. During Strahan’s halftime speech, fans booed when he mentioned co-owner John Mara, who didn’t speak at the ceremony. Strahan quickly cut them off.
“Every team has their ups and downs,” he told fans. “Appreciate what you’ve got! We will be back. We will be up again. I guarantee you!”
The Giants’ defensive players felt Strahan’s presence Sunday. When the Giants came back onto the field after halftime, defensive end Leonard Williams approached Judge.
“It’s good to see Strahan out here,” Williams told Judge.
The Giants’ secondary was already shorthanded entering Sunday, since safety Logan Ryan remained out, after contracting COVID-19. Then cornerbacks Adoree’ Jackson and Darnay Holmes got hurt in Sunday’s first half and didn’t return.
Still, through three quarters, Hurts did next to nothing — at least passing-wise — against the Giants’ defense. He was 8-of-19 passing for 73 yards, three interceptions, and a 13.6 quarterback rating. The Giants led 10-0 after three quarters.
Yet Hurts did have eight runs for 77 yards entering the fourth quarter. The Eagles got a 1-yard touchdown run from Boston Scott to open the fourth quarter, cutting the Giants’ lead to 10-7. But that’s all the Eagles would get, all afternoon.
Maybe the Giants — still a very flawed team, just like the Eagles — aren’t truly up again, as Strahan guaranteed they will be. Yet for a day, when the Giants had to have it, their defense delivered a performance that surely earned a huge, gap-toothed smile from No. 92.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com.
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