Written by: Glenn Warciski
Defense!
This sums up this game and the Giants impressive 2016 season. They did it with DEE-Fense.
As I wrote earlier, this 2016 team reminds me of the 1997 team. Back in 1997, the Giants finished 10-5-1. Like the 2016 Giants, they excelled on defense.
| Defense | Points Against | Interceptions | Sacks | Run Defense |
| 1997 | 265 (3rd) | 27 | 54 | 90.6 yds/gm (3rd) |
| 2016 | 284 (2nd) | 17 | 35 | 88.6 yds/gm (3rd) |
What can we say?
Giants general manager Jerry Reese’s gambit paid off. With an underwhelming roster which he was responsible, he went out and acquired free agents Janoris Jenkins, Snacks Harrison, and Olivier Vernon. At the time, it appeared to us, this was a desperate move to save his job. Fortunately, he had the blessing of ownership to dole out the cash needed to acquire the aforementioned players. We can surmise Steve Spagnuolo was the engine for getting these guys in blue. As Pete has stated, the Giants needed quality players to improve a defense which has stunk it up the last 3 years. Spags coaching of the defensive unit with these new players changed the Giants season.
It all starts up front with the Giants behemoth defensive tackles. Both Snacks Harrison and Jonathan Hankins clogged the line of scrimmage so opposing teams had difficulty to run the football. Then as Pete has deduced: Spags has created a new defense to combat the new offenses in the NFL. Today’s offensives use the 5 to 10 yd pass to move the football. Well, Spags has devised a scheme to flood the short passing zones. And his lethal weapon is safety Landon Collins. The second year player out of Alabama had an All-Pro year.
Here is Collins stat line for 2016:
| Games played | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumble recoveries | Sacks | Touchdowns |
| 16 | 125 (lead team) | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
This is our Pete Furman on Spags and using his strength which is his defensive backs especially Collins:
So Spags is the ONLY D.C. who has built a defense to
shut down the short pass as witnessed by the tackling stats of the defensive backs
which are immense. Spags uses his defensive backs as much as he used the D.L. to win the
Super Bowl as they pressure, play the short pass like a blanket which is why
the Giants are playoff bound.
What was sweet about this win: The Giants prevented Washington from making the playoffs!
Other observations:
Giants running back Paul Perkins has become the Giants number one running back.
He rushed for 21 rushes for 102 yards. A 4.9 average. McAdoo needs to get him more involved in the passing game. Zero catches??
We are excited as the Giants travel to play Green Bay this Sunday in the NFC Wild Card playoff. More to come…..
New York Giants Underground 