In this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback, Peter King announced that he expects the Giants to be a “top-10 defense, and maybe top-five” defense in 2010. Disclaimer: King was referring to fantasy defenses. Nevertheless, it was a lofty prediction for a defense that was absolutely shredded down the stretch last season.
King's full quote: "N.Y. Giants: Only two teams -- St. Louis and Detroit -- allowed more points than the Giants last year. That'll turn around this year, in a big way. The Giants will be a top-10 defense, and maybe top-five. Once defenses start going off the board, I'd take the Giants."
I asked Giants beat writer Ralph Vacchiano on Twitter if he agreed with King: "@kevinbaumer No. Not from what I've seen so far."
In the final two games of the 2009 season, the Giants gave up 41 points to Carolina then 44 to the Minnesota Vikings. They allowed 40+ points three other times last season, to New Orleans and Philadelphia twice. And there's this, via Yahoo, "The Giants ranked 30th in the league last season in points-allowed (26.7), just behind the Chiefs and barely ahead of the Rams. In 2008, New York's defense finished fifth in both points (18.4) and total yards (292.0). The team recorded only 32 sacks in '09 after placing sixth in the NFL in '08 (42) and first in '07 (53)."
Yikes.
Last season was among the worst defensive performances in team history. Still, a very good defensive year in 2008 begs the question, was last year a fluke?
It shouldn’t be an excuse, but Giants defenders couldn’t stay healthy to save their lives last season. Key players Aaron Ross, Kenny Phillips, Antonio Pierce, Chris Canty, Jay Alford, Michael Boley and Corey Webster missed significant time.
Not only will the Giants be adding several now-healthy pieces to the mix, but they were not shy about addressing their weaknesses this offseason. Changes came in the coaching staff, through free agency and at the draft.
First, Big Blue replaced defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan with fiery Bills coach Perry Fewell. The players have already voiced a far more positive response to Fewell’s scheme and attitude than at any point last year. The Giants also added Pro Bowl safety Antrel Rolle, veteran linebacker Keith Bulluck and strong safety Deon Grant via free agency. In June, the G-Men spent their first four draft choices on defenders: defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, tackle Linval Joseph, safety Chad Jones (who is out of the equation following a car wreck) and middle linebacker Phillip Dillard.
No one can accuse the Giants front office of sitting back and pretending last year didn’t happen. GM Jerry Reese was extremely active in trying to fix last year’s debacle, and he didn’t just fill the team’s many holes with stop-gap solutions. Bulluck may not play more than one year with the team, but the Giants added several pieces that figure to be important to the team this year and even more so down the line.
The question is: will all these changes yield actual results?
Really, the Giants can’t be any worse than last year. But they still must face the high-powered Colts, Texans, Vikings and Packers, and the Eagles and Cowboys twice each. If the D isn’t improved, those eight games could result in 40 point firework shows just like last year.
Barring more significant injuries, the Giants figure to have a much-improved pass rush, a dynamic tandem at safety, and serious depth across the board. Based on talent alone, there aren’t many defenses that should be better than the Giants. Much can go right if Perry Fewell communicates his wishes to his players accurately, a task Bill Sheridan couldn’t handle. And if Kenny Phillips and Antrel Rolle are both on the field at the same time, the Giants should be able to force quite a few turnovers in the secondary. And when healthy, Aaron Ross, Corey Webster and Terrell Thomas are among the league’s best young cornerback trios. And even if Keith Bulluck is on his last legs, he’s still an upgrade over pretty much everyone the Giants had at linebacker. And if Michael Boley can stay healthy and young linebackers Clint Sintim, Bryan Kehl and Jonathan Goff make strides, the Giants could have an extremely unsexy, yet effective group. And if Justin Tuck can conquer nagging injuries, he’s one of the best pass-rushers in the league. And if he can get even a little help from the underachieving Mathias Kiwanuka, and Osi Umenyiora stops whining and starts performing, and Jason Pierre-Paul harnesses some of his freakish natural ability, and Dave Tollefson builds off an impressive offseason, the Giants should be able to create more pressure than they have since their Super Bowl season. And of course, it wouldn’t hurt if Jay Alford, Rocky Bernard and Chris Canty can stay healthy at defensive tackle, where they’ll join stalwart Barry Cofield and mammoth rookie Linval Joseph. You’d think that would be a tough quintet to run through.
Then again, Perry Fewell is changing things for the second consecutive offseason, always a tough task for players. And Phillips has gigantic healthy concerns. And Rolle, while a very good player, may not really be worth the money the Giants gave him. And Ross already has a serious injury. And Bulluck’s legs really could fall off. And Boley has injury issues too, which could thrust way too much responsibility on the youngsters who may not be talented enough for starting jobs now, or ever. And despite the talent the Giants have had on the ends in recent years, the results have never quite been what we’ve expected, so why should that change now? And don’t hold your breath that any of the defensive tackles will play more than half the season.
Basically, it’s impossible to tell. The Giants could, and probably should, make a dramatic improvement on last year’s horrid defensive performance. Whether they’ll finish in the top-five or ten as King suggests is another story. That’s way too big of a leap for a team that was as bad as the Giants were last year. Still, there’s no way they can be that bad again, is there? The schedule as a whole is probably a touch easier than last season, but there are several matchups that could cause major problems for the Giants. If you’ve read this far and your head is spinning, I don’t blame you. At this point you probably have no idea what to expect from Big Blue. And neither do I.
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