The problem with attacking defenses is that they are generally high risk and high reward. The attacking defense, in theory, makes a lot of big plays but is vulnerable to giving up the big play on occasion. On Sunday, the New York Giants defense epitomized to perfection what an attacking defense should be…except there wasn’t really any attacking. And no reward either.
Coming into the 2007 season, words like blitz, attack, pow, zam and zing were thrown around. You got the sense Steve Spagnuolo was going to launch a full-blown assault on opposing offenses with results so destructive that you’d need to peel jerseys off the turf. Here’s a secret that we’ve learned through the first two weeks of the season – the Giants don’t have the personnel to be an attacking defense.
Let’s look at the numbers:
Total Yards Given Up: 846 (621 Passing!)
Sacks: 2 (both by Justin Tuck – paging Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan?)
Interceptions: 2 (both by Gibril Wilson…Sunday’s was on a gift tipped ball)
Total Points Given Up: 80 (this isn’t the NBA)
If said “attacking” is going on, we’re doing a heck of a job, huh? Two sacks, two picks, 40 points a game.
There wasn’t a single defensive facet working Sunday. Pass rush was atrocious (I think I saw Brett Favre check his fantasy stats between a five-step drop and completion); linebackers can’t cover the middle of the field, (NFL tight ends can’t wait for Big Blue); and the secondary is prone to the big play (see: being torched by 57-year-old quarterbacks).
Bottom line, AGAIN, is that this is the same exact team as 2006 sans Tiki Barber. It’s the same old mistakes, same old excuses, same stupid penalties, same old Giants.
Jeremy Shockey and Amani Toomer both killed touchdown drives with stupid, stupid penalties. Don’t worry though, Tom Coughlin, the disciplinarian will work it out.
Excluding some promising looks from the offense, I am disgusted with the Giants’ performance Sunday. If there is any sense of pride left in this team, I’d ask that they please show it now. Losing is fine, just not like this. It’s hard to watch a team show no heart when thousands of Giants fans keep giving so much of theirs.
