The New York Giants understand what they will be up against on Sunday when their under-manned offense lines up against the dominant Denver Broncos’ defense.
“They’re as good as it gets right now,” said Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
“Pressuring the quarterback, first in the red zone, first and third down, can play a variety of things. There are a lot of really good players. One of the best defenses in the league, coached well, and tough to block. Just held a team to under 90 yards of offense. So, tremendous challenge with that defense.”
No kidding. Here are some of the eye-popping numbers:
Sacks (30) | 1st
QB Pressures (77) | 1st
QB Pressure Rate (33.8%) | 1st
Total Yards Allowed Per Game (254.2) | 2nd
Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game (89.0) | 6th
Rushing Yard Allowed Per Attempt (3.9) | 9th
Passing Yards Allowed Per Game (165.2) | 3rd
First Downs Allowed Per Game (15.8) | 3rd
Opponent Third Down Conversion Rate (27.16%) | 1st
Opponent Fourth Down Conversion Rate (20%) | 1st
Red Zone – Allowed TD Rate (28.57%) | 1st
Points Allowed Per Game (15.8) | 2nd
Expected Points Added (33.33) | 1st
Get the idea? The Bronco defense is good. Really good.
“That front seven is probably one of the better ones that we’re going to see. The secondary’s probably the best one that we’ve seen up to this point,” said wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. “We’ve definitely gotta be ready to go. They’re going to challenge us on every level. Gotta be ready for everything.”
Related
Denver edge Nik Bonitto leads the league with 8.0 sacks, no accident after a 13.5-sack 2024 season. On the opposite side, edge Jonathan Cooper has 4.5 after totaling 20 sacks over the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Per Pro Football Focus, Bonitto leads 113 qualifying edge defender with a 15.0 pass rush pressure rate. Cooper is fourth at 12.0.
The defensive line features Zach Allen, a second-team All-Pro in 2024 when he had 8.5 sacks, 40 quarterback hits, and 15 tackles for loss. John Franklin-Myers had 7.0 sacks in 2024 and has 3.0 already this season.
The secondary? Oh, it is just led by Patrick Surtain II, a two-time All-Pro in his fifth season who was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2024. That group is good enough that first-round pick Jahdae Barron, a cornerback, is playing just 15 snaps per game.
“They’re impressive. They’re impressive every game,” Daboll said. “They create a lot of negative plays. They have 30 sacks in six games. There were nine last week, I think. They rotate guys. But Bonitto is an unbelievable pass rusher. You can’t have a plan for all of them. They all can rush. I think 12 guys have at least a sack on their defense. We’ve got the reigning defensive player of the year, as a corner, Surtain II, an Alabama guy. They’re just really good. They play good coverage, complemented with the front. They disguise well. They’re as good as it gets right now.”
This won’t be an easy task for a Giants team with a rookie quarterback making his fourth NFL start and second on the road. The first, obviously, did not go well as the Giants turned the ball over five straight times in losing to the previously 0-4 New Orleans Saints, 26-14.
“Obviously the sacks stand out as the first thing and their ability to rush the passer at every down, not just third downs,” Dart said. “First of all, they’re just coached really well and they play really well together. They play really hard. So, it’s going to be a really good test for us, one that I think that we’re all excited for just because, in my mind I see them as one of the best defenses in the entire league.”
The Giants don’t have star wide receiver Malik Nabers. They probably aren’t going to have Darius Slayton, who seems heading toward missing a second straight game with a hamstring injury. Starting center John Michael Schmitz (concussion protocol) has yet to practice this week and may not be cleared to play.
“This is a team that’s 4-2 for a reason,” Daboll said. “Everybody’s got to do their job, whether it’s the quarterback, whether it’s the interior part of the pocket, whether it’s receivers getting open against tight press coverage against some really good corners. It’s going to take a total team effort.
“They’re hard to block. You have to do a good job of creating some positive plays when getting in those bad situations. Not a lot of third-down conversions. There’s a lot of third-and-longs when you watch the tape. Not a lot of touchdowns in the red zone. They play really good team defense. [Defensive coordinator] Vance [Joseph] has done a great job for a long time in Miami, Arizona. We were up against them in Buffalo. They’re well-coached. They’ve got a lot of good players. They put you in bad situations; it’s hard. Then you’re on the road with a loud environment, you’re going to have to play good team football all the way around.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka called facing the Bronco defense a “great challenge,” and knows the Giants will have to be as close to perfect as possible.
“If you have 10 guys doing their job but then one guy doesn’t, it’s probably going to be a bad play,” Kafka said. “So, we need to make sure that all 11 guys are doing their job, we’re all in sync. It’s not about one guy. It’s about the whole core group.”
Backup center Austin Schlottmann, who will be tasked with the line calls should Schmitz not be able to play, understands the task at hand.
“They’re a really, really good front,” Schlottmann said. “They’ve got good players all the way across the board. They play hard. They play physical. We’ve just got to go out there and execute our game plan and try to play physical like we did last week and keep that going.”
Dart understands nothing about this is going to be easy.
“You’ve got to be able to weather the storm,” Dart said. “Not everything’s going to be perfect. There’s going to be mistakes. There’s going to be momentum shifts throughout every game. I think for us, just trying to weather all that and regardless of good things that are happening or bad things, being able to reset each and every play to try to put our team in the best situation.”
We will see on Sunday if Dart and the Giants can weather the storm they are walking into.
See More:
