I doubt anyone was surprised that the outcome of the Thursday night game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles would be 34-17. Likewise, if I predicted before the game that it would involve the winning team’s defense shutting out the opposing offense and winning off of timely takeaways in the fourth quarter, I think most people would be nodding along.
But while the general shape of the game went entirely according to expectations, nobody expected that it was the Giants who doubled their opponent’s score with 5 touchdowns, 3 of which came on the ground. Likewise, nobody would have expected that it would be the Giants to shut out the Eagles in the second half.
So how did they do it?
Discipline up front
If there’s one thing that stood out on replay with regards to the Giants’ defense against the Eagles, it’s just how disciplined and unselfish they were.
There was some grumbling during — and after — the game that the Giants weren’t exerting much pressure on Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts. It is true that the Giants didn’t pressure Hurts that often, and he only had nine (9) drop backs when under pressure (per NFL NextGenStats). However, it wasn’t so much that the Giants failed to pressure Hurts or that pressure wasn’t their goal.
Rather, the Giants’ goal was to contain Hurts, keep him in the backfield, and exert pressure at opportune times.
For instance, here’s how the Giants started the Eagles second drive after the Giants scored a touchdown on their first possession.
The Giants line up with a defensive front consisting of: Brian Burns, D.J. Davidson, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, and Abdul Carter. However, the Giants’ speed rushers don’t attempt to blow past the Eagles’ blockers. Instead, all four of the Giants’ defenders play with power, holding their blockers and constricting the pocket. This is underneath a Cover 1 shell, which locks down most of the Eagles’ receivers.
Dallas Goedert makes a 5-yard catch, however he’s the Eagle’s only option on the play. The Giants’ pass rush playing as they did kept Jalen Hurts in front of them, preventing him from stepping into the pocket or escaping to buy time. Meanwhile, the coverage design essentially dictates where the ball goes and allows Tyler Nubin to come downhill and tackle Goedert for a minimal gain.
From there, the Eagles attempt to run the ball, however Barkley is brought down for a 3-yard loss. It was likely that the Eagles would run in that situation, which was disrupted by Brian Burns shooting the left B-gap.
That brought up third-and-8, and the Giants’ first sack of the evening.
The Giants come out for this snap with their Four Aces DIME package, with Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Dexter Lawrence, and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the line of scrimmage. The secondary is composed of cornerbacks Paulson Adebo, Cor’Dale Flott, Dru Phillips, and safeties Jevon Holland, Tyler Nubin, and Dane Belton. Bobby Okereke is the only off-ball linebacker on the field.
The Giants start the play with six defenders milling around the line of scrimmage. Thibodeaux and Lawrence are the only down linemen, playing on the defensive left, while Burns, Carter, Okereke, and Belton are standing on the defensive right. It appears as though the Giants are going to send pressure, with a six-man rush, a five-man rush with Okereke, or a five-man rush with Belton all being possibilities.
Instead, they drop seven into coverage, with Okereke and Belton both dropping into the hook/curl areas under what looks like a Cover 3 shell. That late rotation keeps the ball in Hurts’ hand while the Giants create a sack up front.
Carter and Burns execute what amounts to a TEX (tackle-end exchange) stunt on the defensive right. Carter, lined up as a 4i technique inside the left tackles right shoulder, while Burns was in a Wide-9 outside of where the tight end would line up.
Carter attacks with power, rushing the left B-gap, occupying both the left guard and left tackle. That creates an opening for Burns to slant inside, accessing the backfield through the left A-gap and immediately bringing down Hurts for an 8-yard loss. The entire defensive line worked as a unit, with Carter, Lawrence, and Thibodeaux combining to occupy five blockers and creating the opportunity for Burns.
Room for improvement
There is, of course, room for improvement. Despite the excellent overall performance and the impressive stat line, the Giants gave up several big plays that were less about the Eagles’ execution (though there was some of that), and more about their own continuing development.
The biggest recurring issue was miscommunications in the back end of the defense. The Giants made frequent use of post-snap coverage rotations in this game, at times appearing as though they were in Cover 4, only to shift to Cover 1, or show Cover 3 only to mutate into Cover 4. There were a bunch of other disguises and permutations after the snap and those coverage rotations were effective in keeping the ball in Hurts’ hands while also controlling where the Eagles were able to go with it.
At least as long as it worked, but there were a few breakdowns that resulted in big plays.
It took me more time than I care to admit to figure out what went wrong on this 23-yard reception for Dallas Goedert — at at least what I think went wrong on the play.
As near as I can tell, the Giants’ play calls for a post-snap rotation from Cover 4 to Cover-3 Robber.
Jevon Holland buzzes down from the deep quarter to occupy the hook/curl area of the field. At the same time, Cor’Dale Flott attaches to A.J. Brown who runs a 5-yard slant. It appears as though Flott is playing a MEG pattern match rule (man everywhere he goes), however nobody else does so and Brown runs right into the Giants’ underneath zone coverage.
If the Giants were indeed playing Cover-3, Flott should have sprinted down the field to cover the deep third on the defensive right. However, him playing man on Brown creates a truly massive void which is expanded by Jahan Dotson running a post route to occupy Tyler Nubin. Dru Phillips was quick to recognize the breakdown and bring down Goedert for no yards after the catch, but it still set the Eagles up for an eventual touchdown pass.
Something similar happened on a deep pass (attempt) to DeVonta Smith.
The Giants are once again in their Four Aces DIME package, but this time they playing man coverage. They appear to call Cover 1 behind a five-man blitz on third-and-6, likely hoping the man coverage would keep the ball in Hurts’ hand long enough to get a sack deep in the Eagles’ territory. Likewise, they also don’t want to call the same play as earlier in the game and be predictable.
This time, Smith runs a go route, however Flott passes him off. He seems to be expecting help over the top, acting as though the Giants are in a Cover 2 shell. However, there’s nobody there as Holland is the only deep safety and he’s aligned on the opposite hash mark. Holland does appear to cheat some to the boundary side, away from the Eagles’ 3×1 alignment, but that’s understandable considering A.J. Brown running vertically on the other sideline as well as the deep crossing route from the slot.
Smith had to be Flott’s responsibility, but he instead passes him off to nobody.
The Giants got lucky and Hurts overthrew Smith, but this could have been a huge gain for a touchdown at a key moment in the game. The Giants were only up 20-17 at that point, and that play hitting could have changed the entire complexion of the game. Instead, the Eagles missed their opportunity and were forced to punt, giving the Giants the ball at their 45-yard line and leading to an eventual Cam Skattebo touchdown.
I don’t mean to rag on Flott with these examples, but they were two of the most egregious breakdowns. There were other breakdowns by other players throughout the game, and Flott had some strong play as well. The fact that the Giants won and shut the Eagles out in the second half makes these “learning opportunities” for the young secondary.
Ultimately, this game was much more good than bad from New York and the Giants’ defense seems to have been rounding into form over the last month. Breakdowns like the above are bound to happen for a young team, and the important part is that they learn from them. There were both positives to build upon, as well as learning opportunities that stung but weren’t too bad.
We’ll see if they take any steps forward against the Denver Broncos.
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