How did the Giants do it?
The New York Giants pressured Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShaun Watson 36 times with eight total sacks in their 21-15 victory in Week 3. Pro Football Focus has that as the most pressures ever for the Giants’ defense in a single game since they started calculating the statistic (2016). This includes the Osi Umenyiora six-sack game — 14 pressures game — in 2007 against the Eagles; the Giants finished that game with 35 pressures.
Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen leaned on heavy man coverage, a Cover-1 approach with varying 5+ man blitzes. Bowen also diversified how he played Cover-1 on the backend. New York slanted, twisted, and frequently exchanged paths into the pocket, which led to several mathematical advantages to one side of the formation in the Giants’ favor.
Dexter Lawrence was the fulcrum of the approach and the leader of the defense. He finished with seven pressures and two sacks, one ending the second-to-last Browns’ drive. Here are all of his pressures from the game:
All seven of Dexter Lawrence’s pressures vs. the #Browns.
Some of those holds lmao. pic.twitter.com/tHnfsy0134
— Nick Falato (@nickfalato) September 23, 2024
Here are the pressure numbers from the Giants in Week 3:
Dexter Lawrence finished with seven pressures and 2 sacks…Here are the rest of the pressures from the #Giants:
Brian Burns: 6
Elijah Chatman: 4
Azeez Ojulari: 4
Micah McFadden: 3
Jason Pinnock: 3
Kayvon Thibodeaux: 2
Isaiah Simmons: 2
Bobby Okereke: 2
NACHO: 2
DJ Davidson: 1— Nick Falato (@nickfalato) September 23, 2024
It was a dominant defensive performance. Bowen applied pressure on Watson, similar to the pressure he saw all week after the disappointing Week 2 loss. Despite the early 7-0 hole, the Giants found themselves in after the Eric Gray fumble — 11 seconds into the game — the Giants proved resilient and found a way to earn a much-needed road victory.
Below is a breakdown of six sacks, plus a bonus play:
