New-Look Giants Defense Lacks Teeth in Season-Opening Loss

So long as the New York Giants continue to sputter on the offensive side of the ball, the franchise will continue to draw mediocre results. A shoddy performance from Eli Manning and his cohorts explains why the Giants were crushed 35-14 in their season opener Monday night in Detroit. 

But it certainly didn't help that a somewhat revamped defense had almost no bite to it against the Lions. 

This is a Detroit team that had 34 turnovers last season—a total that was trumped only by the Giants themselves—and yet on Monday, New York had zero takeaways and only a single sack. Dating back to 2011, it was only the fourth time in 34 games the Lions didn't have a single turnover. 

"You're not talking about a team that didn't turn the ball over last year themselves," said head coach Tom Coughlin of the Lions offense during his postgame press conference, per NFL Network. "We benefited from an interception returned for a touchdown in December against them. But they were able to play a game without a turnover."

As a result of the lack of takeaways and sacks on defense, the Giants controlled the ball for only 23 minutes and 56 seconds, which was the second-lowest total from the first week of the season. 

Few will dispute the notion that the best way to create takeaways on defense is to get pressure up front, which is something the Giants have struggled with ever since the pass rush propelled them to a shocking Super Bowl victory in 2011. 

That year, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul exploded with 16.5 sacks, helping the Giants finish third in the league with 48 in total (same story in that 2007 Super Bowl season, when they led with 53 sacks). And because there's an undeniable correlation in play, Big Blue also tied for fifth in football in 2011 with 31 takeaways. 

But Pierre-Paul hasn't been the same since. He's got just 8.5 sacks in 28 games since the start of 2012, thanks at least partially to back and shoulder injuries. And his durability became an issue again Monday night, suffering a stinger with the season just minutes old. 

JPP indicated the injury was "nothing serious," according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News, but it's yet another bump in the road. It's safe to start wondering if he'll ever recapture the magic we saw in 2011. 

Defensive end Justin Tuck was a beast down the stretch that year, too. He's gone. Ditto for underrated defensive tackle Linval Joseph, who also flew the coop in free agency. With those guys out of the picture, JPP not himself and the Michael Strahan/Osi Umenyiora days becoming a distant memory, the G-Men are relying too heavily on unproven youngsters to carry them up front. 

And so while the secondary does look a lot better on paper (cornerbacks Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Walter Thurmond are upgrades) and the linebacking corps has arguably become a strength (Jacquian Williams had a superb summer and Jon Beason is now a reliable fixture in the middle), the reality is the Giants will continue to consistently surrender 30-plus points until the defensive linemen can find ways to get the entire unit off the field. 

It's not as though this D hasn't been able to take the ball away. Despite only 67 sacks combined in 2012 and 2013 (ranking in the bottom 10 during that span), they mustered 64 takeaways (ranking fourth in football). 

Team	Takeaways
1. Chicago Bears	72
2. New England Patriots	70
2. Seattle Seahawks	70
4. New York Giants	64
5. Arizona Cardinals	63

But with Umenyiora, Tuck and Joseph all gone and Pierre-Paul a question mark, they might have trouble maintaining that pace in 2014. 

Considering how many problems they continue to have on offense, the onus is absolutely on this D to make more plays. If they don't, they don't stand much of a chance on either side of the ball. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon