Jason Pierre-Paul Is Beginning to Dominate Again for the Giants

The New York Giants have lost back-to-back games to fall 3.5 games behind the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys. They're also down a Pro Bowl receiver and starters at running back, defensive tackle, middle linebacker and nickel cornerback. 

But defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul remains optimistic. 

"I think the bye [week] is good," the two-time Pro Bowler told reporters on Monday. "What have we got, nine more games to play? Let's win all the nine games. I think we can do it. We've just got to believe."

Pierre-Paul has always expressed confidence during ruts, so this is nothing new. But this particularly positive outlook carries some extra weight because so much of the Giants' successes and failures in recent years have been tied to his production. 

And right now, Pierre-Paul is playing his best football since that All-Pro 2011 season—the one in which he finished with 16.5 sacks while helping the Giants win their fourth Super Bowl. 

OK, the sacks aren't exactly rolling in at breakneck speed—he's got 3.5 through seven games—but JPP is coming off his first multi-sack performance since October of 2012. And in his last three games, he's applied pressure to opposing quarterbacks on 14 separate occasions, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). 

Based on grades provided by PFF, two of those performances rank among the top three of his five-year career:

Date	Opponent	Grade
Week 13, 2011	Packers	10.8
Week 5, 2014	Falcons	9.1
Week 7, 2014	Cowboys	7.9
Week 14, 2012	Saints	5.8
Week 1, 2012	Cowboys	5.1
Super Bowl, 2011	Patriots	4.6

It's a small sample size the last three weeks, but he's suddenly getting pressure as often as he was during that remarkable 2011 campaign. 

	Total
Breakout 2011 season	4.5
2012, 2013, first 4 games of 2014	3.1
Most recent 3 games of 2014	4.7

As a result, his overall grade from PFF now ranks second among all 4-3 defensive ends, behind only Cameron Wake of the Dolphins. 

It's tough to tell why Pierre-Paul has suddenly turned it on. It probably helped that the Falcons and Eagles have offensive lines that are weak and/or ravaged by injury, but on Sunday he was a force against Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith, who was the reigning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. 

"He was dominant," cornerback Prince Amukamara told the media on Monday. "Just getting in the backfield and blowing things up, against the run, against the pass, you name it."

Indeed, just like former teammate Justin Tuck, Pierre-Paul truly is an excellent run defender. His PFF grade in that area is more than twice as high as any 4-3 end, which was also the case when he was last healthy in 2012. He possesses uncanny instincts which come in handy no matter who he's chasing down at or behind the line of scrimmage. 

But in this league, you simply can't be a difference-maker at defensive end in a 4-3 defense if you can't consistently hunt down quarterbacks. And that's finally happening. 

It didn't happen as much as many had hoped in 2012, with JPP getting nearly as much pressure as he did during his breakout season but experiencing somewhat of a delayed sophomore slump (his sack total dropping from 16.5 to 6.5).

Then he was hit by injuries in 2013. Offseason back surgery severely limited his production early last season, and a nagging shoulder injury shut him down late. That campaign was a write-off, while a lack of support from his fellow pass-rushers didn't help. 

This year, it seems he's finally back on track. He was a tad slow out of the gate while having to face Pro Bowl-caliber left tackles Duane Brown (Week 3) and Trent Williams (Week 4), but he still had a sack-and-a-half against Arizona in Week 2 and a few pressures against the Lions in the opener. 

All season long, he's looked more limber and explosive, which is paying off when it comes to the heat he's putting on opposing quarterbacks. 

Here he is against Smith, who is one of the best tackles in the league. It's only a three-man rush, and Smith only needs to deal with that sole assignment: 

NFL Game Pass

But 2.2 seconds after the snap he's already launching himself at Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, which forces Romo to throw in hurried fashion:

NFL Game Pass

It's the same deal later, but this time he picks up the sack:

NFL Game Pass

NFL Game Pass

And we saw similar things against Atlanta, especially when he embarrassed rookie Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews by leaving him in the dust in less than two seconds:

NFL Game Pass

NFL Game Pass

That didn't result in a sack, but the pressure dismantled a big third-down play in the fourth quarter of a one-score game. That's what the Giants need from this guy. 

This team can't expect Tuck or Linval Joseph or Osi Umenyiora or Michael Strahan to walk through that door. They're long gone, and Pierre-Paul is now faced with having to work without veteran front-seven starters Cullen Jenkins and Jon Beason, both of whom were injured against the Cowboys.

The secondary is depleted too, so if the G-Men are going to make a run the onus will be on their 25-year-old freak-of-nature edge-rusher. 

This team certainly has overcome some massive obstacles during the Tom Coughlin era, and while token throws from quarterback Eli Manning are the lasting memories we have from both of their recent Super Bowls, the Giants wouldn't have won either of those titles without a dynamite pass rush. 

In 2007, they led the league with 53 team sacks, and in 2011 they finished third with 48. In both cases, superhero pass-rushers carried the team on improbable Super Bowl runs, and it was the pass rush that twice broke the great Tom Brady in order to secure a pair of Lombardi Trophies.

As NJ.com's Jordan Raanan reports, Coughlin is telling his players to prepare to make a post-bye run. They did it in '07 and again in '11, but if lightning's going to strike a third time for Coughlin's team in 2014, they'll need their best defensive player to keep rocking it the way he has in recent weeks. 

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

Follow @Brad_Gagnon