New York Giants' Front 7 Find Their Groove in Win vs. Titans

Five weeks ago when the New York Giants defense sunk to 32nd in the NFL, defensive coordinator Perry Fewell vowed that the unit “will crawl out” of the basement.

"I am personally responsible for everything, for all facets of the defense," Fewell told reporters at the time.

"I take it personally, sure. But all I know to do is go back to work, evaluate as best I can what our player are doing and what they do well and try to put them in position to have success."

His injury-plagued unit has a long way to go before it will ever be mistaken for a top-10 unit, but lately, it’s been showing signs of life, albeit against two opponents with losing records (one of which, the Jacksonville Jaguars, just so happened defeat the Giants in last week’s action).

What has been the difference for the Giants?

Their front seven has come alive thanks to improved play by the linebackers. 

Now again, it needs to be emphasized that the Jaguars and Tennessee Titans are teams that no one is going to mistake for 2014 playoff contenders.

It also needs to be noted that the Titans came into this week’s game with a patchwork offensive line missing both of its starting tackles.

However, the backups are paid to perform too, and as was the case again last week, one can’t make any assumptions when it comes to this Giants team. 

Let’s look at the success the Giants' front seven have had these last two weeks.

As Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News noted, the Giants have now recorded 15 sacks in their last two games—four fewer than what they recorded in their first 11 games.

That total includes eight sacks this week and seven last week, making this the first time since 1964 that the Giants defense has put together consecutive games with seven or more sacks.

According to the Fox TV broadcast of the Giants-Titans game, this was the first time since 1964 the defense had consecutive games with at least seven sacks.

Now let’s break down the sacks according to the three defensive units—defensive line, linebackers and defensive backs—from the first 11 games and then the last two.

Chart by P. Traina

One of the biggest differences that jumps out based on this data is that the linebackers have stepped up to contribute, recording one less sack than the defensive line in the last two games.

Rookie Devon Kennard, who started his fourth straight game at outside linebacker this week, has contributed four of the linebackers' six sacks over the last two games.

Why have the linebackers suddenly stepped up in the sack department?

One possible reason is that Kennard, who in college had experience as a 3-4 pass-rusher, has been playing closer to the line of scrimmage in his role as a strong-side linebacker.

“I knew there were going to be some times when I was going to have the opportunity to rush, and I was excited for that, and excited to do my best when my number was called,” Kennard said via the Giants postgame broadcast following the win over the Titans. 

It also helps that Kennard has been relentless in his pursuit of the quarterback and, in doing so, has executed clean technique in beating his man and crashing the pocket.  

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Another possible reason for the increase in the pass rush over the last two weeks is that the Giants have incorporated a little more man-to-man coverage versus the loose zone that seemed to be the flavor of the month earlier in the season.

The Giants defensive backs are an aggressive group whose strength as a unit lies in man-to-man coverage. When they are able to apply tight coverage of the receivers down the field, this forces the quarterback to hang on to the ball a little longer—and opens up the possibility for coverage sacks by the front seven.

According to the NFL Game Statistic and Information Service (login required), the Giants are 13th in the NFL in sacks per pass attempt with a 6.75 percent mark.

Still, while the defense has been playing slightly better of late, the unit is headed for a significant offseason overhaul that will probably start with Fewell being fired. 

Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

The Giants defense is still having breakdowns in coverage, such as what happened on Titans receiver Nate Washington’s fourth-quarter, 30-yard reception.

Coming into this week’s game, the Giants defense has allowed 46 big-play passes of 20 or more yards, according to the team's weekly game-stat pack; the Titans added two more to increase that total to 48.

The big-play runs of 10 or more yards have been even worse. The Giants have now allowed 55 big-play runs to opponents this season, a stat that probably won’t help their run defense rise much higher than the 31st position it held entering this week’s game.

Another glaring issue is a devil-may-care attitude that results in undisciplined penalties, such as Antrel Rolle engaging in excessive celebration following Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie’s interception return for a touchdown and the late hit by defensive end Damontre Moore against the quarterback on the same play.

Per the NFL Game Statistic and Information Service, the Giants defense has been flagged four times for unnecessary roughness and once for unsportsmanlike conduct.

While those numbers don’t seem like a lot, each is good for 15 free yards to the opponent and a fresh set of downs, and those are mistakes that a disciplined defense should rarely commit. 

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football and The SportsXchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.