Giants Keeping Playoff Berth in Sights on Shoulders of Revitalized Defense

For the first time in years, the New York Giants are winning because of—rather than in spite of—their defense. 

It happened when they limited Drew Brees and the high-powered New Orleans Saints to just 288 yards and 13 points in Week 2. The Saints have scored at least 21 points in every other game they've played this season and have the league's second-highest-scoring offense.

It happened in London three weeks ago, when New York held the Los Angeles Rams scoreless for the final 50 minutes and gave up just 10 points in total. It wasn't good on the offensive side of the ball that day, but it didn't matter because the defense had four takeaways and scored on a pick-six—enough for a one-score victory.

And it happened again Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals, with that revamped defense forcing seven Cincinnati punts and holding the Bengals scoreless on their final five possessions in a 21-20 victory.

Team	Total
1. Giants	4
2. Broncos	3
2. Ravens	3
4. Chargers, Colts, Patriots, Seahawks, Texans	2

I guess we shouldn't be surprised, considering that in the offseason the Giants spent a combined $194 million on free-agent defenders Olivier Vernon, Damon Harrison and Janoris Jenkins. Those three have played massive roles throughout the first 10 weeks of the season, alongside the somewhat inconsistent but flashy Jason Pierre-Paul and breakout safety Landon Collins.

And all five of those guys shined against Cincinnati in what might have been New York's best defensive effort this season.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton completed just 16 of his 29 passes and was under constant pressure throughout the second half. Cincinnati converted just two of 11 third-down opportunities, Dalton threw an interception to Collins in the fourth quarter and Bengals backs Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard averaged just 2.9 yards per carry.

Per Pro Football Focus, the Giants pressured Dalton on a third of his 33 dropbacks. They tied a season high with three sacks, which is particularly encouraging considering that they entered the night with a league-low 11 quarterback takedowns.

Those three acquisitions—Vernon, Harrison and Jenkins—all received positive grades from PFF. Vernon's 4.4 grade was the highest on the team. He and Pierre-Paul had a combined nine pressures, while he, Harrison, Jenkins and Collins had a combined 23 tackles. Not bad considering Cincinnati ran just 55 plays from scrimmage.

This marked the first time in nearly two years the Giants held an opponent to 20 or fewer points and 300 or fewer yards while registering at least one takeaway. It wasn't a bend-or-break game. They didn't break, and they didn't bend. And it wasn't a game that lacked teeth. They had that fourth-quarter pick, that timely pressure and those three sacks.

And all that against an opposing offense that, while struggling this season, had scored 58 points in its last two games and was well rested, coming off a bye week.

Add it all up, and the Giants defense has gone from being a major liability to a major asset.

• One year after surrendering more than 24 points in eight of their 16 games, the Giants have given up more than 24 points only once in nine games in 2016. And they've yet to surrender 30 points—something that happened four times in 2015.
• They've allowed 20.4 points per game, which ranks 11th in the NFL. They ranked in the bottom 10 in that category in 2015 (27.6) and 2014 (25.0).
• They've given up 359.3 yards per game, which ranks just below the league median. Last year, they ranked dead last in the NFL (420.3). The year before? Fourth-worst (375.8).
• They're one of nine teams that have surrendered 5.1 or fewer yards per play. In 2015, they ranked 31st in football with 6.1 yards allowed per play. In 2014, they were 28th at 6.0.

Monday night's win wasn't pretty, but that was the kind of game the Giants lost in 2014 and 2015. Quarterback Eli Manning threw two interceptions and averaged just 5.5 yards per attempt. The running game showed signs of life, and Odell Beckham Jr. was Odell Beckham Jr., but it was still a sloppy offensive effort.

In 2014 and 2015, the Giants were 0-11 in games in which they scored 21 or fewer points. This year, they're 4-2 in those situations. They already have more wins with fewer than 22 points this season than they did in their previous five seasons combined.

That explains why they've already won as many games this year as they did in either of the last two seasons. They're no longer winning despite their defense. And as a result, they're winning a lot more.

That doesn't mean they're an automatic Super Bowl contender. The running game will have to find some consistency, Manning will have to cut down on his mistakes and that defensive front will have to prove it can consistently bring pressure. The Dallas Cowboys still hold a two-game lead in the NFC East, which means New York's road to the Super Bowl will probably involve a wild-card race.

But it's been down that road before.

In fact, the last time the Giants used that road, they wound up winning the title. Manning was on that team, too. But the defence made the difference.

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon