NFL

Giants suffer defensive collapse in second half

One of the Giants’ defensive captains admitted he’s worried about how his unit has performed — or underperformed — so far this season.

“You are alarmed,” defensive end Justin Tuck said.

The Giants are 0-2, and after surrendering 36 points in the season-opening loss to Dallas, they served up 41 Sunday afternoon against Denver. At this rate they’ll give up 46 next week in Carolina.

Against Peyton Manning and Co., the Giants were only down 10-9 at halftime. But in the second half, the Broncos erupted for 31 points, scoring four touchdowns and adding a field goal en route to a 41-23 triumph.

“In the second half, Peyton put it on us,” defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said.

It was a jarring development because for the season’s first six quarters, the Giants defense — believe it or not — had been impressive. The 36 points allowed in Dallas were misleading — two of the Cowboys’ touchdowns were defensive. The Giants defense was on the field for 10 drives that began in Dallas territory and only allowed three scoring drives for a total of 13 points — against a formidable offense.

Then against the Broncos, the Giants surrendered only 10 points in the first half. What went wrong after that?

“[The Broncos] didn’t make any adjustments,” safety Antrel Rolle, said. “They just came out running the ball second half and not anything that would catch us off guard. They didn’t do anything fancy. We just have to be more physical, get off of blocks and stay very disciplined in what we have to do in our job assignment.”

Tuck, however, said: “I think they adjusted. The first half they didn’t run the ball well. They made some adjustments as far as how they blocked certain schemes on us and they exploited it.”

In the first half Denver ran 11 times for only 34 yards. In the second half, the Broncos ran 18 times for 75 yards.

“Second half, [Manning] got that running game going,” Tuck said. “As a defense, you start playing on your heels. Our defensive coordinator can’t call certain calls or we can’t play as aggressive as we did in the first half. When you’re not playing aggressive against a team with that much talent, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.”

Not all four of Denver’s second-half touchdowns came against the Giants defense, as Trindon Holliday’s 81-yard punt return accounted for one. But this was still a defensive collapse. Tuck’s unit didn’t deliver.