For Perry Fewell, it’s not about scheme, but execution.
The Giants’ defensive coordinator had a rather simple explanation yesterday for the recent struggles on his side of the ball, pointing to the desperate need for the players to step up.
“We prepared better than what we played,” Fewell said after yesterday’s practice. “I think if you look at the tape, we’re in position to make plays, and we haven’t made plays.”
The Giants will need to make plays Sunday against the Eagles at MetLife Stadium, as they need to win and to get losses from each of the Cowboys, Vikings and Bears in order to make the playoffs. And they’re largely in that precarious position because of the past two weeks, when they lost by a combined score of 67-14 and saw their defense fall to regular-season ranking of 30th by allowing 387.8 yards per game.
“It’s frustrating for me and for the defense to give up the big play and that’s been our nemesis all year,” is how Fewell responded to a question about his team’s ranking. “Have we worked to eliminate the big play? Yes we have. Have we been able to do that? No we haven’t. So I can’t tell you why, but that could be a point of frustration.”
Fewell has tried to stop the defensive bleeding, including often going with four linebackers during last Sunday’s 33-14 loss to the Ravens. The idea in that spot was to try to stop stud running back Ray Rice, who then subsequently teamed with backup Bernard Pierce to pile up most of the team’s 237 total rushing yards.
“I think they’ve been playing hard, but they have to make up in their mind that we have to make some plays,” Fewell said. “We have to get a spark from somebody.”
Linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka agrees with the premise that at this point in the season, with essentially the same talent that won the Super Bowl last season, it comes down to execution by the players, not schemes by the coordinators.
“We have to make sure we do that, that we go outside the X’s and O’s,” Kiwanuka said. “We’ve done that before. That’s part of football. Everyone does that, that’s not new to us.”
When confronted with the team’s ranking, defensive tackle Chris Canty let out a sigh that was ripe with emotion.
“That’s a fall from grace, I’ll tell you what,” said Canty, who is recovering from a MCL sprain in his left knee and didn’t practice yesterday. “It’s tough to realize that’s the position that we’re in, that’s the quality of work we’ve put together this season. But facts are facts. That’s what it is.”