There are plays when Mathias Kiwanuka has a hole in the line of scrimmage that isn’t filled by a blocker. The Giants linebacker can fly to it unimpeded, and when the play’s over, he shows his appreciation to his double-teamed teammates in the middle, like defensive tackles Chris Canty, Linval Joseph and Rocky Bernard.
“Every time we play a game and I get big gaps and [I’m] able to run through, that’s the first thing I do, is go back and say, ‘Hey, Rock, that was a hell of a job,’ ” Kiwanuka said. “Because I’ve been down there, too, and I understand what it’s like when you’ve got 700 pounds running full speed and trying to knock you off your blocks.
“[I] definitely respect the job that they’re doing.”
Tomorrow in San Francisco, the Giants will need Canty, Joseph and Bernard to do unheralded, but critical, grunt work in the NFC Championship clash against the 49ers. Jim Harbaugh’s crew had the NFL’s eighth-best rushing attack this season, led by Frank Gore, who racked up 1,211 yards on the ground, third-best in the NFC.
According to Kiwanuka, the bulk of the 49ers’ running plays go straight up the middle.
“That’s what they want to do,” Kiwanuka said. “Maybe they’ll pull a guard here and there, maybe they’ll toss the ball outside, but primarily they want to line up and see who’s the tougher guy.”
Canty and Joseph have been constants in the interior of the Giants’ vaunted defensive line — Canty has started every game this season, and Joseph has started all but one. The veteran Bernard, too, has played in every game. The other man in the middle is linebacker Chase Blackburn, who re-joined the team for the Dec. 4 game against Green Bay and has now started the Giants’ last six games.
Canty excelled in the regular season’s last few weeks, racking up three sacks (including a safety) in the Giants’ final four games. He said he and the other Giants’ defensive tackles have been helped by the team’s star defensive ends — Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora.
“We benefit from those guys,” Canty said. “Those guys get a lot of attention, and they’re very good football players. I think that our interior defensive linemen do a good job of playing off of that.
“Sometimes it frees us up for one-on-one blocks in the run and the pass game and it allows us to make plays as well.”
Canty and Kiwanuka praised the improvement of the massive 6-foot-4, 323-pound Joseph, the second-year man who only saw action in six games last season.
“He’s improved his recognition of blocking schemes and understanding how offenses want to attack our defense,” Canty said of the second-round pick out of East Carolina.
“[He’s made] a tremendous progression,” Kiwanuka said.
Canty and defensive end Dave Tollefson said the 49ers still will run outside a lot.
Tollefson said there’s pressure on more than just the Giants defenders in the middle.
“The pressure’s on all of us up front,” Tollefson said. “You might put a little bit more on those D-tackles just from the aspect of we use ends so much to pass rush that what’s their job then? Well, to stop the run. But it’s really on all of us.
“You’ve got to stop the run to rush the passer. I think that’s what they do a great job of.”