Did the Giants save their season that Thursday night in Chicago, down in the bowels of the visitors’ locker room at Soldier Field?
They haven’t exactly saved anything just yet, but at 2-6 and still in last place heading into their bye week, there’s a faint pulse instead of the flat-line prognosis triggered by their 0-6 start.
The way members of the defense see it, an impromptu meeting at halftime, while trailing the Bears 24-14, has made all the difference in a remarkable turnaround. Since then, the Giants have not allowed a touchdown by an opposing offense in 10 consecutive quarters, the team’s longest such streak since Oct. 23-Nov. 20, 2005.
“The fact of the matter is we all saw something that wasn’t working and we tried to come up with little, subtle ways to make it better and right now they’re making it better,” Justin Tuck said.
On their way to their sixth consecutive loss, the Giants had allowed 24 points in 30 minutes to the Bears and were well on their way to allowing 30 or more points in each of their first six games, which had never before been done in an NFL season. Something had to change, and, in the frenzy and emotion of a 15-minute halftime, it did.
Tuck, a team captain, recalls speaking up. So did Antrel Rolle, another captain. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell voiced his opinion.
“All of us have a stake in this defense,’’ Tuck said.
The players implored Fewell to simplify the defensive calls, to allow them to react to what they saw on the field without any hesitation.
“We just didn’t have an identity on defense,’’ cornerback Terrell Thomas said. “We were adjusting too much and we were not playing fast. I think we were trying to do too much at times, as a coaching staff and as players. Once we got to a stage where we could simplify things and play a lot faster play with our eyes and our speed and our talent, you could see the results on the field.’’
The results have been eye-opening. In the second half in Chicago, the Giants completely stifled the Bears, limiting them to a third-quarter field goal to at least give the team a chance at a comeback in a 27-21 loss. The run defense was dominant against the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson (28 yards) and the Eagles’ LeSean McCoy (48 yards) as the defense pitched back-to-back shutouts.
No doubt, the acquisition of middle linebacker Jon Beason has been “an awesome addition’’ in the estimation of Tuck and everyone else, but the streamlined approach Fewell decided to adopt certainly has been the right move.
“You know what, let’s just go out there and see if they’re better than us,’’ Tuck said, “because I think earlier in the season we were beating ourselves. Just let us be an attacking defense and see what happens.
“Perry is pretty good at scheming, and sometimes you can have so much in, it slows you down because you’re mentally thinking about the checks. I thought we were more of a check-with-me defense in the first couple weeks of the season and that really didn’t allow us to play fast. I give him a lot of credit by saying we got to simplify this and we agreed, and he’s put together three pretty good game plans where we’ve played pretty awesome.’’
Coach Tom Coughlin praised the players for “the voice, the honesty, the openness about being able to discuss those kinds of things with your coach’’ and Fewell for “making a very serious attempt, without putting us in a position where we’re not doing enough, to do some things to help simplify.’’
Fewell has continued to mix and match with his personnel. Some of his newest wrinkles might become permanent deployment, based on the performances. Beason played all 61 defensive snaps against the Eagles and Spencer
Paysinger did not get a single one. Safety Ryan Mundy, a former starter, did not have any snaps on defense and Will Hill was on the field for all 61. Mundy had some physical issues that might have curtailed his playing time.
Another change: Linebacker Jacquian Williams, an afterthought in the first month, was on the field for all 61 defensive snaps. His diving, rolling recovery of a Matt Barkley fumble forced by Thomas was a thing of athletic beauty.