As long as the main characters stay healthy, the three-safety scheme that helped the Giants win the Super Bowl last year looks here to stay.
The return of Kenny Phillips from a six-game absence last week allowed coach Tom Coughlin’s team to use a three-safety look against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, and the result was a resounding 38-10 victory that snapped Big Blue’s two-game losing streak.
With Phillips likely to be available again after he bounced back well from another knee injury sustained in that game, the Giants sound as if Robert Griffin III and the Redskins can expect to face the same system Monday night when the NFC East rivals square off in Landover, Md.
“We would like it to become the norm,” Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said yesterday. “I think it can be effective against a running team or a passing team because of who [the three safeties] are and what they bring to the table.”
The scheme, which calls for a safety (usually Antrel Rolle) to cover the opponent’s primary slot receiver instead of a nickel cornerback while Phillips and Stevie Brown fill the normal safety roles, had mostly gone on the back burner this season while Phillips missed those six games with knee woes.
But Phillips returned Sunday night, and the effectiveness of the three-safety scheme returned with him as the Giants limited Rodgers — the reigning MVP — to just 219 passing yards and one touchdown while intercepting him once and handing Green Bay by far its most lopsided loss of the season.
Phillips injured his knee again in that game, but said yesterday he expects to play against the Redskins, prompting smiles all around when the Giants were asked about the impact of using three safeties (sometimes even four, thanks to the depth provided by Will Hill) at the same time.
“It brings a lot of flexibility for our defense,” defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. “You have guys who can come down and hit you in the mouth, and they can also cover. There’s really no telling what we’re going to do.”
While Phillips’ availability is key to using the three-safety system, Fewell said Rolle is the linchpin to using it effectively.
“He brings a different type of energy to our defense,” Fewell said. “Antrel is an action player, so it takes him to the action a lot more often than him playing safety. Now safety is an ‘action’ position also, don’t get me wrong, but it puts him closer to the action.”
The three-safety look has other benefits that are not so noticeable. Because just two linebackers are needed in the scheme, Mathias Kiwanuka is able to slide down from linebacker to his more natural position at defensive end and bolster the Giants’ fearsome pass rush. The payoff against the Packers came in the form of five sacks of the evasive Rodgers.
Griffin is even more mobile and elusive than Rodgers, which might explain why the Giants did not really bother trying to disguise their intentions about using three safeties as their primary look in Monday’s nationally televised game at FedEx Field.
The Giants were not able to use three safeties the first time they faced Griffin and the Redskins in October, and they don’t think it’s a coincidence that Griffin threw two TD passes and nearly led Washington to an upset before Big Blue pulled out a 27-23 win.
Fewell prizes how much using three safeties can confound opponents, and he’s hoping it will have the same effect against Griffin.
“When you use that package, it gives you a lot of flexibility and it does cause some confusion for the offense: ‘Who is the safety? Who is the guy that’s dropping down?’ ,” Fewell said. “The way the safeties move around and the way they allow us to change them can be confusing and difficult for a quarterback.”