Jason Pierre-Paul knows as much as he needs to know, which in the case of tomorrow night’s game against the Eagles, does not include the name of the man he will be lining up against.
“I don’t know who that is. Who is that?” Pierre-Paul asked after yesterday’s practice when the topic of Demetress Bell was brought up, the third man to start at left tackle for the Eagles already this season.
“Oh man, that’s trouble right?” Pierre-Paul said jokingly. “Third one? Hmm, that’s trouble.”
The person it’s most trouble for is Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who has been battered and bruised throughout the first three games of the season, during which he has somehow found a way to get his team to 2-1.
Vick has turned the ball over nine times so far (six interceptions, three fumbles), not including two fumbles his team recovered. The pressure seems partially a result of holding the ball too long trying to make miraculous plays, and partially a result of the hodge-podge offensive line in front of him.
Starting left tackle Jason Peters ruptured his Achilles tendon in March, and starting center Jason Kelce tore ligaments in his knee in the second week. Bell was signed in April as a depth player, and has been forced into the starter’s role when King Dunlap, the regular backup tackle, strained his hamstring in Week 2, keeping him out for tomorrow.
Last season, in the Giants’ 29-16 Week 3 win over the Eagles, Pierre-Paul had two sacks and the Giants forced Vick to leave the game with a hand injury. The pressure they applied that day still is being learned from, evidenced in the Cardinals handing the Eagles their first loss of the season last week when they sacked Vick five times and held him to a 46 percent completion rate.
“A lot of teams took what we did,” Pierre-Paul said. “I was watching the Arizona game. They were killing him out there, man. He needed to get rid of the ball faster.”
Now the task of getting in Vick’s face is going to be on Pierre-Paul and his teammates up front, who for all of their reputation have combined for just six sacks this season. After a Week 1 loss to the Cowboys, the Giants have won two straight, and it may be because they stopped trying to do too much.
“I know for a fact like ever since that first week after we lost to the Cowboys we don’t try to hit the home runs,” Pierre-Paul said. “That was a big mistake. We just got to be patient [and] listen to the play calling.”