Hackensack, New Jersey 11/22/09 Giants Justin Tuck puts heavy pressure on Falcons QB Matt Ryan in the fourth quarter as the Atlanta Falcons played the New York Giants at the Meadowlands on Nov. 22, 2009. (Paul J. Bereswill)
They should feel sick about it, every one of them.
It sounds as if they do.
“It almost feels like we lost because the defense didn’t help us to win in the end,” linebacker Chase Blackburn said.
“It hurts my heart, honestly,” added cornerback Terrell Thomas. “That’s not Giants defense.”
There’s no longer a clear vision of what “Giants defense” is all about. If it has anything to do with the sorry collection of misfits that gagged away the Chargers game and did everything in their power to blow the 34-31 overtime victory over the Falcons, the Giants will wallow in mediocrity and miss the playoffs for the first time in five years.
If the Giants don’t get their act together on defense, there will be nothing to be thankful about tomorrow night in Denver, because even Kyle Orton will be able to carve them up, just as Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan did the past two games.
Ask any defense. It’s not always about yards and sometimes not even about points allowed. Any defense worth watching prides itself on the ability to make the key stop when it’s needed, whether it’s 10-10 or 31-31. Whatever happened beforehand is irrelevant. Make a stand and prove yourself to be a reliable unit when the game is being decided.
The Giants recently have proved they are not to be trusted. Their defense two weeks ago caved in when summoned to protect a 20-14 lead in the closing minutes, helpless as Rivers tore through them to cash in for the winning touchdown with 21 seconds remaining. They were inept when asked last week to accept the seemingly doable challenge of holding a 31-17 fourth-quarter lead and finished off a pathetic second-half showing by allowing two Ryan touchdown passes in the final six minutes, the second with 28 seconds left in regulation.
“We would have loved for the game to have ended 31-24, Giants making a great stop,” Thomas said. “Unfortunately we didn’t do that and the offense had to win it for us.”
That’s beyond bad. It makes first-year defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan 0-for-2 in game-winning situations. His predecessor, Steve Spagnuolo, never failed in similar situations in his two years running the ship.
Filling in against the Falcons for injured Antonio Pierce, Blackburn spoke of communication problems down the stretch.
“All the way around, getting lined up, getting the calls in, getting it out and playing the plays as it comes out,” Blackburn said. “They went a lot of hurry-up in the fourth quarter which should not really be a problem. For whatever reason we didn’t seem to get the checks done right at the end.”
Ten games into the season, this is inexcusable. It’s obvious the skill level on defense is not what the Giants thought it would be, but the assembled talent is better than what’s been on display.
“Some how, some way, there were enough opportunities to make plays to stop the drive or at least create a long fourth down situation,” Tom Coughlin said. “We weren’t able to do that. There are obvious concerns there.”
The fear is that there are too many failings to correct. At times, the Giants are in the right position but simply do not make a play on the ball. At times, they look befuddled and completely clueless. Players haven’t always been helped by shaky coverage schemes sent in by the coaching staff, and when the assignment is a good one the execution is lacking.
“We were talking about it as a defense we were almost hoping we’d get back on the field in overtime, as bad as that sounds,” Blackburn said. “We had a bad taste in our mouth. We gave up two scores in the fourth quarter to put them back in the game. We were hoping to be able to redeem ourselves in overtime.”
There’s plenty of time for redemption, starting tomorrow night in Denver.
paul.schwartz@nypost.com