INDIANAPOLIS — The Giants defensive lineman were asked Thursday if they thought Tom Brady was God.
Nope, they replied.
In fact, Jason Pierre-Paul even said they have the Patriots quarterback rattled to the point that he’s throwing at ghosts.
“He did react to pressure that didn’t exist, and he was just throwing the ball places where there wasn’t even a receiver there,” the Giants second-year defensive end said Thursday about the team’s Week 9 win in New England.
Pierre-Paul did not even sound too impressed with the job Giants did on Brady in the 24-20 regular-season victory at New England. He said the Giants are capable of creating even more pressure and rattling Brady some more in Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday.
“Imagine us getting there even faster and actually doing our jobs and getting hits on him,” said Pierre-Paul, who had 16-1/2 sacks this season.
The Giants defense struggled through parts of the season, giving up 87 points in back-to-back losses to the Saints and Packers that were at the end of a four-game losing streak.
They then gave up 34 to the Cowboys in a must-win game, but Eli Manning bailed them out with two late touchdowns.
But during their five-game winning streak, the defense has been dominant, holding all their opponents under 20 points.
“We find weaknesses on the team, and we just go at that. Otherwise, a team does not intimidate us,” Pierre-Paul said. “We are going to go out there and give it all we’ve got. As long as we play as one, and we do our responsibilities, I feel like we can’t be beat.”
Pierre-Paul said he understands that if the Giants do not get pressure on Brady it could be a long day Sunday.
“He’s a great quarterback,” he said. “If you give him time in the pocket to pick on your secondary and throw the ball, he is going to hurt you. He is going to hurt you. Us, as a D-line, we know that the pressure is mostly going to be on us. If we don’t rush, then he has all day to throw the ball. Everybody knows that.
“I put it on us. I put it on the D-line to go out there and perform well. We have to perform well and get to Tom Brady quick. We just have to play all-out and give it all we’ve got. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”
The Giants’ success at getting pressure on the quarterback is based on rotating in fresh defensive linemen among Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, Mathias Kiwanuka, Chris Canty and Dave Tollefson.
Umenyiora spoke to the media Thursday after skipping Wednesday’s session due to a scheduling miscommunication.
Asked how often the Giants have to pressure Brady, Umenyiora said, “As many times as possible. I think they are going to do a lot of things to try and prevent that, but at the end of the day, whenever we have our chance we are going to have to take it.”