To match up or not to match up?
That is the question for defensive coordinator Perry Fewell as the Giants gear up to open their season in Detroit against what has been one of the NFL’s most prolific passing attacks, led by the most physically intimidating receiver in the league.
Calvin Johnson, a.k.a. Megatron, must be dealt with in any and every defensive game plan, and this season the Giants have a formula they can use, if they so desire, to give them a fighting chance.
They signed Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to a five-year, $35 million contract and, for that kind of investment, the expectation is they will turn him loose on whomever they deem to be the top guy on the other team.
“We don’t know the game plan, if we are matching this week or what the coach is going to do about that or if we are staying on one side,” Prince Amukamara, the cornerback alongside Rodgers-Cromartie, said recently. “I am just going to study all of their guys.”
Amukamara can go back to recent history to see how he stacks up, although last season’s 23-20 overtime victory at Ford Field was not indicative of the damage Johnson can do.
Clearly hurting with a knee problem, Johnson caught only three passes for 43 yards and played only 48 of the 85 offensive snaps.
“I am sure when I watch the film a whole bunch of memories will probably come like, ‘OK, we did just play them and this is what happened,’” Amukamara said.
In the past Fewell has usually preferred to keep his defense intact by allowing his cornerbacks to line up on one side and stay on one side, covering whichever receiver lines up opposite them.
That plan would put Amukamara on the right side and Rodgers-Cromartie on the left, but that is not likely to be the preferred strategy in Monday night’s season opener.
Not long after the Giants signed Rodgers-Cromartie, coach Tom Coughlin opened the pages to reveal what the organization thinks of its new cornerback.
“Are you the best receiver on their team?” Coughlin asked. “[He’s] following you, then. He’s got great big, long arms, he’s tall, he’s fast, he can match up.”
In a call Wednesday with the media covering the Lions, Coughlin cautioned the Giants need to know where Johnson is “all the time.”
Unless something transpired during training camp and the preseason to change that view, expect to see Rogers-Cromartie on Johnson most of the night.
If so, it’s a monster first test for Rodgers-Cromartie, a cornerback vagabond now with his fourth team in the past five years.
At 28, he is looking to put down roots and establish a football home. Getting off to a fast start won’t hurt.
At 6 feet 5 and 236 pounds, Johnson is impossible to miss and it has never been a problem finding him, as throughout his seven years with the Lions he lined up in the “X” position on the outside almost exclusively and dominated almost always.
The arrival of a new offensive coordinator, Joe Lombardi, means Johnson will be on the move, at times on the outside, at times in the slot, at times in motion.
Lombardi’s creativity in turning his main weapons into moving targets worked wonders in New Orleans with Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston and that philosophy has made its way to Detroit to help free Johnson from the clutches of easy-to-direct double-teams.
The Giants fortified their secondary not only with Rodgers-Cromartie but also with the signing of Walter Thurmond III, best known for his work against slot receivers.
If Megatron moves inside, Thurmond could be the defender matched with him, unless the Giants really want Rodgers-Cromartie to shadow Johnson’s every step.
All this specialization could make Amukamara feel a bit left out.
He has recovered from a strained groin that caused him to miss the last two preseason games and there are plenty of Lions challenges for him, with Golden Tate signed from the Seahawks added into the mix along with rookie tight end Eric Ebron, third receiver Kevin Ogletree and running back Reggie Bush, a gifted pass-catcher. There are options galore for Matt Stafford.
“The Lions offense likes to sling it,” Amukamara said, “and they have their receivers, especially with their tight ends that they have, so it is definitely going to be a great challenge for us.”