JASON PIERRE-PAUL
Earning ‘respect.’
Jason Pierre-Paul was down on the MetLife turf just a few plays into the third quarter yesterday when the Giants phenom collided with both Aaron Ross and Justin Tuck. Fear emerged as to what might have happened to Pierre-Paul.
After a little while, though, Pierre-Paul arose and began to walk around.
“He got up,” defensive end Osi Umenyiora said, “like he was Optimus Prime or something.”
Pierre-Paul was perfectly fine, merely “[getting] the wind knocked out of me.” He left the field momentarily, but returned to the game, and not surprisingly, played an enormous role in the Giants’ impressive 24-2 NFC Wild Card victory over the Falcons.
Pierre-Paul finished with eight tackles, two for losses, including a key stop on Matt Ryan on a fourth-and-1 from the Giants’ 21-yard line with 4:21 left in the third quarter.
How good is Pierre-Paul compared to other defensive players in the NFL right now? Fellow Giants lineman Chris Canty went beyond the current group.
“He’s the best I’ve ever seen,” Canty said.
That might be excessive, but Pierre-Paul might be challenging Darrelle Revis for “Best Defensive Player in New York” honors. After racking up 16 1/2 sacks in the regular season (along with two forced fumbles, a safety and a possible season-saving blocked field goal) and earning an AP All-Pro selection, Pierre-Paul delivered an onslaught yesterday as part of the Giants’ ferocious defense in his first playoff game.
Now Pierre-Paul will lead the Giant defenders into Lambeau Field to face the top-seeded 15-1 Packers.
“One hundred percent, we’re gonna win,” he said.
Pierre-Paul’s scare yesterday came with 12:56 to go in the third quarter after a deflected pass, and while he and Ross were both down, the MetLife fans began chanting “J-P-P!”
Ross suffered a concussion and didn’t return.
“I wasn’t worried at all. [Pierre-Paul] was just trying to milk it a little bit,” Umenyiora said. “Nothing’s gonna hurt that guy.”
Eight minutes later, Pierre-Paul made his fourth-down stop on Ryan, with the Giants lineman calling it “a game-changer.” He also took offense at the Falcons going for it, calling it “disrespect.”
“It just seems like they don’t have any respect for us,” Pierre-Paul said of the Falcons’ two fourth-down attempts. “We showed ’em. That’s basically it. They can’t run the ball on us.”