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If there’s one thing the New York Giants haven’t done during their miserable 0-3 start to the season, it’s point fingers at each other.
Shortly after an embarrassing 36-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3, veteran defensive lineman Leonard Williams attempted to shoulder the blame, suggesting he — one of their most productive players — needs to do more.
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is having none of that however, telling reporters on Thursday that he is solely responsible for the team’s issues.
“Period, point blank. It starts with me,” Graham said. “I have to do a better job of coaching.”
Above all else, Graham feels he has to position his players better when it comes to stopping the run, which has been a significant issue early on this season.
“I keep it real simple. The first thing I look at is the record — obviously it’s not good enough,” Graham said. “But to get into more detail, I look at the situational stuff and the stuff we want to be defined by. Stopping the run. Stopping the run when you know they’re going to run the ball.”
Bizarrely, the Giants have one of the best first down defenses in the league, including against the run, but it seems to come off the rails on second down and especially on third down.
“In this league, games are won on third down, red area, and two minute,” he said. “And I would say this, statistically from the naked guy, we got to do a better job. I’ve got to do a better job of coaching that.”
While Graham tried to shoulder the burden of the team’s poor start, his players aren’t going to allow him to fall on the sword.
“I believe it’s on all of us. We’re all in it together,” defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence said on Thursday. “It shows the kind of person he is, taking it for the team. But in my eyes, it’s on all of us. We just need to have that attitude that we’re getting off [the field] no matter what. That’s just how we have to approach every third down. That’s how the attitude has been in practice and that’s how we have to carry it over to the game and that’s how we get off on third down. We don’t want to be last in the league in whatever the statistic says. Our goal is just to do everything we can to get off on that down.”
Things get no easier for Graham, Lawrence and the Giants in Week 4 as they go up against the Los Angeles Rams, who sport one of the most electric offenses in football.
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