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The New York Giants picked up a victory in Week 4 despite a lousy performance from their defense that includes zero sacks, zero tackles for a loss and 15 missed tackles.
The lack of pressure has been a consistent issue for Patrick Graham’s squad despite him calling blitzes at the ninth-highest rate in the NFL. That has netted them the third-least amount of quarterback knockdowns in the NFL and the fourth-lowest pressure percentage.
Against the Dallas Cowboys, their stout offensive line and quarterback Dak Prescott, that’s not going to fly.
“We’ve got do whatever is necessary to affect Prescott this week. Again, I think whether you’re going to compare it to last week or two weeks before or the year before, we’re going to try to do what’s best for the game plan for this weekend and hopefully it’s enough to win the game,” Graham told reporters on Thursday.
When passing from a clean pocket this season, Prescott has tossed nine touchdowns to just one interception. While under pressure, that ratio dipped to one touchdown and one interception.
And when facing the blitz, Prescott is equally as dangerous if the defenders don’t get home. He’s tossed six touchdowns into the blitz this season to just two interceptions — which is a testament to his offensive line.
That means the Giants must find a way to generate pressure with their defensive line and front seven.
“The quarterback is obviously good, they’ve got a good back, they’ve got a good offensive line, they’ve got good skill people, so any game plan we’re trying to work and trying to manipulate — obviously, you want to get more pressure here, you want get more pressure there, whether it’s four or bringing guys — but what we try to do is mix it up. Sometimes, it looks like we’re not bringing five or we’re bringing four or we’re bringing six,” Graham said.
“I know this, you’ve got to affect the quarterback somehow, you’ve got to affect the offensive line somehow and that’s the goal.”
The other issue the Giants must address is missed tackles. Ezekiel Elliott is a broken tackle machine and the Giants can ill afford to experience the same issues in Week 5 as they did in Week 4.
“I think you put extra emphasis on tackling because of the level of skills guys they have here, like Cooper, Zeke, all these guys, even Dak. They’re all tough to tackle, so you have to put emphasis on that, no question,” Graham said.
The Giants defense faces an uphill battle this Sunday but Graham knows what needs to be done. The only question remaining is whether or not he and his players can right the ship in time.