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NY Post
New York Post
28 Sep 2023


NextImg:Giants’ struggling run defense a point of emphasis against Seahawks

The Giants didn’t commit a total of $60 million to fixing the rushing defense only to fall further down the rankings.

Everyone from owner John Mara to general manager Joe Schoen to the coaching staff identified stopping the run as one of the biggest weaknesses last season, when the Giants were 27th in the NFL with 144.2 yards per game allowed.

The plan of action involved signing middle linebacker Bobby Okereke, defensive tackles Rakeem Nunez-Roches and A’Shawn Robinson, and drafting seventh-round pick Jordon Riley.

The early results are discouraging — the Giants have slipped to 29th at a modestly improved 138 yards allowed per game — and being taken personally.

“Oh yeah,” Nunez-Roches told The Post. “That’s my job, that’s what I’m here for. A lot of things are out of my control, but that’s a thing I can control.”

Enter Monday night’s opponent — the Seahawks and their smash-mouth brand led by running back Kenneth Walker III, who is averaging 4.3 yards per rush with four touchdowns on 47 carries.

“They have a really good running back and they are big up front,” Okereke said. “It’s a physical offensive line that likes to get a body on a body, so we’ll be prepared for that. It’s another opportunity for me to get downhill and get some TFLs [tackles for loss] and make some splash plays.”

Rakeem Nunez-Roches and others tasked with fixing the rushing defense for the Giants, hope to change their ranking against the Seahawks.
Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

The Giants surprisingly bottled up Walker (18 carries for 51 yards) and the Seahawks’ rushing attack (87 yards) in last season’s loss.

But that doesn’t mean history will repeat, especially if the Giants follow their early-season formula of falling behind by double digits in the first half.

“We have to, obviously, put a point of emphasis on that [stopping the run],” head coach Brian Daboll said. “But that’s a collective team thing, too, that we can all do better. You have to be able to start fast and try to control the game as well so that you don’t get so far behind and one team can run it on you, or you go away from the run game.”

    Walker spends 3.32 seconds behind the line of scrimmage per carry — the third-highest total in the league — but is tied for third among running backs with seven broken tackles.

    “He’ll start one way on a stretch and he’ll cut back across the whole defense,” Okereke said. “He’s fast enough to get around the edge, and he likes the physical challenge.”

    The Giants missed 16 tackles against the 49ers and — after a week with no true practices — wore pads Thursday and added a tackling circuit to the schedule.

    Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke during practice drills in East Rutherford, N.J.
    Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke during practice drills in East Rutherford, N.J.
    Noah K. Murray-NY Post

    “Their mentality is to grind it out and make it a slugfest, so we’ve got to go blow for blow,” Nunez-Roches said. “How do we change [results]? Fix our approach to practice: Emphasize the little details, and work together to have gap integrity and understand where everybody is going to be.”

    The Giants believe that stopping the run will fix their other defensive ills — namely a dearth of sacks (two) and takeaways (zero).

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    “It’s hard to be good on defense when you are allowing them to run the ball,” defensive tackle Leonard Williams said. “We always talk about trying to make them play one-handed — and what we mean by that is stopping the run.

    “If you allow them to run, you are allowing them to play their whole offense against you at any time. But if you make them pass the ball — sometimes when they don’t want to — that’s important for us. We’ll have more sack and takeaway opportunities that way.”

    One thought behind adding run-stuffers in the offseason was that depth would allow Williams and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence — both of whom played about 80 percent of the snaps when healthy last season — to rest up for pass-rushing situations.

    But they could be called upon more frequently if moments like the Cardinals scoring three touchdowns when Williams and Lawrence are on the sideline become a trend.

    “I definitely feel way more ready to go when I’m on the field because we are getting a rotation, whereas sometimes last year we were out there for 15-play drives at times and we are just exhausted but still have to go,” Williams said. “We also feel comfortable about the guys that we are rotating with — that when they are in there, they are going to do their job. I think it just all comes down to stopping the run right now.”