NY daily news:http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/giants-defense-latest-part-team-crumble-article-1.3613400
Now the Giants defense has fallen apart.
While the Big Blue defense has not lived up to the expectations of one of the most feared units in the league this season, they had still done enough to at least keep the Giants in games.
That all changed Sunday when the Rams made them look like a Pop Warner team.
The Giants allowed 51 points — the most allowed by Big Blue at home since 1964 when the Cleveland Browns put up 52 on them — with the Rams taking no more than four minutes to score on eight of their nine scoring drives and had 10 plays of at least 15 yards or more throughout the game.
While the defense was missing some key starters due to injuries and shutdown corner Janoris Jenkins due to a suspension, it was still a shock to see such a poor effort on the surface.
“That ain’t the case,” corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. “I don’t think guys lied down, you just got to move fast like quicksand. Go out there, you try to fight but you keep sinking.”
The Giants sank faster than quicksand, though, and it started in the second quarter when they had the Rams pinned back on a third-and-33 from their own 48.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff threw a screen pass to Robert Woods, who was left open and ran untouched for 52 yards into the end zone, which gave Los Angeles a 17-7 lead at the time.
Safety Landon Collins, who was nearly at a loss for words following the game, said the defense just over-pursued.
“We thought he was going to push to keep it strong,” Collins said. “He cut it back. We had nobody playing backdoor on that screen.”
Two minutes later the Rams struck again, with Goff finding Sammy Watkins deep behind Collins and the secondary for a 67-yard touchdown and put the Rams up 24-7.
They eventually took a 27-10 lead into halftime before scoring three touchdowns and a field goal in the second half.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Collins said. “We have to really get in the film room, get in the locker room and kind of just figure this stuff out. Something is up and we’ve got to figure it out.”
The Rams finished with 473 yards of total offense, with Goff throwing for 311 and the running game, led by Todd Gurley, accounting for 162.
Jason Pierre-Paul’s reason for the defensive breakdown was simple.
“Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes,” the defensive end said. “Mistakes cost us that game.”
While head coach Ben McAdoo’s job is likely in jeopardy already, the poor performance from the defense could signal doom for other coaches, but Rodgers-Cromartie says the blame lies on the players.
“You can’t put it on the coaches,” he said. “Not the way we’re playing. That’s the defense. Ask any of us, we’ve blown coverages for people wide open. You can’t fire no coach for that. Fire a player or something’s got to give.”
Rodgers-Cromartie did express some optimism before leaving the stadium, saying he expects Jenkins and others to return to the defense next week.
“Next week we’ll get a lot of key pieces back and go from there,” he said. “Just one week at a time.”
