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NFL New York Giants

New York Giants’ Defense Has Quickly Become Weakness For Team

By @teapester725

Giants Defense vs Seahawks

Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into the season, the defense for the New York Giants was the unit that was expected to carry this team. With the offense learning a new scheme, they were expected to take some time to get into the swing of things. The results for the offense in the early going were rough, but they picked things up throughout the season and were respectable. The defense, though, never fully got its traction for a number of reasons, and it hit an all-time low Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.

Injuries have been a big factor in the Giants’ defense performing as poorly as the season wears on. There have been a number of players placed on season-ending IR, including starters Jon Beason and Prince Amukamara. Add in the top two slot cornerbacks on the roster in Walter Thurmond and Trumaine McBride, and the Giants’ strength coming into the season, the secondary, has become a glaring weakness. Going that deep into the depth chart would be a problem for even the most talented and deep teams, which the Giants were not even to start the season.

Against the Seahawks, the problem was not in the secondary, but instead up front with the wrong mindset and philosophy. Against the Seahawks, the Giants allowed 350 yards — you read that right, 350 rushing yards on the afternoon for the Seahawks, a team record. Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson both ran for over 100 yards, as the Seahawks pounded the rock against a Giants defense that had no answers, even though they were fully prepared for what they were going to face.

Along with Lynch and Wilson, Robert Turbin and Christine Michael also averaged over five yards a carry, as the Seahawks put together an impressive 7.8 yards per carry in the game.

The performance against the Seahawks is an exclamation point for what has been an abysmal stretch for the Giants’ defense, as this was the fourth consecutive game they allowed over 400 yards to an opposing offense. That is the first time that has happened in their storied franchise’s history, just a peek into how bad it has gotten for the Giants defensively.

Not coincidentally, the Giants’ losing streak has coincided with the poor performance on the defensive side of the ball. The Giants four-game losing streak has put a real damper on their playoff hopes, but also proves they aren’t a worthy playoff team. All four of these games have come against playoff teams, further cementing the tough truth that the Giants are not one.

With how poorly the Giants have performed this season, it isn’t out of the realm of possibilities that they have an overhaul on the defensive side of the ball, much like the offense had this past offseason. It would be a surprise if Perry Fewell is back next season, as the Giants could be looking at their second consecutive offseason implanting a totally new scheme on one side of the ball.

Kenneth Teape is a New York Giants writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter@teapester725 or join his Google network,

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