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NFL New York Giants

Defensive Line Is Key To New York Giants’ Week 11 Win

By @Bigwoolf5

New York Giants, Jason Pierre-Paul

Robert Deutsch-USA Today Sports

The New York Giants are on a four-game losing streak at the moment and they seem to be losing every game in a different way. This past week against the Seattle Seahawks they could not stop the run at all, allowing 350 rushing yards to the combination of Marshawn Lynch, Russell Wilson and company.

This week the Giants welcome in the San Francisco 49ers, another team with a very mobile quarterback and a power running game. Because of this, the key to this game, if the Giants are to win, is their defensive line.

Last week the major problem areas were gaping holes in the middle when Lynch was running and not sticking to their assignments when Wilson kept the ball on the read option. The positive thing is that the 49ers don’t really run the read option; they are more of a traditional running team, using the I-formation and pounding the ball up the middle.

Frank Gore is the 49ers’ lead back and is averaging four yards per carry. It is going to be key that defensive tackles Cullen Jenkins and Johnathan Hankins get off their blocks quickly and hit Gore immediately.

Another huge issue last week was tackling. The Giants struggled all day to bring down Lynch after first contact, as he continued to break tackles and averaged seven yards per carry. Lynch is a whole other animal, and while Gore is a powerful runner, nobody is as hard to bring down as the guy they call Beast Mode, so the Giants shouldn’t have as big of an issue tackling this week.

Another area where the Giants’ defensive line will be key is in the pass rush. San Francisco’s offensive line has struggled recently to pass protect as they have let up 12 sacks over the past two weeks to the St. Louis Rams and the New Orleans Saints. It will be imperative that Jason Pierre-Paul, Robert Ayers and Damontre Moore get after the quarterback and take advantage of the 49ers’ biggest weakness.

The Giants have to hope that last week’s pounding at the hands of the Seahawks was an aberration and that they aren’t that bad against the run. The 49ers will come into this game and run the ball just as much as the Seahawks did last week, so it is up to the Giants’ defensive line, as a unit, to stop the 49ers’ ground attack from doing what the Seahawks did to them last week.

If the Giants can slow down the rushing attack and put constant pressure on Colin Kaepernick, they have a pretty good chance to pull off this upset. If not, then that losing streak will likely move to five.

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