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NFL New York Giants

New York Giants, Perry Fewell Need to Part Ways

By @mturnerny

Perry Fewell New York Giants

Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger via USA TODAY Sports

The 2014 New York Giants are not the wrecking crew so many fans remember them being. Throughout the majority of the team’s history, their defense has been their heart and soul, winning them four Super Bowls. This year, they’ve been far from that formidable unit the other 31 teams feared. In fact, they’re among the worst defensive units in the league.

Through 11 games, the Giants are giving up, on average, 26.7 points (27th) on 396.5 yards (31st). Neither their run defense (31st) nor their pass defense (24th) is anything to be impressed by. Obviously, they’ve suffered huge losses on the season. Prince Amukamara, who is a severely underrated cornerback, and Jon Beason, their defensive play-caller, are both out for the season. In addition, cornerbacks Walter Thurmond III and Trumaine McBride are injured. At the beginning of the season, the Giants’ secondary was supposed to be a strength and now it’s a weakness. Their linebackers corpse was never a strength and now it’s a glaring issue.

Obviously, injuries of those magnitudes could affect even the best defense in the league. But the Giants’ problem goes much deeper than injuries. The Giants’ problem is their coaching.

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell often seems unable to call a proper combination of aggressive and bend-but-don’t-break play calls. By watching a game, you can see too many plays let the defense sit back in a zone where the offense either rushes for nearly five yards a clip or passes close to the first-down marker, and then is swarmed by defenders. Offenses are too good nowadays to let them rack up so many yards.

Perhaps part of the problem is the Giants’ defensive line isn’t anywhere near where it used to be. Jason Pierre-Paul and Mathias Kiwanuka aren’t getting it done. Only a few years ago, the Giants had Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora, who created one of the best lines in the league. This season, the Giants’ leader in sacks is a backup. Yes, a backup.

That leads me to wonder why Fewell hasn’t given Robert Ayers Jr. more playing time. He’s the only Giant who can consistently get pressure on the quarterback, but apparently the Giants’ coaches aren’t too impressed with his run game, which keeps him off the field. The same goes for Damontre Moore. The odd part is, their current defensive line isn’t doing too well against the run either. Otherwise they wouldn’t be second to last in the league in that category.

A better defense wouldn’t have saved the Giants’ season. It would certainly make them more competitive, however. And for that reason, this should be Fewell’s last season with the Giants. There are a fair amount of reputable defensive coaches out there, and head coach Tom Coughlin should be looking to add one of them to his coaching staff.

Matt Turner is a New York Mets writer for www.RantSports.com. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @MturnerNY, or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.

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