New York Giants: Rashad Jennings Says Offense Let Defense Down
The New York Giants had one of the best defensive units in the NFL in 2016, but the offense couldn’t pull its weight. Rashad Jennings is taking accountability.
General manager Jerry Reese invested upwards of $200 million in revamping the New York Giants’ defense. It was a controversial gamble that ultimately paid off as the defense led New York to its first postseason appearance since 2011.
Unfortunately, the Giants’ offense was unable to pull its weight and thus prevented New York from realizing its Super Bowl dreams.
New York finished the 2011 regular season with a record of 11-5. It secured one of the two NFC Wild Card spots in the 2017 NFL Playoffs, but ultimately fell 38-13 to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
During an appearance on NFL Network’s Total Access, running back Rashad Jennings took accountability by stating that the offense let the defense down.
Per Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com:
"“We got to the dance but we had two left feet,” Jennings mused. “We stalled out. We didn’t finish. We didn’t finish our drives offensively. We did not put up points like we needed to offensively. Quite frankly, I felt like we left our defense hanging in some areas.”"
The statistics corroborate Jennings’ quote.
New York’s defense ranked No. 2 in the NFL in points allowed per game and No. 10 in yards allowed per contest. Unfortunately, the offense ranked No. 25 in total yardage and No. 26 in points per game.
New York ranked a respectable No. 17 in passing yards per game, but was No. 29 in the NFL in rushing yards per contest.
New York also ranked No. 24 in passing yards per attempt and No. 30 in rushing yards per carry.
Against the Packers in the playoffs, the Giants amassed just 13 points and 70 rushing yards. Eli Manning played a solid game, but the wide receivers dropped passes and coverage teams allowed Green Bay to secure ideal field position.
Though Jennings agreed that the Giants need to make improvements, he feels that the roster itself isn’t far from contending.
"“But what we need to do to make sure that we’re in this position to be one of the 32 teams playing next year is just executing the little, small, minute details because we got a good team.”"
It’s hard to disagree.
The Giants were an 11-win team that played at a legitimately elite level on defense. If the offense can reach a point of even average consistency, it could be enough for New York to add a fifth Lombardi Trophy.
With the NFL Draft and free agency approaching, the time for change could soon be upon us.
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Jennings seems to believe that the change on offense can come from within.