The Giants’ defense is already down one of their best players, which means more pressure for the D line to perform.
Sunday night’s game between the NY Giants and the Cleveland Browns is setting up to be an old school, smash mouth kind of game.
The Giants enter Week 15 with the seventh best rushing defense in the league, currently giving up just 101.5 yards per game. The Browns enter with the third best rushing offense in the league, currently raking up 156.2 yards per game.
And that’s just one reason why it might get chippy this Sunday.
There’s so many revenge story lines it’s hard to keep track. Freddie Kitchens, whom the Browns fired after just one season as head coach, will be calling the plays for the Giants with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett out.
Jabrill Peppers, who was traded from Cleveland to NY for Odell Beckham Jr., would have already been playing with a chip on his shoulder this game. But now he has even more responsibility with James Bradberry also missing the game.
Olivier Vernon — who spent three frustrating years with the Giants, totaling 22 sacks, making one Pro Bowl, but missing nine games — looks to add to his seven sacks this season. His season-high with Big Blue was 8.5.
And he’ll be looking to bring down Giants’ starting quarterback Colt McCoy, who was drafted by Cleveland in the third round in 2010 and spent his first three years in the NFL on the Browns, collecting a record of 6-15 in the 21 games he started.
Many players on the field Sunday will have much to prove. But the biggest battle comes down to the Giants’ defensive line against the Browns’ two-headed rushing monster.
Kareem Hunt – Nick Chubb duo, a powerhouse
Despite missing four games with an MCL sprain on his right knee, Nick Chubb has had yet another monster season.
In nine games, he already has nine touchdowns, which is a career high for the third year back out of Georgia. And he’s currently fifth in the NFL in rushing yards with 881. He sports a 5.9 average yards per attempt, which is first among running backs and third overall. Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray average 6.3 and 6.2.
If it wasn’t hard enough to game plan around Chubb, the Giants’ defensive coordinator Patrick Graham also has to worry over Kareem Hunt.
Despite being behind Chubb on the depth chart, Hunt is 10th in the NFL among running backs in total rushing yards with 772. He’s 11th overall, as Lamar Jackson has 793 rushing yards.
But Hunt has carved himself a nice spot into the Cleveland passing game. He has 31 receptions (tied for second most on the team) on 42 targets with 252 reception yards. He also leads the Browns in touchdown receptions with five.
Together the two poise serious damage. Chubb has 11 rushes of 20+ yards on the season, while Hunt has three himself. Chubb averages 97.9 rushing yards per game. Hunt averages an additional 59.5, plus 19.4 receiving yards per game.
And both are dangerous with the ball in their hands, however they get it. For receptions, Hunt has 235 yards after contact, while Chubb has 91.
As good as these rushing weapons are for Cleveland, they have a strong defensive line they’ll need to get past.
Can Giants’ defense bounce back?
It’s easy to lose sight of how strong the Giants’ defense played for most of the game in Week 14. From the very start of the game, the Great Wall of NY showed how impenetrable it could be.
After a first-possession Daniel Jones fumble gave the Arizona Cardinals starting field position from the Giants 9 yard line, the defense showed how it can stretch itself across the field to contain explosive playmakers.
As head coach Joe Judge said in this week’s Joe Judge Report, the defense knew “their job is to make the stop regardless of what it is.” And they did just that on a fourth and goal from the 1 yard line.
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Judge said the defense knew that the Cardinals were a run-heavy team, and they needed to build a wall at the line of scrimmage to stop them from going vertically into the end zone. They held, and forced Murray to make a challenging pass which was broken up by Bradberry.
For much of the first half of the Giants’ loss to Arizona, the defense was able to make open field tackles on Murray. They’ll have to make plenty more this week on Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.
Those backs will have to do what other teams have largely been unable to do, sustain a run game against the Giants’ defensive line. The Giants currently have 70.5 total tackles for loss on the season, which is a good indication on their ability to blow up rushes before the back can get going.
Defensive end Leonard Williams leads the team in tackles for losses with 11.5. But former Cleveland Brown Jabrill Peppers isn’t too far behind with 8.5. And defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and linebacker Blake Martinez also have eight.
Further, the Browns will have to worry about Williams on all aspects of the game. He is currently tied eighth overall in the NFL with 8.5 sacks, and fourth in sack yards with 81. Getting to Browns’ quarterback Baker Mayfield and pinning their offense in long-distance conversions will force Cleveland to abandon the run.
If the Giants’ defense can continue to stop a team’s rushing game plan, they stand a better chance to win this game. But this week they have two superstars in the backfield to contain to get it done.