The New York Giants' defense kept them in the game against the Minnesota Vikings, and it nearly turned out to be the reason they won. The Giants' lone touchdown came on defense, and they were an Abdul Carter offsides penalty away from scoring a second defensive touchdown in a close loss.
During a Vikings' possession, the first-round rookie was lined up in the neutral zone, which negated a 96-yard pick-six from safety Jevon Holland. Luckily, Chauncey Golston sacked J.J. McCarthy on the next play and the Giants held Minnesota to a field goal, but they shouldn't have had to to begin with.
Carter has enjoyed his fair share of rookie moments this season, but this time, he didn't shy away from taking accountability. While describing the play, he acknowledged he has to be better, but he admitted that there was no communication between him and defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen after the play.
Abdul Carter basically confirmed Charlie Bullen won't be the Giants' new defensive coordinator
While it's nice to see the Penn State product turning a corner in his maturity, his admission about Bullen is alarming. The scoreboard suggests Sunday marked Big Blue's their best defensive performance of the season, which confirms the only way to go is up now that Shane Bowen is gone.
However, that doesn't mean all of the defensive miscues that have long plagued the Giants are gone. The run defense has been a massive concern, and the secondary is still an area for improvement, but despite the negated touchdown, Week 16 was a massive step in the right direction in New York.
With that said, Carter impressed for the third straight game. The 22-year-old logged a sack, a tackle for loss, and nine quarterback hits against the Vikings, and is now up to three sacks and nine pressures across his last three games. Talk about a rookie coming into his own down the stretch.
Given the No. 3 pick in this draft has had to deal with such ineptitude from the coaching staff is concerning enough, but realizing that he isn't the only problem is nice to see. His maturity problems now feel like a distant memory, as he admitted that, apparently, only his hand was in the neutral zone.
The offense looked like flaming hot garbage in the loss, so the defense provided the only cause for optimism for the G-Men. If Carter's words are true, Bullen certainly isn't the long-term answer at DC, but more importantly, he is both taking responsibility and performing relative to fans' expectations.