For the third straight season, the New York Giants are starting off 2-6.
New York fell to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, 38-20, and has now lost 12 straight games at Lincoln Financial Field and dropped their last 10 road games dating back to last year. To put it bluntly, it was an ugly loss for the G-Men that once again exposed their defense, which we all thought would be the team's biggest strength heading into the season.
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It's their run defense in particular that continues to plague the unit. And instead of giving fans some glimmer of hope that things will change, head coach Brian Daboll stated the obvious about his struggling group.
Brian Daboll states the obvious as Giants run defense gets steamrolled again
Daboll met with the media on Monday and stated the obvious when asked about the Giants' inability to stop the run:
"We need to do a better job on our run defense, no question about it."Brian Daboll
While this really didn't need to be said, the fourth-year head coach isn't wrong. Big Blue allowed a season-high 277 rushing yards against the Eagles, which included a 65-yard touchdown run from Saquon Barkley on the second from scrimmage. It was also Barkley's first 100-plus yard game of the season — he rushed for 150 yards on just 14 carries.
Barkley wasn't the only running back for Philly who gave the defense fits. Backup running back Tank Bigsby (who had just 11 yards on one carry for the Eagles entering Sunday) rushed for 104 yards on nine attempts. Bigsby also negated a massive sack from New York's defense when he picked up a first down on a 2nd and 31.
We all thought the front — led by Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Dexter Lawrence, and Abdul Carter — would help lead this defense in stopping the run, but that was clearly not the case on Sunday, and if we're being honest, all season long.
Despite Burns continuing to string together a Defensive Player of the Year season, with a league-leading 10 sacks, the run defense for this team still has been abysmal.