4 NY Giants who let the team down in 31-16 loss to the Dolphins

The Giants are not 1-4 on the year and the season feels lost
New York Giants v Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants v Minnesota Vikings / Stephen Maturen/GettyImages
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1. DC Wink Martindale

Now, the entirety of the defense's struggles are not a result of Wink Martindale, don't get us wrong. Despite this, there's no doubt that he made some pretty crucial mistakes during this game that cost the defense big time. This, combined with his questionable playcalling in the other four games, has been deflating to witness.

For starters, Martindale's inconsistencies in defensive playcalling, lack of adjustments, and personnel issues were bad. However, this does not change the fact that the Giants' defense did do a solid job, forcing three turnovers after heading into this week with zero on the season. Regardless, they still gave up 31 points and were absolutely embarrassed at several points throughout the game.

One of Martindale's biggest mistakes this game came in the third quarter, when he, for some reason, put rookie sixth-round corner Tre Hawkins on Tyreek Hill in press-man coverage with no safety help at all. This resulted in an easy 69-yard touchdown pass for Hill. Some will blame Hawkins, and he did make a very bad play, but he never should have been in this position to begin with. Everyone knows that Hawkins has been struggling, so for Martindale to put him one-on-one against Hill is just mind-boggling.

We're confident in Martindale and his abilities as the Giants' defensive coordinator, as he's proven he can be great in the past. However, he has to put his guys in the right position to succeed the rest of the season. Wink had a lot of Giants fans furious on Sunday.

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