On Thursday night, the Giants faced a tough test as they traveled to San Francisco to play a 49er team considered one of the best in the league. They are a complete team. Their offense has been in sync since quarterback Brock Purdy took over last season, so the Giants defense faced a major challenge. Their defense, led by Nick Bosa and Fred Werner, wreaks havoc every week no matter the competition. It was a tall ask for the Giants to be expected to come out with a win.
To the surprise of very few, the 49ers came out on top, besting the Giants 30-12. The Giants were capable of staying in the game until the 4th quarter. However, the many weapons that the 49ers disposed of came to light while also revealing a major problem with the Giants defense. That problem is the vast amounts of missed tackles by the defense, specifically the secondary. The 49ers playmakers were toying with them at times and were breaking tackles everywhere. This cannot continue or what happened on Thursday will be common throughout the season.
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The Giants Defense Needs To Fix This Glaring Issue
Tackling Issues Take Center Stage
The 49ers boast some of the best yards-after-catch receivers in the league. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle are monsters after the catch and will take your soul if they have to. Against the Giants, it was too easy for them as they ran all over their secondary. Samuel tallied six receptions for 129 yards on the day, 81 of which came after the catch. Kittle also had a big day, recording seven receptions for 90 yards. For the tight end, 49 of his yards came after the catch.
.@49ers @19problemz is a problem. Can anyone tackle him 1 on 1 in the open field. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/DETN5H1QOi
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 22, 2023
Giants Need To Become a More Physical Team on Defense
The Giants defense is known for one thing, and that is blitzes. That philosophy is spearheaded by defensive coordinator Wink Martindale. He brought that idea over from Baltimore and it yielded some good results for the Giants a year ago. The mentality is that this style of play will put pressure on the quarterback to make plays quicker than he’d normally have to. With it, however, the team has started to shy away from making sound football plays on the backend.
Safety Xavier McKinney is a leader on this defense. He has to be the player who starts to become more vocal about this issue. Especially when you consider the fact that the Giants are starting to rookies at cornerback, Deonte Banks and Tre Hawkins, they need to be taught the right way. It is inexcusable for the team to be missing this many tackles. They are going for the big shots instead of just wrapping up and making proper tackles. They will lose football games because of this issue. If not fixed right away, this will be a long year for the Giants secondary.
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Main Photo: Kyle Terada – USA Today Sports
