{"id":98868,"date":"2020-11-30T11:34:14","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T16:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=98868"},"modified":"2020-11-30T11:34:14","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T16:34:14","slug":"leonard-williams-and-the-new-york-giants-defense-stepped-up-when-it-had-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/11\/30\/leonard-williams-and-the-new-york-giants-defense-stepped-up-when-it-had-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Leonard Williams and the New York Giants Defense Stepped Up When It Had to"},"content":{"rendered":"

Winning for the New York Giants<\/a> never usually comes easy or pretty, but a Leonard Williams<\/a><\/strong> game-winning fumble recovery with under a minute to go was a welcome sight for Giants fans. Victories count all the same and Sunday\u2019s win over the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> on the road was huge for the franchise on so many levels.<\/p>\n

The Play of Leonard Williams Was Key in New York Giants\u2019 Defense Fabulous Effort<\/h2>\n

The win was New York\u2019s third in a row and as a result, the Giants are now tops in the NFC East (they are tied with Washington, but swept them, so they have the tiebreaker). It should be noted that it was Jabaal Sheard<\/a><\/strong> who was the one that forced the fumble on a critical sack of the Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen<\/a><\/strong> in the waning seconds of the game.<\/p>\n

Between the play of Williams, Sheard, Niko Lalos<\/strong>, Carter Coughlin<\/a><\/strong>, Jabrill Peppers<\/a><\/strong>, and Logan Ryan<\/a><\/strong>, this unit stepped up when they had to. Given that Daniel Jones<\/a><\/strong> got injured in the third quarter, it was the effort of the defense that carried them past the finish line in a game the Giants just had to have.<\/p>\n

And from the looks of it, Jones\u2019 injury looks like it is a somewhat significant injury<\/a>. Tests on Monday will reveal more on the severity of the injury. So the defense will have to have more games as they had on Sunday if they want to keep winning.<\/p>\n

Getting back to Williams. He has had one heck of a comeback year. His showing on Saturday was a microcosm of his value.<\/p>\n

Williams is now holding up his end of the bargain<\/a> on the trade with the New York Jets that befuddled the New York media<\/a>. In Sunday\u2019s game, Williams had a sack, a tackle for a loss, and three quarterback hits.<\/p>\n

\n

Leonard Williams, 2017-2019 (47 games): 7.5 sacks<\/p>\n

Leonard Williams, 2020 (11 games): 6 sacks pic.twitter.com\/sVYLt37gjN<\/a><\/p>\n

— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) November 29, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n