Despite having a star-studded cast of defensive linemen, the New York Giants’ secondary has been significantly poor this season. They rank in the bottom ten in opposing points per game, yards per game, and red zone scoring. It’s a big reason why the team sits at 2-6 and why Jon Gruden can’t pick them to win today.
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The Giants are taking on the San Francisco 49ers this afternoon at home. It should be an interesting matchup between two teams dealing with a ton of injuries to key players. But Gruden just can’t pick the Giants to beat the 5-3 Niners.
The former head coach admitted that New York’s shambolic defense is worrying him too much.
“I keep hearing about all these D-linemen… It’s not about the sacks. It’s about playing football, stopping the run,” Gruden began on Barstool Sports. “They don’t have a fourth-quarter pass rush against Denver. They give up 33 points. This New York Giant defense is bothering me.”
New York has had other poor performances against not-so-stellar offenses this season. They gave up 26 points to the lowly New Orleans Saints and another 21 to the Washington Commanders, who have struggled to find their footing. This past week, they were tormented by Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles, losing 38-20.
That’s why Gruden ultimately picked the 49ers to win today. “Against Kyle Shanahan, I think they’re going to shred ‘em,” he stated.
It very well could happen. Even though ESPN gives the Giants a 62% chance to win today, the Niners have defied the odds all season long. Four of their five wins have been decided by just one score. However, their offense has been inconsistent, with their highest output in a game being 26 points.
After Gruden’s words of wisdom, the other two Barstool co-hosts chimed in. Surprisingly, one of them didn’t agree with the former coach.
“I’m going to take the Giants,” Big Cat said. “The Niners’ defense is so beaten up. They couldn’t get a pass rush on the Houston Texans. Think about that… I could get a pass rush on the Houston Texans.”
It wasn’t just the lack of a pass rush that led to San Fran’s downfall last week. They were also dominated in time of possession, 41 minutes to 18. The Texans played keep-away, and it worked all game long. Another key stat: Houston went 9 for 16 on third-down conversions, keeping drives alive just when the Niners’ defense thought they were getting off the field.
The other co-host, meanwhile, believes that the major injury the Giants suffered this past week will take the wind out of their sails.
“When you lose a [Cam] Skattebo, you don’t just lose first down rushing. You lose the image, the energy from your team. And when they lost that, the rockstar vibe left New York,” Smoot said. “I’m going with the 49ers.”
All in all, it’s a tough game to predict. We could see it going either way. The 49ers have come through and shown grittiness in close games, but they’ve also looked off and on for the past month. With that in mind, though, last week was an off week, so maybe this week they will be on.
Whatever the case, Gruden is still not bought in on this Giants defense. It goes to show that an outstanding defensive line doesn’t make a great unit. There are other aspects to defense than just putting pressure on the quarterback. Not to mention, coaches like Shanahan will simply scheme around them.
That’s why we’re going to stick with Gruden and predict that the 49ers will walk away with a win today. It’s tough to bet on, but the game should be fun to watch.
