The Giants came into the 2021 season feeling more confident about their defense than their offense, but the unit was a disappointment through the first six games of the year.
Sunday’s game against the Panthers may have been what they needed to get back on track. The Giants needed a big day from their defense with several pieces missing on offense and they got it.
Carolina gained 173 yards and didn’t score a point after opening the 25-3 loss with a field goal. Sam Darnold and P.J. Walker were sacked six times and Darnold threw an interception in a performance that Giants defensive lineman Leonard Williams said was exactly what the unit set out to do.
“This is big-time,” Williams said, via the team’s website. “As a unit, we kind of talked about putting the team on our back more and how our team is -- what we think our team is built around the defense. We take pride in being a defensive team and you know so far this year we haven’t really been stepping up to the plate and I think this was a really big game for us. We didn’t allow any touchdowns and we’re putting our offense in some good field position and we closed the game out like we wanted to.”
The defense’s next test will come against the Chiefs on Monday night in Week Eight and Sunday’s outing should provide confidence that they’ll be able to handle what Patrick Mahomes and company throw at them.