Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns couldn’t imagine it.
The go rushers knew they’d delivered a dominant effort within the Giants’ 21-18 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, however even they had been stunned by what number of quarterback pressures they, together with rookie Abdul Carter, had mixed for.
“Twenty?” Thibodeaux repeated after studying the whole. “Twenty?!”
Certainly, Carter completed with eight pressures on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, whereas Thibodeaux and Burns totaled six apiece.
Thibodeaux and Burns each recorded a sack, whereas Carter pressured Herbert into an intentional grounding penalty.
It was these kind of overpowering performances the Giants (1-3) envisioned after they drafted Carter with the No. 3 total decide in April to pair him with Thibodeaux, Burns and Professional Bowl defensive sort out Dexter Lawrence.
“We feed off each other,” Carter stated. “Whoever is hot, whoever is bringing the energy, we all try to feed off that and keep bringing the energy all together.”
That fearsome defensive entrance stepped up on a day Giants rookie Jaxson Dart made his first begin at quarterback and star large receiver Malik Nabers was carted off the sphere with a knee harm.
Lawrence got here away with the primary interception of his seven-year profession when he tipped a first-quarter go by Herbert to himself and returned it to the Chargers’ 3-yard line.
“I thought I was going to score,” Lawrence stated. “I knew he was going to go low, but I couldn’t catch my feet quick enough.”
Within the third quarter, with Burns bearing down on him, Herbert threw one other interception, this time to cornerback Andru Phillips, who additionally returned it to the 3-yard line.
These turnovers become 10 of the Giants’ factors.
“It’s competition, man, especially in our room,” Thibodeaux stated. “All of us want to be great. Burns has got his goals. I’ve got mine. [Carter is] trying to make a name for himself in this league, so competition is what’s breeding this excellence.”
By three video games, the Giants protection ranked second-to-last in passing yards allowed per sport (270.0). Herbert, in the meantime, led NFL quarterbacks with 286.7 passing yards per sport.
However the Giants restricted Herbert to 23-of-41 passing for 203 yards, a landing and the 2 interceptions.
Clinging to a three-point lead, the Giants held the Chargers (3-1) scoreless within the fourth quarter, throughout which Los Angeles got here up empty on three drives. The second of these drives ended with a Burns sack on third and 9, forcing a punt with 3:03 left within the sport.
“We changed it up a little bit,” Burns stated. “Abdul got a lot more rushes on the edge. I was inside a lot more, roaming around. It was a different look, but it was successful.”
The Giants took benefit of a Chargers offensive line that was with out sort out Rashawn Slater resulting from a season-ending knee harm and guard Mekhi Becton due to a concussion.
Los Angeles then misplaced sort out Joe Alt to an ankle harm within the first quarter.
“I’m not here for moral victories,” Burns stated. “But at the same time, we did what we’re supposed to do today.”
The Giants are constructed to shut out fourth quarters with their go rush, however in two of their first three video games, they trailed within the fourth quarter.
Within the one they didn’t — an additional time loss in Dallas in Week 2 – the Giants allowed the Cowboys to march into vary for a game-tying area purpose within the fourth quarter’s last 25 seconds.
However on Sunday, the Giants made the mandatory defensive stops — similar to they drew it up.
“We ask to be on the field when it matters most, and this week, we just took advantage,” Lawrence stated. “The whole game, we were on each other, speaking through the game about situational awareness and understanding what plays need to be made.”
