How NY Giants Defense Can Find Success Against Each NFC East Opponent

Barkley was an MVP candidate in his first season with the Eagles. When you put his elusiveness and explosiveness behind the best run-blocking offensive line in the NFL, it is a nightmare for opponents. 

Last season, he returned to New York and showed the Giants first-hand what it would be like to deal with him as an opponent. He finished with 17 carries for 176 yards and a touchdown. He did not even play in the fourth quarter. 

In their second game, he did not play because Philly had secured their playoff position. If the Giants are to be relevant this season, they will not have that luck. It means that they will need to deal with Barkley for the entire game in both contests next year. 

It's not like he ran for 2,000 yards, won the Super Bowl, and is now content to sit back; now he is trying to enter the realm of the immortals, and the Giants are tasked with stopping him. 

Like many explosive backs, Barkley does not kill you with the short runs. Those four and five-yard runs are the equivalent of singles and doubles in baseball–they can hurt, but the pain is manageable. 

It's the long runs, the triples, and the home runs that destroy a team. There is only one legitimate way to limit his immense production as an offensive weapon: to make the ball out of his hands. 

The defensive braintrust needs to commit more defenders to the box and focus them on stopping Barkley as a primary objective. 

Quarterback Jalen Hurts is talented. He showed that once again in the Super Bowl, where he outplayed Patrick Mahomes for the second time on the biggest stage, but the Chiefs failed to take anything away. 

Make Hurts prove he can throw it successfully when he has to throw over 40 times. The pass rush should be able to create pressure with four, which allows more eyes to be on Barkley. If Hurts beats you, shake their hands and move on to the next game.

Commanders: Stop Jayden Daniels from Running

The Washington Commanders have catapulted themselves into NFC supremacy thanks to competent coaching and finding an elite playmaker at quarterback. 

They are not reinventing the wheel in Washington, but they are allowing their quarterback to develop while embracing his unique style of play. 

That is why he was able to achieve such immense success as a rookie and why he was such a challenge for the Giants' defense in 2024. With a year of NFL success under his belt, offensive line improvements and more perimeter weapons. He will be as dangerous as ever. 

The key to stopping Daniels is by making him one-dimensional. You must make him a pocket passer. It is not that Daniels can't thrive as a pocket passer; he is legit. The reason the Giants need to make him a pocket passer is to allow this pass rush to be unleashed while still dropping seven into coverage. 

How do the Giants accomplish this feat? They must have a spy for Daniels, and it can't be the same player spying consistently. The Giants must employ a shell game with a spy and utilize him at all three levels. 

Bring down safety Dane Belton to key Daniels from the third level. Bobby Okereke could spy from his linebacker position, and you could choose any of the three twitchy edge rushers to spy, including rookie Abdul Carter. 

Even with Washington making improvements along the offensive line, the Giants' four-person rush should be able to overwhelm the Commanders' front five. 

Cowboys: Frustrate the receiving corps  

The Giants have had the unenviable task of dealing with CeeDee Lamb twice a season for years. He has established himself as one of the best receivers in the NFL. This offseason, the team traded for former Steelers receiver George Pickens, who has been an underrated talent since being drafted. 

He has simply been held back by inconsistent or mediocre quarterback play. Now, they have teamed up on the same squad they forming one of the most explosive duos in the NFL. With a healthy Dak Prescott, it will only make them more difficult to handle for defensive backfields. 

Lamb has enjoyed success against the Giants. In their first meeting last season, he finished with seven receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown, but they lacked a second option. 

Tight end Jake Ferguson was second with seven receptions for 49 yards. Now they are upgrading to Pickens. Last season, he had four receptions for 74 yards in Russell Wilson's first start.

Both receivers are the ultimate front-runners. When things are going well, they are amazing and almost elevate their games to another level. When that happens, they are practically impossible to stop. The interesting part is what happens when things don't go well early. 

When defenders disrupt their rhythm and ruin their timing or flow. What happens when you trash-talk them or increase their physicality? How do they respond? 

The answer is not great. The truth is that both receivers can become overly emotional at times and let the game within the game affect them negatively, especially when they are catching the football. 

The Giants need to use this to their advantage. They need to be more physical not only at the line of scrimmage, but throughout the route and at the catch point. They need to get in those players' heads and see if they will crash out. 

Make those receivers focus more on the beef with the defensive backs than on their job within the offense. If they are not as explosive, the overall offense becomes less effective. 

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