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Former New York Giant Justin Tuck Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Justin Tuck Sounds Off on NY Giants’ Run-Stop Struggles

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Patricia Traina | Last updated Sep 20, 2025 10:00 AM ET

During his nine-year career with the New York Giants, defensive lineman Justin Tuck played on a defensive unit that ranked in the top 15 of the league in all but one season (2012, 25th) against the run.

Tuck, a key part of those stellar defensive units, looks at the struggles of the current Giants defense against the run, and he views a combination of factors as being contributors to the low rankings of the Giants’ run defense.

“Typically, we've been behind in games, so I just feel like, you know, you got a guy like Dexter (Lawrence) who's gonna take so much attention from the offensive line,” he said during a promotional visit on behalf of Old Spice at Union City High School.

“I would like to see our linebackers fill gaps faster and so forth. I haven't had the opportunity to look at it from a scheme perspective or a talent perspective, but I definitely think that the talent on that defense should be performing better in the run game.”

The Giants' run defense is off to yet another lousy start, having allowed an average of 177.5 rushing yards in two games, ranking them last in that category.

Instead of forcing second- and third-and-long situations, the Giants have allowed opponents an average of 4.7 rushing yards per attempt on first downs, 8.3 yards per attempt on second downs, and 5.0 yards per attempt on third downs.

By not forcing long yardage situations, the Giants' pass rush has only managed six sacks, three of those by outside linebacker Brian Burns.

Further, by not forcing long yardage on second and third downs, opposing quarterbacks have completed 72.7% of their pass attempts on second down and 57.9% on third down against a defense that must still guard against the possibility of a run on a down that should otherwise be an obvious passing down.

Although Tuck hasn’t done a deep dive into the Giants' run defense’s woes, he believes that the talent on that unit should be producing much better results than it has through two games.

“I worry if the scheme puts players in the right situations given the fact that offenses have done a really good job of keeping us off balance,” he said.

“I do believe in this talent,” Tuck said. “You got a guy like Dexter Lawrence, you got Bobby Okereke in the middle of that defense, and I believe in those talents. I don’t know if it’s the scheme, or guys being in the wrong spots, or if it’s more complicated, but I will agree that when you look at the talent on this defense, and especially on the D-line, we should be having more success in and stopping the run.”

Tuck, who during his time with the Giants was a team captain, knows a thing or two about leading a team out of adversity. He reflected on the messages he shared with his teammates during tough times, revealing that he shared some of those same messages with the student athletes he met with on Friday.

“The thing that I will tell these guys is it's all about confidence and you build confidence through routine, right?” Tuck said.

“When I think about the things that allowed us to kind of right the ship in 2011 and other years, the fact was that we knew we were doing the right things in and out of that locker room on and off that field.

“I think for me that the similarities of the success I had in the football field came from having a phenomenal routine, and now being a businessman, a lot of the successes I've had too are still the same–still about routine.”

This article first appeared on New York Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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