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Sep 14, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson (87) runs with the ball against New York Giants safety Jevon Holland (8) during the second quarter at AT&T Stadium. Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

NY Giants Need Defense to Step up in Week 3

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Stephen Lebitsch | Last updated Sep 17, 2025 3:00 AM ET

Remember this past summer when the New York Giants were drawing waves of headlines across the National Football League for the developing strength of their defense?

One whom many experts predicted would be their calling card during the 2025 season and help the offense gut out and possibly win some close games this fall.

To some people's dismay, all the talk and anticipation for the revamped room hasn't lived up to the results on the scoreboard in the first two weeks of the season, where the Giants once again find themselves in an 0-2 hole for the second straight year and eighth time in the past decade.

Sure, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen's group did respectably well in the season opener against the Washington Commanders, holding their division rival to 21 points while sacking quarterback Jayden Daniels a trio of times and giving the Giants offense ample opportunity to climb back into the contest.

The unit, however, still had its deficiencies, particularly in the red zone and protecting against chunk plays on long second and third downs that allowed Washington to get into scoring positions at the most critical points.

Despite likely seeing that on film and working to adjust it on the practice field, not much seemed to change in the defense's approach in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Giants allowed Dak Prescott and the Cowboys to throw the ball a whopping 52 times, completing 71% of those attempts for over 350 yards and going a perfect 3-of-3 inside their own 20-yard line.

While credit can be given to the defensive front that did its best to establish pressure and try to force Prescott off of his free-flowing groove, he seems to reinvent against New York, the biggest problem often came with the back end of the secondary, which carried a laissez-faire mindset in coverage at pivotal moments of the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Cowboys' offense might not have been as sturdy on the offensive line. Still, it's never safe to assume that their arsenal of playmakers can't come up with the big routes and grabs when they need it, and that is exactly what played out against the Giants' porous bunch that allowed three different targets to average double-digit yards per catch and find wrinkles to exploit in their walls.

Where the most important damage came was in the intermediate level of the field, where the Giants fell into an awful trap of playing a prevent style of defense but leaving the middle of the turf wide open for the Cowboys' biggest threats to shine and set up two gut-punching field goals to extend and ultimately win the contest on their home soil.

Per Pro Football Focus, the Giants defense allowed Prescott to collect 45.1% of his passes beyond the sticks and a larger 60% in just air yards traveling to the intended target. That translated to 12 explosive plays for 262 yards that would help the Cowboys set up and connect on a handful of their lead-changing scores.

A couple that won't be forgotten from the loss anytime soon came off the hands of tight end Jake Ferguson, who was one of two Cowboys players to secure nine catches for 78 yards.

Ferguson caught the dreaded 18-yard pass from Prescott in a perfect crease with 14 seconds left in regulation to get his team just inside of kicker Brandon Aubrey's range, solidifying the unimaginable 64-yard boot that sent the thrilling clash into a free ten minutes of football.

Clearly, the Giants didn't learn their lesson on tightening up the coverage again in the overtime period.

After they had two chances to go downfield and end the game on a field goal following huge defensive stops and failed thanks to Russell Wilson's forced interception that marred his huge day, the second and third levels extended as far back as 30 yards to leave a gigantic spot for the dagger.

The ultimate spear from Prescott was his connection with receiver George Pickens for a 27-yard completion with Paulson Adebo and Bobby Okereke as the main defenders sleeping on the coverage.

Prescott would then see the seas part two plays later for his 14-yard rush that would put Aubrey back on the field for a chip shot field goal as time expired in overtime to hand the Giants an unfathomable defeat.

It was the biggest example of grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory for the Giants, a franchise that's become all too familiar with coughing up ginormous wins in the final seconds off the heels of insane field goal tries from unsuspecting kickers.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

One ultimately has to ask how much of that falls on the players for not doing right in the scheme, and how much needs to be pointed towards coaching for not picking up the factor of the Cowboys' kicking department, and how deadly of a weapon it can be with even a fair spotting at the midfield mark.

The Giants' defense clearly lacked the discipline and wherewithal to step up their aggressiveness and make sure they respected Dallas' ability to get back in the game on short notice.

They should have shifted their game plan to a more man coverage style, making the Cowboys' playmakers beat in traffic rather than through boneheaded mistakes and weak coverage.

It might have prevented the first boot by Aubrey, the offense soiling itself under some pressure, and Wilson chucking one up with the hopes it would land again in Malik Nabers' hands for the saving play in the waning minutes of overtime that led to the second fateful shot through the goalposts.

The Giants could have stolen a victory from an opponent they haven't beaten in nine straight meetings now, but are instead in a two-game hole in the NFC East, with pressure starting to mount higher on the whole regime. The Kansas City Chiefs are coming to MetLife Stadium next week seeking their first victory of the season on the primetime stage.

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

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