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Film Review: How Giants Clamped Down on Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey

Could the Giants use some of their strategy to stop Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey last week against Zeke Elliott and Tony Pollard of the Cowboys?

Gene Clemons

Film Review: How Giants Clamped Down on Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey
Film Review: How Giants Clamped Down on Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey /
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The Giants are 2-0 after the defense, and special teams carried the team to a 19-16 win last. And speaking of the defense, defensive coordinator Don Martindale put together another fantastic game plan to stifle the Panthers' offense, particularly Carolina's major weapon: running back Christian McCaffrey.

McCaffrey is one of the most dangerous running backs in the NFL when healthy and is someone that the defense has to gameplan for when you take on Carolina. While many hear the words "running back" and immediately think "stop the run," McCaffrey also brings a dynamic as a receiver, making him such a headache for defensive coordinators.

What makes McCaffrey so dangerous out of the backfield as a receiver is that he often finds himself being defended by linebackers. Most linebackers don’t possess the agility or speed to stay with McCaffrey in pass coverage, which creates the advantage Carolina possesses. 

If you can get McCaffrey in space without needing him to weave his way through a bunch of 300-pounders to get there, it is advantageous for an offense. McCaffrey has great hands and is a natural catcher. It is easier to game plan for McCaffrey running the ball because you know where he will be at all times but in pass coverage, you have no idea where he will attack from.

So how did Martindale and this Giants defense hold McCaffrey to four receptions on five targets for 26 yards? 

The answer was a compromise that they felt good making. They sacrificed having another linebacker on the field to help stop the run so that they had an extra defensive back more adept at coverage to pick up McCaffrey out of the backfield. 

The Giants have many defensive backs who are good at tackling. The two starting safeties, Xavier McKinney and Julian Love, both tackle well, the nickel corner, Darnay Holmes, is a good tackler, and rookie safety Dane Belton is also very good at getting offensive skill players to the ground.

So the Giants played a lot of dime packages, and they used Belton like a linebacker. They also played Love and McKinney close to the line of scrimmage, making it difficult for Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield to decipher coverages and defenders. 

The Giants sacrificed some of their burliness inside to defend the run, but they gained more speed in space to deal with McCaffrey. The results were a 100-yard day rushing for McCaffrey, but no touchdowns and no explosive plays as a receiver. 

If you take away the one carry for 49 yards he had at the beginning of the fourth quarter, which did not lead to a touchdown, he was also held in check on the ground.

In the first example, the Panthers are trying to throw a screen to McCaffrey on the Giants' right side. The Giants are in a dime with Julian Love on the line of scrimmage as a blitzer. 

When they snap the ball, Love rushes, and McCaffrey leaks into position for the screen. Out of nowhere, Darnay Holmes comes flying down from the safety position to take out one of the blockers and make McCaffrey stop his feet for a moment. That is long enough for Love to recover and run McCaffrey down before he can make a big play.

The second example shows the Panthers lined up in an empty set, McCaffrey aligned as the No. 3 receiver. That would normally draw a linebacker, but with the Giants in dime, he instead gets safety Xavier McKinney. 

McCaffrey ran an out route against McKinney, but the Giants' safety was locked on. Although it was a completion, the play was dead on the catch--there are no yards after the catch, which normally is how McCaffrey gets his big gains.

The third example was the first of two plays in the red zone where the Panthers were trying to get the ball to their No. 1 playmaker, and the Giants were ready for it.

 In this example, the Panthers tried to work McCaffrey on a seam route from the backfield with two verticals flanking him and another receiver coming in motion across the formation. With their extra safety in place, the Giants were able to bracket McCaffrey and force Mayfield to bring the ball down and scramble for a yard.

The Panthers tried another screen pass to their right in this final example. McCaffrey lined up on the left side of Mayfield, and on the snap, he acted as if he was blocking but drifted to the right side and tried to pop up for the screen. The Giants' middle linebacker Tae Crowder mirrored McCaffrey, and Mayfield couldn't throw the pass to his running back. McCaffrey instead ended up in the arms of outside linebacker Oshane Ximines for the sack. 

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In sum, this was another beautiful game plan by Martindale. More importantly, it was excellently executed by the players. The ability to execute a game plan has been the calling card of these players on the defense since the previous regime was in place. 

The marriage between this unit and the coordinator has been something that's yielded dividends. It will be interesting to see the game plan for the Dallas Cowboys minus Dak Prescott. 

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Gene Clemons
GENE CLEMONS

Gene "Coach" Clemons has been involved with the game of football for 30 years as a player, coach, evaluator, and journalist.  Clemons has spent time writing for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, Bridgton News, Urbana Daily Citizen, Macon Telegraph and footballgameplan.com.  He has a YouTube channel called "Coach Gene Clemons" where you can find his popular "X&O The Joes" series as well as other football related content. 

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