Giants Country

Former Giants Defender Theorizes Why Team’s Run Defense Has Struggled

Jonathan Casillas offered some observations about the New York Giants run defense's biggest ongoing struggles.

Patricia Traina

Dec 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) is tackled by New York Giants cornerback Tre Hawkins III (37) and defensive end Elijah Garcia (90) and linebacker Darius Muasau (53) and linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (5) during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium.
Dec 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) is tackled by New York Giants cornerback Tre Hawkins III (37) and defensive end Elijah Garcia (90) and linebacker Darius Muasau (53) and linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (5) during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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It’s been a long time since the New York Giants run defense was considered among the league’s best.

How long, you ask? The last time the Giants run defense was ranked in the top half of the league was in 2020 when it allowed just 111.4 yards per game, the tenth best mark in the league. 

Since then, the Giants run defense, even with a healthy Dexter Lawrence II anchoring it, has ranked 25th or higher, allowing at least 129 yards per game. Currently the unit is at its worst this season having allowed 142.6 yards per game, which is 31st in the league.

And if there is one thing in particular that has been a thorn in the side of the Giants’ run defense, it’s been the missed tackles.

According to data from Pro Football Focus, the Giants' run defense has missed 79 tackles this season. That’s the sixth most missed tackles by a run defense, behind the Jets (91), Cardinals (88), Browns (86), Panthers (85), and Colts (80).

Former Giants outside linebacker Jonathan Casillas has a theory about why the Giants' run defense has missed so many tackles this season.

“The reason I think you've seen so many missed tackles is that guys aren't doing more than their job,” Casillas told the Locked On Giants podcast.

“Let’s say you have a zone play. The zone play is usually designed to hit a certain gap or cut back, depending on what the linebacker or the free man is doing in this situation,” he said. 

“A lot of times, it rolls back to defensive backs, right? If a defensive back hesitates for one second, that's a five-, six-, seven-, eight-yard gain. But if a defensive end or a linebacker does more than his job and defends his gap, and then sheds his blocker and then gets to the ball, now that is only a 2- or 3-yard gain.” 

Casillas also believes that it’s more important than ever for defenses to deploy gang tackling against these bigger and more powerful running backs opposing offenses like to play. 

“You have to populate to the football: get off your block–we call it ‘block destruction’–and get to where the ball is. You have to have your lane; you can't over-pursue.  

“I've talked about this after several games where the Giants missed a lot of tackles or gave up a lot of big plays, like the Philadelphia game where Saquon (Barkley) ran crazy. 

“For me, it was like, ‘Why is it just one person trying to tackle Saquon?’ Like, it needs to be more guys at the point of attack, and that requires those guys to do a little bit more than just their job.”

Casillas also acknowledged that the Giants play from behind most of the time, so they’re more likely to see more running plays than passing plays. This increases the odds of something going wrong or the final numbers being inflated against the run.  

He also believes that the speed of the game can sometimes catch younger players off guard because they get to a hole a split second too late to make a tackle, the result of which is their lunging or taking a bad angle in a desperate attempt to make the play.

“(Offensive linemen) are getting up to the second level faster. Those holes are opening and closing a lot faster than these young guys are anticipating, so they're getting to their spot, but they're a little late, and instead of it being a 1-yard tackle, it's a 3- or 4-yard tackle,” he said.  

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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