Giants Searching for Answers to Fix Struggling Run Defense

The Giants run defense has been gouged twice this season for 200+ yards in the ground.

Jul 24, 2024; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen looks on during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Facility. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Giants' defense is, for the most part, a top-half unit through seven games.

But suppose there is one major stat holding this unit back: the run defense. The Giants currently rank 25th league-wide (138.1 yards/game) and dead last in average rushing yards allowed per play (5.43)--both rankings worse than where they finished last season.

Those rankings are also well below where defensive coordinator Shane Bowen’s run defenses finished during his time as the Titans defensive coordinator during the 2021 to 2023 seasons when they typically ranked in the top half of the league.

How bad has it been for the Giants? Before being gouged for a season-high 269 yards on the ground by the Eagles (their second game this season in which they allowed 200+ yards on the ground and their third game in a row they allowed at least 100 yards), the Giants run defense had been particularly vulnerable on rushing attempts inside the tackle.

“Last week, there were some big numbers against some big runs. We've got to eliminate some of those explosives and continue to improve on tackling,” said head coach Brian Daboll. 

“We've got to do a good job on early downs of building walls, setting edges, but it's a complementary game too where they just can't keep running the ball if they're up whatever they are up. It's a team thing.”

Per NextGen Stats, the Giants allowed a league-high 5.3 yards per carry across 55 designed runs to the inside this season before their game last week vs. the Eagles. They had been better on rushes to the outside, allowing 3.9 yards per carry, the 8th lowest in the league.

The Eagles attacked the Giants inside the tackles on 60% of their rushing attempts last week.

For what it’s worth, the Giants have mostly run a light box against the run, doing so on 66.9% of the rushes against them this season, a move likely made to help protect the back end of the defense. 

But it also hasn’t helped that other than for Dexter Lawrence, the Giants aren’t getting quality run support from the rest of the defensive linemen, such as Rakeem Nunez-Roches, D.J. Davidson, and Jordon Riley.

“It starts with mentality–we've got to have a more attacking mentality,” said Bowen when asked how he plans to fix the run defense. 

“Playing on the other side of the line of scrimmage, finding ways to eliminate some space, making sure we're playing with techniques and fundamentals and using our hands, striking, getting extension so we can get off blocks, so we can shed, so we can show back up.” 

Missed tackles have certainly been a factor in the Giants’ poor run defense. Per Pro Football Focus, the Giants have 28 missed tackles against the run. The Baltimore Ravens, who have the league’s best run defense (68.4 yards per game, 3.26 rushing yards per carry), have 14.

Bowen said that when push comes to shove, it’s all about guys winning their battles.

“Like I told the guys on Monday, it comes down to being able to whoop the guy across from you and show up and make a play,” he said. “We've got to continue to work that and just make sure we're good fundamentally with our eyes in the run game, playing blockers across from me, making sure we are utilizing our hands and striking and not catching and bench pressing. 

“All those are critical half-a-seconds that are delaying you being able to get off the block and make a play. So, the sooner we can control blockers in the run game, the better off we're going to be, and the clearer the picture is going to be on that second level, third level, whatever it might be.” 

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