Should There Be Concerned About Lackluster Giants Pass Rush After One Week?

The New York Giants pass rush performed poorly against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1.

Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II (97) celebrates his sack with cornerback Nick McCloud (44) during the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Giants have invested heavily in improving their pass rush in recent offseasons.

In the 2022 NFL Draft, the Giants drafted Kayvon Thibodeaux with the fifth overall pick out of Oregon. This past offseason, the team traded for Brian Burns and then signed him to a five year, $141 million contract extension.

But if the Giants were expecting fireworks out of the gate from the pass rushers–and it’s fair to say they were–they got duds instead, as Burns and Thiboeaux combined for just two pressures against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, as Dexter Lawrence, arguably the best interior defensive lineman on the planet right now, had six of the Giants’ 11 total pressures and the only sack.

It felt like a performance that was supposed to be the strength of this defense simply didn’t show up in a game where they had the opportunity to truly impact the game.

Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold had the second-longest average time in the pocket in Week 1 (2.7 seconds per dropback). Credit must be given to the Vikings' offensive tackles, who have taken the next step in pass protection. Most notably, Christian Darrisaw is approaching the elite category,.

It’s important to acknowledge that instead of just “if the Giants don’t generate consistent pressure, they’re bad.” Context matters and in this context, the Giants edge rushers went up against a talented tackle duo.

Despite that, Burns is being paid to be an elite edge rusher, and he simply did not play up to the level of his pay in Week 1.

There were some plays where it seemed like Burns was genuinely confused about his responsibility. More than once, he kind of bounced back between wanting to rush the passer or drop into coverage.

As a former fifth overall pick now in year three, Thibodeaux is at a point where he should be further along than he is right now. Despite Thibodeaux’s improved first step after the snap, there needs to be more work once engaged with blockers as O’Neill and Darrisaw handled him consistently.

Burns and Thibodeaux each had a 9.1% pass-rush win rate on true pass sets, which excludes screens, rollouts, play-action passes, and between 2-4 seconds of time to throw.

That could be a lot better, according to defensive cooriantor Shane Bowen.

“I tell them that every day. Where the resources are delegated, you got to be good. Your best players got to be good. It's the nature of the league,” Bowen told reporters Thursday. 

“Your best players got to play their best every single Sunday if you want to play good. Offense, defense, special teams, whatever it might be. With that, they do. They have to go out there and perform.”

On the interior, the Vikings tried and failed to slow Lawrence down. He’s solidified himself as the best nose tackle in the league, but he needs more support.

D.J. Davidson had some solid pass-rushing reps but didn’t play enough snaps to make a major impact. Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Elijah Chatman did play enough to make an impact but simply didn’t do enough.

The Giants did a decent job of trying to get matchups on the interior by moving Burns around the formation but he couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities. 

So how can the Giants look to jump-start the pass-rush this week against the Washington Commanders? I would expect they will blitz more this weekend after blitzing on just 19.2% of their opportunities last week, the ninth-lowest rate in the NFL. (For reference purposes, Bowen’s Titans defenses averaged around 22% in blitz percentage.)

Darius Muasau blitzed three times and Bobby Okereke blitzed once. Outside of that, no traditional off-ball player blitzed. This Giants defense needs to be more aggressive than they were in Week 1 but they also need their top players not named Dexter Lawrence to play better.

The overall lackluster showing of the pass rush isn’t something that I’m too concerned with after one game, but it definitely is at least slightly alarming to have highly touted star players fizzle in their debut as a unit.

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