Giants Country

Giants' Defense Rises to Occasion in Win Over Ravens

The Giants defense stepped up when it needed to in a big win over the Baltimore Ravens.

Andrew Parsaud

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The New York Giants' defense had another tough task this week against star quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens offense.

The good news? Reinforcements for the defense came in the form of defensive lineman Leonard Williams. Williams, who had been sidelined for three games due to a knee injury in Week 2, finally returned to the field.

Williams was eager to rejoin his teammates and help create pressure for others around him. Fellow defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence had filled Williams’ void while he was out and did it well. Lawrence now has four sacks on the year, tying his career high through just six games. Lawrence was also key in stopping the run in Williams’ absence, something that was missed in those three weeks.

The Giants have been a second-half team all season. However, earlier in the fourth quarter, the Ravens scored a touchdown and went up 20-10. Things did not look good, especially with Ravens tight end Mark Andrews consistently getting open and gashing the Giants defense for chunk plays.

But this Giants defense didn't quit and continued to rally behind defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.  

“I think it’s the same mentality that we have every week. We’re a team that fights all four quarters, every minute of the game, and I think the best thing about this team is we don’t bend, we don’t fold, we don’t break, and all that type of stuff. We’re just excited that we came away with the win,” Williams said.

The next Ravens possession, a botched snap, led quarterback Lamar Jackson to scramble to get the ball and force a pass right into the hands of safety Julian Love. The Giants' pressure reached Jackson quickly, and he uncharacteristically tried to make a play off his back foot. 

Williams wasn’t shocked that Jackson tried to make a play in that situation but originally thought the pass was going out of bounds.

“Honestly, the way it went up in the air, it kind of did seem like he was throwing it away because he kind of just threw it off his back foot. It looked like it was about to go out of bounds, and it went down the middle of the field.”

“I guess I’m not too shocked because he’s a playmaker. He’s a big-time key on their offense, and those types of guys want the ball in their hands when it’s a clutch situation, and I’m sure it was crunch time, and he wanted to make a play.”

The game's biggest play came on the last Ravens possession, where rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux kept pushing towards Jackson and knocked the ball loose, ending with Leonard Williams recovering the fumble and sealing the game.

The Giants' defense came up with two huge turnovers late in the game that helped the momentum shift back toward their side and pushed the Giants to a 5-1 record.

Despite another great comeback win, Williams says the Giants are looking ahead and will not dwell on the victory too much, especially with all the talk about their record.

“No, outsiders are talking about it, but none of us are talking about it. Like I’ve been saying, we just need to move on to next week, and we can’t bask in defeat, and we can’t bask in victory. We’ve just got to keep moving forward.”

How do they move on from such an exciting win like this one?

“The same way that we have to move on from a bad loss. We watch film, we correct mistakes, and correcting the mistakes is just a lot easier when you have the win. It’s always harder to correct mistakes after a loss. We just have to keep moving forward. We’ve done a good job of going to London and beating a good team out there. We had every excuse under the sun to say, ‘oh, we’re tired, we were traveling,’ all these other things, but this team is just staying on the mission and focusing on what’s important.”

The Giants now head to Jacksonville with the hopes of keeping their winning ways alive. Having Leonard Williams back is huge for this defense, and it showed on Sunday against Baltimore.

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Andrew Parsaud
ANDREW PARSAUD

Andrew Parsaud is currently attending Penn State, where he is studying digital journalism and media. He is an avid follower of the major New York sports teams. 

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