Fitzpatrick Utilizing Cowboys and Giants Film to Prepare for Garrett's Offense
PITTSBURGH -- The Steelers have two practice days left before they head to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to take on the New York Giants.
It's been an unusual game week. No preseason hype to get younger players ready. Few sleepers in the 53-man roster, looking to carry their summer momentum into the regular season. And absolutely no game film of the New York Giants conducting their team under a new head coach and offensive and defensive coordinators.
Monday night will present a challenge for the Steelers. Until the first snap, the Giants' coaching staff has no experience working as a unit during a game. Therefore, there's nothing to study to scheme against them.
It's a task the Steelers defense is getting creative to try and overcome. Jason Garrett spent the last 12 years working in some capacity with the Dallas Cowboy's offense. During his eight-year run as head coach, he was the team's offensive play-caller, which provided the Steelers some outlet to study film.
For safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, he's utilized the Cowboys and Giants previous seasons to gameplan against Garrett.
"It's been 50/50," Fitzpatrick said on a Zoom call Thursday. "Jason Garrett was calling the plays at the Cowboys, and now he's OC in New York. We're watching stuff from last season and seasons before because coordinators like to run their systems. They had a young core last year in New York, so they're probably going to be able to adjust pretty well to the OC. But we also have to know what New York did well last year. We've got to know every single receiver. What their big plays were, how many times they were targeted on different types of routes."
The Steelers will face more unknowns trying to challenge the Giants defense and have leaned on Fitzpatrick for help.
Patrick Graham will be another new face for the Giants this season. Graham spent the 2019 season as the Miami Dolphins' defensive coordinator, which Fitzpatrick recalls to help his team's offense.
"A little bit," Fitzpatrick said, referring to helping the offense scheme for Graham. "We played the Dolphins last year. They have a lot of film of him from last year as a DC. They're asking me small little questions about minor details of the game. Nothing really big. For the most part, they have a pretty good grasp for [Graham] as a play-caller."
But despite all the unknowns, Fitzpatrick remains relatively calm. He expects the Steelers defense to run their style of game and said the group has taken strides forward in communication from last season.
Walking into his first season opener with the Steelers, the safety feels confident.
"I had a whole offseason with my teammates. I had a whole season with my teammates and the playbook," Fitzpatrick said. "I'm very confident in the scheme. I'm very confident in my teammates. I'm very confident in my coaches. We've been battled tested."
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
