david dieHl - New York Giants

“It seemed like they had 13 guys on the field sometimes,” said linebacker Chase Blackburn.
“Then two would run off. So we were in a messed up personnel, especially early. And then we
basically had to stay more vanilla at times.”
That certainly sounds like an indictment of Fewell, who is in his third year as the Giants’
defensive coordinator. So is the fact that mistakes are being repeated and nobody seems to
improve.
“I understand when mistakes are being made,” Rolle said. “But you have to go out there and fix
those mistakes and make sure they don’t happen again. That’s how you become a better team.
It just seems like the same things keep happening over and over.”
Like Flacco’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Ray Rice late in the first half, when Flacco had all the
time in the world in the pocket, Rice got open in the middle of three defenders, then glided
toward the end zone as safeties Will Hill and Stevie Brown missed tackles. Or like in the fourth
quarter when rookie running back Bernard Pierce – not Rice – went almost completely
untouched on a 78-yard run.
For Fewell’s defense, resistance was futile, as it has been all season. The Ravens were the third
Giants opponent to top 200 yards rushing. Rice (107 yards) and Pierce (123) were the sixth and
seventh backs to top 100 yards. In a season in which they had already given up 30 plays of 30
yards or longer, they gave up four more.
Yes, as Tom Coughlin pointed out, the offense stunk as well and that was a big reason why the
Giants’ defense spent nearly 40 minutes on the field. But it’s not as if the defense did anything
to help. The Ravens had 18 plays for 120 yards on their first two drives alone.
Asked if he was embarrassed by the way the defense played and has been playing, Rolle said
“We’re definitely not happy with our performance. I’ll just leave it at that.”
He could’ve gone further, because it has been embarrassing. It’s been inexplicable, too. That’s
why it doesn’t matter if the Giants’ longshot pays off and they somehow sneak into the playoffs
next weekend. They’re not going to win a championship without a championship defense.
And this just isn’t a championship defense anymore.