Giants preach simplicity going into critical Browns matchup

CLEVELAND — Too much has thus far provided the Giants with far too little. 

The confession was first revealed by inside linebacker Bobby Okereke and subsequently echoed by his colleagues on defense.

It is something that must change, immediately, if the Giants are to answer the SOS distress call on their season Sunday when they face the Browns at Huntington Bank Field. 

Simply put, the Giants on defense must stop trying to do too much — stop being busybodies and attend to their own business. 

In the anatomy of the bizarre, 21-18 loss on the road to the Commanders, there were missed tackles galore for a unit that never got off the field in a very real way.

The stats say the Giants pitched a shutout — six trips allowed into the red zone, zero touchdowns allowed — but the eye-test was an indictment, as the Commanders with seven possessions (not counting a kneel-down at the end of the first half) went 7-for-7, as far as producing points with field goals — along the way hogging the time of possession, a glaring 15-minute disparity, to prevent Daniel Jones from targeting Malik Nabers 20-25 times instead of the 18 passes Nabers ended up getting thrown his way. 

Okereke, a true team leader in word and deed, the next day talked about “discipline doing our job’’ and let the hammer down — on himself. 

“Talking about me specifically, kind of three quarters doing your job, a quarter trying to do someone else’s job, trying to make a play, and that trickles down,’’ Okereke said. “I think everybody just needs to focus on doing their job.’’ 

Players trying to do too much to cover for those around them and thus ruining the overall scheme is a textbook self-critique when a team is 0-2 and wondering what the heck is going on.

The problem is apparent and the solution is right there, as long as the Giants reach out and take it. 

“Once one guy doesn’t do his job, that leaves holes and other people feel like they have to fill that hole,’’ said Micah McFadden, Okereke’s running mate at inside linebacker. “That goes down the line. You can have three dudes trying to make up for one person’s mistake, and then we’re all out of sorts, and everybody’s covering the wrong guy or fitting the wrong gap or trying to make up for somebody, and that’s when big plays can happen, that’s when big runs can happen, so if [we] just tighten down those details and just focus on our one-11th and doing our specific job, I think we’ll be fine.’’ 

McFadden detailed two plays from last week where he was guilty.

On a draw play in the red zone, he failed to make his run fit inside the center, resulting in a crease between himself and Okereke for a harmful rushing gain.

On a blitz, he tried to make a play outside the tackle because he spotted a pulling guard. That created a downhill track for the running back and another significant gain. 

“Just little details like that, got to be more focused on doing my job and playing faster,’’ McFadden said. 

This might not seem to be the case, but the Giants have generated the 10th-highest pressure rate in the league at 35.5 percent, according to Next Gen Stats.

That Dexter Lawrence has eight pressures in two games is impressive.

That Lawrence leads the team in that category is not, as Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux are supposed to be the pressure pals.

Burns (seven pressures) and Thibodeaux (six) have yet to get a sack this season. Lawrence has one.

Burns (groin) was a late addition to the injury report. 

Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson always has taken sacks by the bushel: 62 in 2018 with the Texans, 44 in 2019, 49 in 2020 and 45 in 14 games over the past three seasons with the Browns, including eight in two games this season. 

Can the Giants continue this trend and put Watson on his back?

It might all come down to their defenders not trying to do too much.