New York Giants defense must ‘trust the process’

The New York Giants fell to 1-2 after a 30-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on the road last Thursday night. The result was not a surprise.

What was a surprise was the fashion in which they did it. They were undisciplined and sloppy and didn’t play with a lot of intelligence or passion.

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That was illustrated by their performance on defense. They missed tackle after tackle — especially in third and long situations — that allowed the 49ers to roll over them with relative ease.

Inside linebacker Micah McFadden, who led the Giants with 10 total tackles, explained to the media this week what happened.

“There are a lot of things that go into a third down game plan and the missed tackles last game contributed to it and there are always going to be guys who mess up the assignment or the responsibility, but I think it’s a combination of things and everybody in the building is working real hard to get all those little mistakes corrected so that we can improve and be a better team moving forward,” he told reporters during a Monday Zoom call.

The Giants were playing on just three days rest after their 31-28 comeback win over the Cardinals in Arizona that Sunday afternoon. They did not have a full-contact practice during the week as a result. Some have suggested that contributed to the Giants getting manhandled by a more physical team in San Francisco.

McFadden didn’t totally disagree but is willing to “trust the process.”

“I think everybody likes the routine and having that set schedule and kind of knowing what to expect throughout the day and getting the normal practice schedule in, but there are times when you have to adjust and last week was one of those times,” McFadden said.

“I think it’s just about staying the course and yeah, like you said, just trusting the process and believing in what we are doing. There are no complaints or pointing fingers or worrying about the schedule and what we have to do moving forward, but I think that’s what it’s going to come down to, is just trusting the process. I think we are excited to be in a week like this.”