Not why Giants are losing

The New York Giants missed 16 tackles during a Week 3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last Thursday night, many of them coming on third down.

It’s been a troubling trend for the Giants since the start of the season but not one team captain Xavier McKinney is overly worried about.

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Speaking with reporters via Zoom on Monday, McKinney said poor tackling is not the reason the Giants are 1-2 to start the season and he’s not stressing it.

McKinney—”Tackling is not the reason why the games are where they’re going. It’s not the reason and not going to stress over it.”

— The Giant Insider Podcast and Newspaper (@GiantInsider) September 25, 2023

Tackling may not be the sole reason the Giants are losing but it certainly factors in. Through three weeks, they’ve missed 29 total tackles according to Pro Football Focus, which is dead last in the NFL. The Chicago Bears are second-worst with 26 missed tackles.

McKinney himself has missed three tackles (14.3% of his tackle opportunities) but isn’t even close to the team lead. That distinction goes to linebacker Micah McFadden, who has missed seven tackles (22.6% of his tackle opportunities).

Coupled with ongoing substitution errors, the Giants’ defense has been unable to get off the field. They’ve surrendered more than 80 points and the team sports a -55 point differential, which is second-worst in the NFL.

While the issues themselves are troubling, players not caring about it is equally if not more troubling. But given that it was a Zoom call on Monday, we’ll chalk McKinney’s comments up to a misinterpretation.