Led by Kayvon Thibodeaux, Giants' defensive line is all the rage once again
Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux (5) waits for the snap during the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, in Landover, Md. Credit: AP/Nick Wass
You get the feeling that Wink Martindale has been marking his calendar for a day like this.
Dexter Lawrence remains the best interior defensive lineman in the league. Check.
Fellow defensive lineman Leonard Williams is back at a high level and is this-close to being able to celebrate his first trip to the playoffs in his eight-year career.
(Spending all of those years between the Jets and the Giants and never not making the playoffs is a special kind of back-page misery.)
Outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari is still only 22 and has at least a shared sack in each of his last three games.
And there is Kayvon. Maybe you’ve heard of him. Or, maybe, you were watching a football game last Sunday night and wondered, who is the guy making every play?
That’s rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux.
(OK, he did not make every play. But while watching him dominate at FedEx Field on Sunday night, it almost seemed like he made every other play. Fair? Fair.)
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is all a fancy way to say that the Giants have a defensive line again. A real, nasty, athletic, prideful defensive line.
Can you believe it, Wink Martindale?
“They did a nice job of rushing the (Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke on Sunday night), especially when we needed it. And not just Kayvon, but Azeez (too.).
“Getting back to Kayvon, obviously the sack, strip, fumble for a touchdown, was a huge play for us. But an even bigger play, I thought, was when he was in coverage and came out of his coverage when the quarterback started scrambling. He tackled him on the 1-yard line down there. That was a huge play for us.”
The Giants playoff chances remain at 90 percent. There almost certainly will be a postseason in East Rutherford for the first time since 2016.
While it will be possible that the Giants could play Minnesota in the playoffs, the Giants defense will not approach Saturday’s game with that on their minds.
Instead, they will be concentrating on Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Vikings all-world receiver Justin Jefferson.
(We would add the weather to the concerns for the Giants, but the game will be played under the dome that is U.S. Bank Stadium. If you are wondering, the high temperature in Minneapolis on Saturday is expected to be four degrees.)
Martindale’s biggest concern is the Cousins-to-Jefferson connection. In making that comeback against the Colts, the two teamed for 12 receptions on 16 targets for 123 yards
“If we just let (Cousins) sit back there and they block up our front four, we’ll be in for a long day because you can only cover them for so long.”
That’s especially true of Jefferson. As Martindale has told his defense: “He’s one of the top two receivers in this league, and he’s not number two.”
Jefferson has nine games this season with 100 yards receiving. In five games he has at least 147.
The Giants may not have an available cornerback who can handle Jefferson. But it’s hard to believe Martindale leaves anyone on an island.
“You can double or triple team him, and he still catches the ball,” Martindale said. “If you are going to any type of one-on-one situation, you better pick the right spot to do it.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
