00:07last year when the Giants had a lead late in the game it didn't always feel like a reason to
00:11relax
00:11big blue fans they knew all too well that sometimes it felt like a warning and the anxiety
00:16levels they start to rise now four games into this season that feeling is starting to change
00:20because for the second straight week the Giants needed their defense to make one more play to win
00:25their football game and for the second straight week they came through after further review the
00:30biggest difference with this Giants defense may not be how well they start games it's how they're
00:35learning to finish them in 2025 late game leads vanishing became a recurring problem for the G-men
00:41fast forward to week three of this year Tennessee they had a chance to steal the game in the final
00:46seconds and Cam Ward throws into the end zone Javon Holland says no touchdown for you game over
00:52and one week later same test same result but a different hero in week four the Cardinals were
00:58down six in the fourth but a Deontay Banks pass interference penalty gave Arizona first and goal
01:03from the forward 22 seconds left three incompletions later it came down to fourth down Jacoby Brissette
01:10looked to throw left and Banks jumps the route takes it 98 yards to the crib and we saw a
01:16defense
01:16that was just four yards from potentially giving up the lead to celebrating in the other end zone
01:21now that's finishing strong and here's what I like about the big blue defensive performance
01:26it wasn't dominant throughout the afternoon and it wasn't always resilient Arizona was moving the
01:31ball early in this one as they scored touchdowns on their first two possessions the Cardinals ran for
01:3681 yards in the first quarter alone and built a 14-3 lead so this wasn't a defense that walked
01:42onto
01:42the field and controlled the game from the first snap it was a defense that got punched in the mouth
01:47very quickly and then started punching back so how did they start punching back well first we have
01:53to talk about a rookie again in the second quarter Arvel Reese gets a Jacoby Brissette and forces him to
01:58loft this throw now that pressure allowed Greg Newsome the second to wait on that ball for an interception
02:04and that pick made it four straight games with a Giants interception to start the season their first time
02:10doing that since 1993 but Reese wasn't out here just helping his team grab INTs he also made sure
02:16to get one of his own credit Shelby Harris with the assist here late in the second quarter as he
02:21gets
02:22a hand on the pass Reese finds the football and the rookie takes it back to the Arizona 26 now
02:27that
02:28turnover set up the Malik neighbors touchdown that gave the Giants their first lead of the game
02:32remember this defense is making plays like this after they just lost the leader of their group Brian Burns
02:38a torn ACL ended his season one week after the Giants lost Jackson Dart for the rest of the regular
02:43season so the question wasn't just whether the Giants could replace Burns' production it was where
02:49the big plays would come from without him against the Cardinals the answer to that question was the big
02:54plays that would come from everywhere Newsome, Reese, the pass rush starting to create pressure and
03:00finally Banks and if we're keeping it a buck they needed every one of those plays in week four
03:05because on offense we saw the entire James Winston rollercoaster experience Winston threw three
03:11touchdowns but also two interceptions and when you added Najee Harris lost fumble to Winston's two
03:16picks that's three big blue turnovers in week four but the Giants defense answered with three takeaways
03:22of their own that's why I don't think the story here is that this Giants defense is dominant or even
03:28trending towards being dominant four games is way too early to say that the real story is that this
03:34defense is becoming the Giants margin for error Arizona took a 24 to 19 lead in the third quarter
03:40but the Cardinals they never scored again four final possessions zero points the Giants offense
03:46turned the ball over and fell behind even Banks made a mistake that put Arizona four yards from the
03:51end zone however when the G-men needed one more play the defense made it last year too many Giants
03:58games ended with the question how in the world did they let that one get away as we've seen the
04:04last
04:04two weeks they've ended much differently Javon Holland against Tennessee Deontay Banks against Arizona two
04:11games two final defensive stands two wins we're only four weeks in so there's gonna be a long way to
04:17go
04:18before we know exactly what this Giants team is but a three and one we're starting to learn something
04:23about what this defense wants to be when the game gets tight they want to be the ones who finish
04:28it
04:28and after further review that might be the most important change of all
