Big Blue pulled off their biggest upset of the season so far last Sunday, toppling the Green Bay Packers 27-22 in a game where they held the Packers’ offense scoreless in the second half after trailing 20-10 at the break.
For the fifth week in a row, it wasn’t always pretty…but for the fourth time in those five weeks, they got the W, and when Carl Banks joined Tiki & Tierney on Wednesday to discuss the game, he noted that seems to be head coach Brian Daboll’s modus operandi.
“If you’ve listened to Brian Daboll talk about his team, he talks about them being a four-quarter team, playing ugly games and knowing it might not go well early on,” Banks said. “What they’ve really done is master halftime adjustments. They probe and probe and probe.”
An example? Saquon Barkley and the running game.
“We saw it two weeks in a row prior to London – the running game didn’t look like it had much, but it was a dirty two or three yards, and then all of a sudden it’s clicking on all cylinders,” Banks said.
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Well, the defense has picked up on that as well, and credit Wink Martindale for allowing nothing to the Packers in the second half – their only score was an intentionally-taken safety with less than 15 seconds left – but Martindale’s D has been a force for a team that has outscored opponents 70-39 in the second half so far, with only Dallas (17-10) besting them in that half.
“Wink is a lot like that, because the defense doesn’t have all the talent they need, but he’s using their core strengths – safety and linemen/outside linebackers – and if he can generate pressure, he doesn’t want to give up chunk plays,” Banks said. “And, if he can go into halftime knowing he can make some adjustments, they’ll come out better, like they did in London.”
Of course, it helps when your team can score, too, which Banks noted, but he gave an example of how the defense is adjusting by using their reaction to one of Green Bay’s signature plays that was thwarted late in the game.
“Green Bay’s signature corner fade…it’s always been good coverage on that because the entire league knows they throw it, but it’s always been a better throw,” Banks said. “Wink said we’re not going to let you have a better throw, were going to send two blitzers off the edge right into that throw, and see how you do, and it was batted down. Those are the kinds of adjustments they’re making.”
Check out Banks’ entire segment with Tiki & Tierney above!
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