Jabrill Peppers is out for the season, Logan Ryan wasn’t dressed for Sunday’s Giants-Eagles game, and Big Blue lost both Darnay Holmes and Adoree’ Jackson due to injury mid-game – meaning that in the waning minutes, trying to protect a three and then a six-point lead, the Giants were down to their fourth cornerback in Aaron Robinson and missing their nominal starting safeties.
And yet, the Giants’ defense held not once, not twice, but thrice in the fourth quarter. They forced an Eagles punt early in the frame, and then, with the Birds driving down 13-7, Dexter Lawrence forced a fumble on Boston Scott – who has been the latest diminutive Eagle to be Giant Kryptonite – around midfield that Julian Love recovered to give the G-Men the ball back at their own 37 with just over 90 seconds left.
“Me and Peppers have been here the past three years, and with Pep not around, I was trying to tell everybody that Scott's a sneaky player and you might not be able to see it on tape, but he has some great balance control and so we really had to apply pressure to him,” Love said of Scott. “That play where he fumbled, that's Dex making a great play, coming across, just being relentless in his effort like he always is. Yeah, it's like he tossed me the ball. Thankfully, I caught that one.”
The Giants’ ensuing “drive” lasted three plays and less than 20 seconds, and the Birds got the ball back again with 1:11 left on the clock, needing 59 yards to score and tie (and likely win) the game. A tall task for a Giants secondary that had Jalen Hurts’ number all day, but the Eagles once again moved the ball with ease, and it came down to a 4th-and-10 from the 27 with 24 seconds left.
“We know what the situation is. I think that's the biggest thing. We knew that they couldn't score,” Xavier McKinney said. “It didn't matter what we called. None of that matters. What matters is that we have to go out there and execute. As long as we know what we have to defend, then we can get any call. It doesn't really matter. We went out there and we did that. We stopped them and that's what we wanted to do.”
“I think we were fully expecting we couldn't relax and so I think everyone was catching their breath because we knew we were going to have to go out and finish it like we have done in previous years,” Love added about the brief break. “It always comes down to that last possession with these guys.”
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Indeed they stopped the Birds, although perhaps by divine intervention, as Jalen Reagor saw the ball slip right through his hands at the goal line on the final Eagles offensive play.
“I saw him, and I figured we pretty much had everybody capped. Everybody was pretty much covered, and then once I saw him scramble I tried to get back as far as I could and when he was throwing it, I was just hoping that it was going to be overthrown or tipped,” McKinney said. “A-Rob (Aaron Robinson) made the play. We played great defense, so I was happy that they dropped it.”
“That was a heart-stopping play, that last one. I think (Robinson) just played through it and he was applying pressure all game and sometimes that accumulates. So yeah, Reagor didn't come down with that one at the end, thankfully,” Love added.
It was love who actually almost ended the game a couple plays earlier, nearly coming away with a fourth interception of Jalen Hurts when Robinson, stride for stride with Reagor, put just enough pressure on the receiver to get him to drop a pass that would’ve been a touchdown for the Birds.
“We were in man coverage and as soon as I saw out of the corner of my eye Hurts kind of drop back, I took off to the corner of the end zone hoping for a tipped ball and, of course, I got one and didn't come up with it,” Love said. “As I'm running back, I see Aaron stride for stride with him and, of course, he made a great play and defended it well. Obviously, I want to come down with that, but we got the win.”
That the Eagles picked on Robinson on back-to-back big play attempts speaks to his position on the depth chart, but to his secondary mates, how the rookie in one of his first NFL games responded speaks to the Giants’ next man up mentality.
“Aaron's a quiet guy, normally, but underneath, he really plays with a lot of swagger and energy. I think he did a great job today of stepping up in a big way,” Love said. “We mixed some things up for sure and that's crazy for a guy who wasn't in camp and didn't play a lot this season yet. I'm so proud of that guy and he does everything the right way. We really love to see that from him.”
“We talk about it all the time, whoever's in the game has to be productive and produce. A-Rob is a guy who's similar in a lot of ways to what Xavier dealt with last year, as we just talked about, in terms of he missed a lot of time in development because of the injury situation and he's improved every week,” added head coach Joe Judge. “Everyone has a skillset, that's why they're here, so you've also got to play with the right fundamentals and discipline. He's really improved on that aspect of it right there.”
It remains to be seen what the secondary situation will be next Sunday, but whatever it may be and whoever may be back there, Big Blue will be ready.
“Just next man up mentality, making sure that everybody is prepared and ready. That’s something that we emphasize in practice, making sure that everybody is getting reps, everybody knows what they're doing,” McKinney said. “There were times we had to communicate with each other off the field just to make sure everybody knew exactly what they were doing on what call, but I feel like we did that. We didn’t miss a beat, which was a really good thing for our unit.”
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