The Los Angeles Rams are gearing up to face the New York Giants this Sunday, a team with a 5-10 record with little to play for after being eliminated from playoff contention. The Giants offense is one of the worst in football but the defense is stout on third down and has forced the sixth-most turnovers in football.
While preparing for the Giants, Sean McVay acknowledged the talent and scheme that makes Wink Martindale’s defense “a real challenge.”
“Wink’s a guy that I’ve always had a lot of respect for,” McVay said. “He presents a variety of issues going back to when we played against them and when he was in Baltimore in ‘21. He does a great job of deploying his players. You can see he’s able to adjust and adapt to what he thinks they do best and then he puts a lot of pressure on you situationally and he understands some of the issues that he can present. They’re a real challenge to be able to prepare for and they’ve got really good players. You can see why in some of the stretches where they’ve played excellent football, they’re taking the football away and that’s leading to winning games and they’re very opportunistic. It seems like every time you flip it on, somebody’s making an impact-type of play for their defense and it’s a real credit to their guys and then also Wink.”
The numbers aren’t all that impressive for New York’s defense. It has allowed the sixth-most yards and seventh-most points, and the run defense is giving up 4.7 yards per carry – the second-highest in football.
The Giants’ ability to force turnovers is what could cause problems for the Rams. Matthew Stafford has avoided interceptions in the second half of the season and he’ll need to keep that up this week in New York against the Giants defense.
