Giants must force Tom Brady, Patriots into turnovers
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady reacts after throwing an interception to Tampa Bay Buccaneers strong safety Mark Barron in the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, in Foxborough, Mass. Credit: AP Photo Elise Amendola
Steve Spagnuolo was watching tape of Tom Brady and marveling at a throw he made to Julian Edelman. The long, sharp pass was "on the money,'' as most of Brady's throws this season have been.
What made this one different for the Patriots was that Edelman bobbled it and the Colts intercepted. It was one of two interceptions of Brady this season, and it came on a play in which he did everything right except catch the ball himself.
"It was kind of a fluke, it popped up there,'' Spagnuolo said. "You need a couple of breaks.''
The Giants' defense certainly will. While they rank near the bottom in almost every statistical category heading into their meeting with the league's second-ranked offense -- only the Saints average more yards per game, and that's largely because of their exploitation of the Giants' defense two weeks ago -- the one area it has been able to excel at is takeaways.
The Giants lead the NFL with 21 -- 13 interceptions, eight fumble recoveries -- and their four defensive touchdowns are tied for first. Their defense seems to revolve around the idea of giving up yardage and relying on timely turnovers.
Enter the Patriots, with a league-low five giveaways. So how can the Giants entice them into coughing it up?
"That's a good question,'' cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. "You look at them on film, you look at Tom Brady, it's kind of hard.''
Although Brady throws interceptions with roughly the same regularity that he suffers from bad hair days, the Giants believe their best bet to take the ball away from the Patriots may be to wait until someone catches it and then rip it out.
"You look at tape and you recognize individuals who are vulnerable and you talk about it, you pinpoint some things,'' Tom Coughlin said. "You've got a guy who has only thrown two interceptions, so you better be good at stripping and doing some things after the ball is caught.''
"Some of those guys have a history of just fumbling the ball,'' Rodgers-Cromartie said. "If they do catch it, you get to them and put as many guys to the ball and try to get it out that way.''
Even then, there aren't many weaknesses on the Patriots. They have fumbled only five times on offense and -- isn't this the Giants' luck? -- their worst culprit with two fumbles (one lost) is running back Dion Lewis, who was just placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL.
The result may be a different philosophy for the Giants. Instead of taking risks for interceptions that just aren't there, they may have to play with sounder technique. Most importantly, if the Patriots do leave the ball on the ground or if Brady for some reason misses his target, they need to capitalize.
"Anytime you get the ball on the ground or the ball is in the air and you have an opportunity to touch it, you have to get it,'' safety Brandon Meriweather said. "Brady doesn't make too many mistakes and they don't make too many mistakes as a team. Whenever you get a chance to make one, you have to take advantage of it.''
Can the Giants count on those opportunities being there, though?
"You play your game, you play hard,'' Meriweather said. "And when you continue to push, good things happen for you.''
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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