Steve Spagnuolo's disruptive defense a challenge for Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels
New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo at minicamp at the Quest Diagnostic training facility on Thursday, June 18, 2015. Credit: Andrew Theodorakis
Josh McDaniels and Steve Spagnuolo were opposing coordinators for the Patriots and Giants in Super Bowl XLII. And this Sunday they'll reprise those roles in a regular-season game between the two teams.
But in 2011, the two men were working together.
McDaniels, fresh off his stint as head coach of the Broncos, was hired by Spagnuolo, then head coach of the Rams, to be the offensive coordinator.
"It was a valuable part of my learning experiences that I've had in the past," McDaniels said on a conference call on Tuesday. "I got a chance to see a different way to do some things in general, and then to compete against Coach Spags in training camp and in practice . . . It was always difficult to practice against what he had cooked up for us each day, and this week will be no different as we prepare for the Giants."
The one area the Giants defense is excelling at is takeaways. They lead the NFL with 21 and are tied with two other teams for most interceptions with 13.
"They do a lot of different things that create disruptive plays for their defense," McDaniels said. "They take the ball away better than every team in the league. So the number one thing that you talk about each week is taking care of the ball, and this will be our greatest challenge to date because of how they do it. And they do it in a variety of different ways."
McDaniels said he saw firsthand how players responded to Spagnuolo while they were in St. Louis for the one season.
"Players have fun playing for him, I know that," he said. "The system gives a lot of different people a lot of different responsibilities, and I think players enjoy that. And you don't see anything different on film now."
Statistically, the Patriots have the second-best offense in the NFL while the Giants have the worst. But, McDaniels said, that won't make it easy for the Pats.
"[Spagnuolo is] very difficult to prepare for," he said. "Gives you a lot of different looks, very well-coached, disciplined, an attacking style if you will. Tries to really put the offense on their heels a lot of different ways."
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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