Defense wins championships so they say…but they also win regular season games that make or break any given season if you’re the New York Giants.
While the Giants’ defense allowed 23 points in week 3, seven of the points came in garbage time and a good chunk of the yardage came in zone coverage with Texans WR Will Fuller making significant plays. The most impressive aspect of the Giants was their defensive line, especially without star pass-rusher Olivier Vernon.
The surprise “it” factor acquired by the Giants’ top rotational defensive lineman:
Rotational piece Kerry Wynn has started the season on fire, recording 13 total tackles through the first three games and six against Houston in the win. But his tackles weren’t the most impressive aspect of his start, it was the forced fumble on running back Lamar Miller that stopped a potential scoring drive at the NYG 33 yard-line. This gave the Giants the momentum and kept the Texans at bay with a score of 20-9 in the third quarter.
After the game, Wynn spoke to Giants.com:
“Offense was rolling today, I like that,†Wynn said. “It’s a good feeling. I see hard work paying off. They work their tails off all week, and it paid off for them.â€
After Alec Ogletree intercepted QB Deshaun Watson in the red-zone to stall another potential scoring play, Wynn knew that it was time for the Giants finish.
“We just had to finish,†Wynn said. “We were getting close, close to the quarterback. We finally started getting a piece of him. … We did some good things in the first two games, but a lot of little things we had to correct. And I thought we corrected them today and we were victorious.â€
The Giants recorded three total sacks on the day, one going to B.J. Hill, Lorenzo Carter, and Mario Edwards Jr. Having a balanced defensive line with everybody getting into the mix was exactly what the struggling Giants needed, and the takeaways only added to the momentum the team acquired as the game went on and the Texans tried to stage a comeback.
Wynn will look to continue his success against the New Orleans Saints in a tough matchup in week 4.