Greg Cosell's Film Review: Giants D played well, Tom Brady made plays

The New York Giants did a lot, schematically, to slow down the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. Brady had to make some key plays to win the game, and he did.

But it wasn’t easy.

The Giants had a multiple, diverse defensive game plan, and safety Craig Dahl was a big part of it. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo used Dahl in different positions in different personnel groupings, which was part of showing Brady a lot of different cover looks, especially on third down.

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Here’s one example of Spagnuolo and the Giants getting creative with coverages. In the tight red zone in the third quarter, they double-teamed Rob Gronkowski with a down lineman, Robert Ayers (91), and Dahl (43).

Dahl matched up with Gronkowski a number of times, in particular when Gronkowski lined up out wide as an “X iso.” When the Patriots get Gronkowski matched up against a linebacker or safety in “X iso,” they will throw to him. Brady hit Gronkowski for a 12-yard gain against Dahl on a third and 1 in the second quarter.

The Giants got a lot of good individual performances, which is what any team will need to slow down the Patriots. In particular, stacked linebackers Jasper Brinkley and Jonathan Casillas played very well against the run, doing a great job stepping up and playing their gaps with physicality. The Patriots rushed for just 77 yards on 23 attempts.

Without a running game, and with the Giants doing so much schematically to confuse the offense (New York does not have a very good defense from a talent standpoint), Brady had an odd game for his standards with two fumbles and a red zone interception. And the Giants had plenty of chances to win, especially if it weren’t for an 82-yard punt return by Danny Amendola in the third quarter. But in the end, Brady made the plays he had to make to win.

Here’s an example of the Giants having a plan and executing it, but Brady improvised. In a set with three tight ends, the Patriots wanted to get the ball to Gronkowski on a quick drag route. Brinkley (53) hit Gronkowski and disrupted the route the Patriots wanted. But Brady was patient and came off Gronkowski knowing immediately that the window to tight end Scott Chandler would be clear. He hit Chandler for a 1-yard score.

The Patriots hit a huge play when the Giants got caught disguising a coverage. The Giants disguised “man free” with Dahl rotating late to a single-high position and safety Brandon Meriweather matched on Gronkowski. Gronkowski’s outside stem on his route widened Meriweather, creating space for his seam route. Dahl, because of the disguise before the snap, was playing catch up and was late to the seam route. Brady doesn’t need much of an opening, and Gronkowski went for a 76-yard score.

The Patriots needed a field goal to win the game at the end, and Brady was very patient on the game-winning drive. He had an intuitive feel for how many yards he needed and the time it would take to get those yards. He survived a dropped interception by Landon Collins on the first play of the drive, when Brady was hit as he released the ball. And the key play came on fourth and 10.

Against “Cover 3” zone, Casillas at linebacker was staring at Brady without any awareness of Amendola on an in-breaking route. Brady took advantage and hit Amendola for 12 yards.

The Giants had a very interesting, diverse plan to beat the Patriots, and they executed very well for much of the game. And the Patriots still came out with the win. We learned that it’s going to take an exceptional effort to beat New England.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.