3 Giants who need to be benched or fired after Monday Night Football
By Scott Rogust
3 Giants who need to be benched or fired, No. 1: Wink Martindale, DC
The New York Giants defense has a tackling problem. Through the first four games, despite the additions they made on that side of the ball, opposing offenses can slip through and past them. That's because Giants defenders are unable to bring down their opponents once they get a grip on them.
Look no further than Seahawks tight end Noah Fant's 52-yard catch-and-run in the first half. Linebacker Bobby Okereke, who signed a four-year, $40 million contract this offseason, and top cornerback Adoree' Jackson were unable to bring him down or push him out of bounds.
This falls on defensive coordinator Wink Martindale. At first, Martindale said that missed tackles were not an issue. But this past week, the defensive coordinator said that they were having a problem and that they were going to work extra to ensure it wouldn't be anymore. In fact, Martindale told reporters to "chart em," as in the missed tackles.
Well, there were two on that play. We don't have the exact amount of missed tackles as of this writing, but there was a lot.
Not to mention, the effort has been questionable on defense. Look no further than what looked to be a touchdown run by Kenneth Walker in the first quarter. The Giants thought that Walker was brought down to the ground by Okereke and stood around. But no whistle was blown, and Walker made a mad dash to the end zone. Luckily for them, Walker was ruled down after review.
There needs to be significant improvement on the defense. It was a question mark entering this season, but the inability to tackle is staggering across the roster. It's on Martindale to fix this.