For the second consecutive season, the New York Giants were the bottom feeders in their division. How can they win the NFC East for the first since 2011?
As has been the case four times in the past two seasons, going from last to first in the NFL is far from uncommon. Of course, that’s proven to be the exception in the AFC East when it comes to the New England Patriots, who have captured a league-record 10 straight division titles, Hence, good luck to the New York Jets in 2019
But it has been a totally different story when it comes to the NFC East. All told, the club that finished last the previous year has rebounded to grab the top spot five times in the last seven seasons. While it wasn’t the case in 2018, the Dallas Cowboys did bounced back from a 3-5 start to win seven of their last eight games and win the division for the third time in five years.
So are the New York Giants capable of rising from the basement to win the NFC East for the first time since 2011? Here are three things that would help their cause if they can somehow show some improvement in all of these areas.
3.Better offensive line play
Stating the very obvious.
When you look at the overall numbers in terms of sacks allowed by the New York Giants this past season, some may think that the figures may have been a whole lot worse if you watched Pat Shurmur’s offense in 2018. Quarterback Eli Manning was dropped 47 times in 16 games and if he had not managed to get off a slew of passes to running back Saquon Barkley, who knows what the final figures would have looked like.
Veteran left tackle Nate Solder got big money to leave New England a year ago and disappointed in his first campaign with Big Blue. Meanwhile, 2018 second-round pick Will Hernandez had a solid rookie season at left guard. Chad Wheeler took over at right tackle in Week 3 and held onto the job the remainder of the year. Meanwhile, center Jon Halapio looks to bounce back after missing the final 14 games of ’18.
Gettleman did address the offensive line this offseason with the addition of veteran right guard Kevin Zeitler, part of a trade with the Browns that sent pass-rusher Olivier Vernon to Cleveland. In any case, this tweaked unit as a whole needs to step up its game – especially in regards to pass protection.