Really, there is no need to pile on when it comes to ripping the Giants, but the truth hurts. They are 30th in the NFL with a paltry 10 sacks in eight games. The team lead is shared by two rookies, B.J. Hill and Lorenzo Carter, with two apiece. Meanwhile, players they let go or traded or had no interest in re-signing are dropping quarterbacks at record paces.
Jason Pierre-Paul has eight sacks for the Buccaneers. Devon Kennard has five sacks for the Lions. Romeo Okwara has five sacks in only six games for the Lions. Ouch.
The Giants had enough of Pierre-Paul and were uninterested in keeping him around and paying him big bucks. JPP’s ride lasted eight years, starting off like a rocket blast and then flattening out, especially after he blew off most of his right hand in that horrific fireworks accident. In March, new general manager Dave Gettleman — fully cognizant the roster he inherited was not exactly teeming with pass-rush talent — shipped JPP to Tampa Bay for a third-round pick and an exchange of fourth-round picks. In seven games, Pierre-Paul nearly has as many sacks as the entire Giants team. Only two Buccaneers ever had more than eight sacks in the first seven games — Warren Sapp had 9.5 and Marcus Jones had 10, with both hot starts coming in 2000. If JPP keeps this up, he could reach his career-high of 16.5 sacks, which he tallied in his magnificent 2011 season.
Kennard was a solid linebacker for the Giants, but they did not use him much going after the quarterback. He has already surpassed his career-high for sacks — he had 4.5 as a rookie in 2014, when he was a fifth-round draft pick out of USC.
Okwara is the real surprise here. The 23-year-old defensive end had one sack in 22 games (four starts) for the Giants as an undrafted free agent from Notre Dame. Did anyone see this coming? Certainly not the Giants, who waived him in early September. When it comes to the Giants, they are Sad Sacks.