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New York Giants’ Jason Pierre-Paul Needs Help From Rest Of The Defensive Line

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By @Bigwoolf5

Jason Pierre-Paul

Noah K. Murray-USA Today Sports

When the New York Giants won their two Super Bowls in the past decade, the key to their success was clutch passing by Eli Manning and a fearsome pass rush. During both of those playoff runs, the Giants had three dominant pass rushers. In 2007, it was Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora. In 2011, Jason Pierre-Paul replaced Strahan to spearhead the pass rush that led to a title.

Right now, Pierre-Paul is the only Giants defensive lineman who could even be considered a threat to get to the quarterback. He has 3.5 sacks so far this year to lead the team, but if you watch the games, you know that he is all over the place and having a huge impact defensively. JPP seems to be back to 2011 form when he had his breakout season with 16.5 sacks. By all accounts, Pierre-Paul is the most important player on the Giants’ defense, but he can’t do it all himself and he needs help from the rest of the line.

Pierre-Paul is coming off a game which Pro Football Focus rated as the best from a 4-3 defensive end this season, and it came against Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith, who was coming off NFC Player of the Week honors. The issue is that the rest of the defensive line besides Johnathan Hankins had a bad game, and that has been the story so far this year.

Hankins has been solid all year from his defensive tackle position, especially against the run, but he won’t really get after the quarterback like the Giants want. It is a major problem that he is second on the team in sacks with 2.5 so far. The Giants need more from the defensive end playing opposite Pierre-Paul. Mathias Kiwanuka has been the starter there, and while he is good against the run, he hasn’t been a great pass rusher ever in his career.

Robert Ayers and Damontre Moore are the other two pieces of the defensive end rotation, but have seen sporadic playing time. The answer for more pressure on the quarterback might be to give Moore increased playing time. He has a ton of talent, and seems to make something happen every time he is on the field. The problem is that he hasn’t gotten that many chances.

Moore already has two sacks this year in very limited opportunities, and has made plays on special teams too. He is still a very young player at age 22, but clearly has the most talent of the other defensive ends.

Starting Moore at the opposite defensive end spot from Pierre-Paul will give the Giants two guys who can legitimately get to the quarterback on any given play. If Moore is given an opportunity to play the bulk of the snaps in every game, he may prove to be a dominant pass rusher, and that would not only help the Giants’ defense, but also free up Pierre-Paul from constant double-teams.

Ayers and Kiwanuka are better served as rotational players anyway, so giving Moore a shot to play more snaps makes all of the sense in the world for the Giants, and it might just make their defense that much better. Even if he doesn’t prove to be dominant, its not like the guy he’s replacing is making a huge impact. Moore is the Giants’ best shot at getting back to a dominant pass rush, so it is time to let him play.

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