5 storylines to follow as Giants kick off 100th season vs. Vikings

4. Talented pass rush leads new Giants defense

With the arrival of Shane Bowen as the team’s new coordinator, the Giants’ defense has undergone some stark changes from last season. In addition to the new defensive scheme, one that sends less blitzes and relies a lot more on the defensive front getting pressure on the quarterback, the Giants also made a big offseason acquisition with the trade for outside linebacker Brian Burns.

Burns joins a defensive line that also features Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, a trio that combined for 148 quarterback pressures last season, according to Pro Football Focus. Over the last four seasons, Burns’ 20.4 percent pass rush win rate ranks 14^th in the league, which helped him get selected to two Pro Bowls. Meanwhile, Lawrence has been named second-team All-Pro in each of the last two seasons, while Thibodeaux is coming off a breakout sophomore campaign in which he finished with 11.5 sacks, a big improvement from his four sacks as a rookie. The pass rush could also feature fellow outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari in certain situations, adding a player with 16 sacks in 35 career games to an already stacked defensive front.

Given the youth of the roster, especially in the secondary, the Giants are going to lean heavily on their talented group of pass rushers. The starters only saw limited action in one preseason game, but flashed their potential with a strong goal line stop against C.J. Stroud and the Texans’ high-flying offense. The Vikings boast a solid offensive line with tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill, along with center Garrett Bradbury.

The 2024 Minnesota Vikings will also look a lot different from the team the Giants defeated in the 2022 Wild Card. Perhaps the biggest difference will be under center, where Sam Darnold has taken over as the team’s starting quarterback, replacing veteran Kirk Cousins, who is now with the Atlanta Falcons. After starting 55 games across his first five seasons with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, Darnold spent the 2023 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers where he started one game. He completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 189 yards and a touchdown in the 49ers’ Week 18 loss to the Rams, while adding 14 yards and an additional score on the ground.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Sam,” Daboll said. “I know he’s been to four different places, but he’s an athletic quarterback that has a good head on his shoulders, knows where to go with the football. He’s surrounded by some really good players at Minnesota and experience helps at any position. But I’ve always been a big fan of Sam, and he’s got a good team around him, a good play caller, and it’ll be certainly a challenge.”

This season, Darnold will be playing with a talented group of playmakers around him. The Vikings signed veteran running back Aaron Jones this offseason, adding him to an offense that features one of the league’s up-and-coming young receivers in Jordan Addison. But of course, the Vikings offense starts with the three-time Pro Bowler and former NFL Offensive Player of the Year, wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

“You better know where he’s lined up,” Daboll told reporters about the star wideout. “He can hurt you in all three areas of the field. Catch and run, intermediate, vertical, double moves. They’ll use him in a variety of spots, and then you look on the opposite side of it with Addison, who we did a lot of work on when he was coming out last year, who’s an exceptional route runner, very gifted receiver, was excellent at Pitt, and you can see. Then they acquire a veteran in Jones, who’s a very good runner, can run inside, run outside, solid offensive line…”

Moving over to the defense, Minnesota brought in a new play-caller prior to the 2023 season. Brian Flores is now heading into his second year as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator. Daboll knows the defense they will face this Sunday won’t look anything like the defense they went up against twice in 2022.

“I’d say it’s a completely different defense with Brian there and with a lot of new players that they’ve added,” the head coach said. “It’s a pressure defense. He pressures often. Sometimes the entire game. I mean you go back, we’ve competed against one another when I was at Buffalo, him in Miami, and you go back and look at the game they played against the Rams when they had (Detroit Lions quarterback Jared) Goff and (Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean) McVay and they blitz zeroed it every single snap. He presents a variety of challenges with the fronts and then you add the players.

“(Cornerback Stephon) Gilmore, a veteran now that came over there, (safety) Harrison Smith, (defensive lineman) Harrison Phillips. They’ve got completely different edge guys with (outside linebacker Andrew) Van Ginkel, (outside linebacker Dallas) Turner, (outside linebacker Jonathan) Greenard from Houston. So it’ll be a challenge, it’s a challenge mentally. Make sure that you’re on point with everything you need to be on point with to make sure a play works against 11 people that pressure, I’d say, quite often.”

In his first season with Minnesota, Flores helped the defense improve from 31st overall in yards to 16th in 2023, including top-eight rankings in both rushing yards per play (fourth) and rushing yards per game (eighth). The Vikings led the NFL in forced fumbles with 21, three more than any other team in the league, and it marked the most forced fumbles in a single season in franchise history since 2007 when the team also forced 21.