Wink Martindale Issues Bold Challenge Ahead of Giants' Monday Night Game
New York Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale isn't oblivious that his defense hasn't been the model for tackling.
But rather than make excuses, Martindale has been proactive during this 11-day break in between games to make sure that when the nation next tunes in to watch the Giants play, that being on Monday night at home against the Seahawks, there won't be a repeat performance such as what the Giants put out there against the San Francisco 49ers when they recorded 16 of their 29 missed tackles this season.
"San Francisco was our worst tackling game that we’ve had, and we made it a focal point (Thursday)," Martindale told reporters Friday.
To address the issue, Martindale ran tackling circuits in which the players worked on different types of tackles, including breaking stiff arms, wrapping up, running down a ball carrier, and getting after a quarterback while not landing on him with one's full body weight.
Martindale believes that the tackling issue was a big reason behind the Giants' inability to get off the field on third down, on which they allowed a season-high 56.25 percent conversion rate against the 49ers, that conversion rate being the second-highest of Martindale's one-year plus as Giants defensive coordinator. (The Giants allowed a 64.64 percent conversion rate against Dallas in Week 12 last season.)
"If you want to win games and go far in the season, postseason, you’ve got to tackle," inside linebacker Bobby Okereke said. "That’s the name of the game right now in the league. Getting athletes in space and making guys miss. So that’s going to be a big emphasis for us, and we know it’s going to be a big part of our success."
Martindale said that tackling is a mindset but admitted that the softening of the rules over the years sometimes makes it harder for a coach to teach the proper techniques.
"We all know the rules and how the rules have changed and everything else--tackling, wrapping up. You know, we used to, back in the day, take them down to the ground, and you would do something like that, whereas today, now I have the running back have a shield so they can get the thump, where they are wrapping and running their feet while they have the shield, with the guardian helmets on and all that," he said.
But therein lies the challenge Martindale wants the entire defense, including the coaches, to rise to.
"What it comes down to is they are professional athletes, and they’ve got to have that mindset of taking the right angle, stepping toes on toes, and making tackles, which they have, and they are going to do it again," he said.
He's so confident in the Giants' ability to clean up the tackling issue that he even issues a challenge to the critics out there who still have doubts.
"Come out Monday night; chart them," he said.
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