One of the bright spots coming into the 2024 season for the New York Giants was their dynamic pass rush duo of outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux and edge rusher Brian Burns.
Their performance in the Giants’ 28-6 opening-week loss to the Minnesota Vikings was less than inspiring. In fact, it was practically invisible.
Vikings offensive tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill kept the duo off the stat sheet — no sacks and just one QB hit between them.
The Giants had just one sack, by defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, and the lack of pressure allowed quarterback San Darnold to operate unfettered. He completed 19 of 24 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown for a QB rating of 113.2.
Retired offensive lineman and current NFL analyst Brian Baldinger broke down the Vikings’ dominance.
.@Vikings @chrisdarrisaw71 pitched a "no hitter" v the @giants edge rushers. Paid to be an elite player and thats exactly what he was at MetLife. #skol #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/tPD7cGyq7w
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 9, 2024
On Monday, head coach Brian Daboll said the preparation was not the issue, the Vikings just did an excellent job in pass protection.
“I think some of the games were good, the stunts and the games we used,” said Daboll. “I’d say the pressure was really good inside with Dexter when he was lined up in there. Again, they played the game. They played it well. They were playing in favorable situations. They get up, we get down.
“The game’s controlled a little bit. So, we got to do a better job of playing complementary football. Offense, defense, kicking game to make sure that we can get into more of those situations.”
sick play. Brian Burns tries to cut inside to fill the B gap (mid zone's favored gap) and darrisaw punishes him with the hook – exactly how you're supposed to play it but that is not an easy adjustment on the fly. Jones has to sort this all out too pic.twitter.com/cUKC2Bstrt
— Luke Braun (@LukeBraunNFL) September 10, 2024
After the game, a frustrated Thibodeaux was short with reporters, dodging questions about the egg he and his team just laid.
This is unacceptable behavior from Kayvon Thibodeaux.
0 tackles, was asked a completely valid question, and this is how he responds? I thought he wanted to be one of the greats? Not like this.
Back in the days of Tom Coughlin, with those leaders, this would never happen. pic.twitter.com/kZFYIy2mjN
— Anthony Rivardo (@Anthony_Rivardo) September 9, 2024
Thibodeaux has to be more accommodating and mature than this. As they say, success has a million mothers while failure is an orphan. He’s got to stay professional win or lose.
