The New York Giants are 5-1 and a lot of it has to do with the new coaching staff.
Head coach Brian Daboll has set the tone for winning, cooperation and collaboration. Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka is scoring points with smoke and mirrors and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has his unit ready to run through a wall for him.
On Sunday, Martindale faced his former employer, the Baltimore Ravens, who he coached with for the last decade. Martindale and the Ravens reportedly split amicably and that was apparent when he was embraced by many Ravens players and coaches before the game.
That doesn’t mean he didn’t want to beat them, which is exactly what he and the Giants did.
“He was on top of the world,” safety Julian Love, who recorded the Giants’ first interception of the season in the fourth quarter off of Lamar Jackson. “You’d be kidding yourself if you don’t want to beat your former team in any aspect. I know that he’s done a great job of not putting that on us of not making this game bigger than it was, but for sure, it means a little more to him. He had an extra chip on his shoulder. He was all smiles after the game”.
His players know that he puts them first. He knows it’a a player’s game. He cares for them and in turn. those feeling are reciprocated.
“I would say that I’m close with Wink, so yes, I want to win for win for him and succeed for this organization,” continued Love. “This is my fourth year here, so everything is for the guy next to me because that’s what it has to be. That’s what good teams do; you play for the people next to you. I think this defense was really rallying around Wink and being resilient.”
Another milestone reached on Sunday was Kayvon Thibodeaux’s first NFL sack, which came against Jackson near the end of the game. Thibodeaux stripped Jackson of the ball, sealing the Giants’ win. The rookie was asked what it was like to get that for Martindale.
“Truth be told, Wink didn’t really care,” Thibodeaux said. “Wink cared about winning and Wink wanted to win this game, but it never went deeper than us—us as a team, us as a player. So, Wink just made sure that he prepared us as much as he could and we went out there and executed.”
And that’s just what the Giants are planning on doing the rest of the way – executing Martindale’s game plan, which has succeeded more often than not this year.
