Jevon Holland is the undisputed best defensive player of this young NFL season, bolstering that resume dramatically to clinch the Giants’ 12-7 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.
A Giants defense that had dominated the first three-and-a-half quarters of the Week 3 affair suddenly sagged after losing Brian Burns and Colton Hood. Titans quarterback Cam Ward, who had completed just 10 of his first 22 pass attempts for 74 yards, caught fire, completing 13 of 16 passes, including a touchdown to former Giant Wan’Dale Robinson with 5:35 to go in regulation to cut into a 12-0 lead.
After a sputtering New York offense went three-and-out, Ward marched the Titans 70 yards down to the 6-yard line. Flushed out of the pocket and to his left on a 1st-and-goal, Ward’s lofted pass found the grateful hands of an undercutting Holland, who clinched the game with his third interception of the season.
The safety is the first Giants player to record three interceptions in the first three games of the season since Michael Boley in 2012.
“For Jevon to come up and make that play, for the defense to rise up, and make a play to win a game, that’s really what’s required in this league,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “I was really proud to see those guys do that. That says a lot about who they are and where they’re going…
“[Holland] made a great play. He’s been doing that all year so far. He’s been our turnover guy on defense, and he’s done a great job.”
It was far too close for comfort for the short-handed Giants (2-1), who were led by four Dominic Zvada field goals and pushed to the brink by a Titans team led by ex-Jets head coach Robert Saleh and ex-Giants head coach Brian Daboll that was beaten by the Jets in Week 1 and took the Eagles down to the wire last Sunday.
“For me, it was just another opportunity to go out there and do what I do,” Zvada, an undrafted rookie out of Michigan, said. “Credit to the O-Line, they did a great job… all I had to do was go out there and do my job.”
But defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, who previously worked for the Titans, did just enough to shut down his old team. Big Blue’s defense held Tennessee to 262 total yards, including a dominant showing in the first half in which they held the visitors to just 54 total yards and a single first down.
For as much as the defense was solid, Big Blue’s offense was not. With Jameis Winston under center in place of the injured Jaxson Dart, the offense was remarkably one-dimensional and relied heavily on the run. The elements might have had something to do with it, but even so, a stat line in which the veteran passer went 14-for-22 with 118 yards is uninspiring. Still, five drives stalled in Titans territory.
“I thought Jameis did what was required of this game,” Harbaugh said. “…He did what was necessary.”
Cam Skattebo posted 60 yards on 20 carries and was well supported by Najee Harris, who posted 52 yards on nine rushes in his first audition as the No. 2 option in the Giants’ backfield.
“When we found our footing on the downhill runs, they couldn’t stop it,” Skattebo said. “We stuck to that and we ended up coming out with the victory, and that’s all that freaking matters.”
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