Abdul Carter isn’t sounding any alarms about the Giants’ pass rush, even after a flat showing in Monday’s 28-6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
On paper, New York has the kind of edge-rushing group that should make life miserable for offensive tackles. Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns give the Giants plenty of firepower up front. Through two games, though, that talent hasn’t translated into consistent disruption, and the Rams made that obvious.
Against reigning MVP Matthew Stafford, the Giants managed only six pressures all night. Six different defenders across the league had more than that, and seven more matched it.
That’s the kind of number that leaves no room for sugarcoating. Carter still came away with the Giants’ lone sack of the game, which also stands as their only sack of the season, but he isn’t interested in turning that into a crisis.
"I'm not really much worried about that. I know we're going to get home and the sacks are going to home," Carter said. "It's a long season, it's Game 2, we just gotta keep focusing on one game at a time and we're gonna be better."
That mindset fits the 22-year-old’s approach so far. He’s not treating the slow start like a sign that something is broken.
The belief inside the building is that the Giants have enough talent off the edge for the production to show up, and Carter appears to see Monday’s problems as more about the matchup than a season-long trend. Stafford, after all, got the ball out quickly and played like a veteran who knew how to neutralize pressure.
The one issue that could make all of this more difficult is Brian Burns’ health. Burns was injured late in the game, and his status matters because New York can’t afford to lose another key piece in a group that’s already searching for a rhythm. The injury is a low ankle sprain, so the expectation is that he should miss no more than a game or two.
There’s still plenty of season left to sort it out. The Giants are only two games in, which means 15 more chances to find a better version of this pass rush. The numbers are ugly right now - they sit 22nd in the NFL in pass-rush win rate, per ESPN, with only the Miami Dolphins below them and no sacks this year - but the early schedule has also included the Cowboys and Rams, two teams with offensive lines that can handle heat.
Help may be coming soon. New York’s next three opponents are the Cardinals, Titans and Commanders, a stretch that could give this front a chance to clean things up and start cashing in on opportunities.
For now, Carter isn’t panicking. He’s betting the sacks will arrive.
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