The New York Giants’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday was extremely frustrating, and it accentuated a glaring weakness that could define the rest of this season. And it’s not going to shock anybody reading this. 

The Giants’ secondary can’t cover anybody, and it couldn’t be more evident after Davante Adams torched New York for 195 yards, 8 receptions, and 2 touchdowns.

The loss was obviously disappointing because the Giants lost quarterback Jaxson Dart early, and without him, they couldn’t get their run game going. It’s clear New York built this offense around Dart’s athletic skill set. When he went down, the energy got sucked out of the building, and the offense stalled.

The secondary got smoked

Last week against the Dallas Cowboys, the Giants survived because they kept Dallas’ offense off the field. They dominated time of possession, ran the ball effectively, and slowed the game down. But once the situation flipped against the Rams and the Giants’ offense kept getting knocked off the field, the defense had to go back out there repeatedly. The secondary paid the price.

Adams embarrassed the Giants all night. He specifically dominated on vertical routes, catching six of his seven deep targets for 172 yards and both of his touchdowns per Next Gen Stats. It was also noted by Next Gen Stats that most of his production came against Tyler Nubin who was targeted on all four matchups with him. 

The bigger picture

The issues extend beyond just the secondary. Giving up 457 yards and 28 points is a team-wide defensive problem. The Giants didn’t play well as a whole because the momentum vanished the minute Dart came off the field. Everything snowballed from there.

The lack of pass rush also stood out. The Giants only pressured Matthew Stafford on 15.2% of his dropbacks, which is the fourth-lowest rate of his time with the Rams.

With that being said, one thing is certain: the Giants have to go find a premier cornerback to start outside. Whether that happens before the trade deadline or during this offseason, it needs to happen. Otherwise, the secondary will remain a liability, and New York will be cooked next year too.

Hopefully, the Giants’ front office recognizes the urgency here. The corner room might legitimately be the worst in the NFL, and no amount of schematic creativity from the coaching staff can mask that forever.