Rams' 'alien' Aaron Donald focus of Giants coaches
It doesn't take a football expert to figure out that there are no secret weapons. But there's no doubt that when it comes to the top issue facing the Giants offense this Sunday against the Rams, it is hoping to contain – forget outright stopping – Los Angeles defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
“He's just an alien,” defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said. “There's no other – he’s just unreal and it's down after down after down after down. He is one of the best. He'll go down as one of the best three techniques of all time.”
Donald, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, seven-time First-team All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler, has just seven sacks on the year but 78 total quarterback pressures (14 hits and 57 hurries) along with 29 stops. Pro Football Focus grades him as the third-best interior defender in the NFL this year.
Brian Daboll called Donald “one of the best to ever do it.”
“He’s always a problem when you play him. As much as you try to gameplan for him, he always finds ways to make plays. He’s one of the best defensive players, he’s unbelievable,” the head coach said Wednesday.
While the history of football is marked by tremendous play from edge rushers dominating the game, the interior linemen are getting a bit of their moment in the spotlight especially because of guys like Donald because of his ability to contain the run game and rush the passer. The Giants’ Dexter Lawrence – PFF’s No. 1 graded interior defender – is another example of how much an interior player can impact and wreck a game.
“You know you can do different things and slide, but it’s a little bit different when you have edge guys that you can chip and do different things,” Daboll said about game-planning against the inside pressure. “When they are inside, they get matched up, whether it’s a protection issue, you have to turn some way. Their one-on-ones, they’re hard to block.
“[Donald] is obviously smaller than a guy like Dex but he is as explosive as a player that there’s been. He’s a fantastic player and he’s been that way for a long time.”
All of this spells a long day for the Giants' interior lineman and a real challenge for rookie center John Michael Schmitz.
“Aaron Donald’s a Hall of Fame-type player,” offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said. “It’s going to be a big challenge, not for just a rookie but for everyone on the front line.”
Matt Stafford: Not too shabby
The Rams started the season 3-6 and have gone 5-1 since. What changed?
“Stafford’s thrown 15 touchdowns, two interceptions,” Daboll said on Wednesday. “I mean, he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the league, been that way for a long time. Playing good team football, don’t have a lot of negative runs, five-plus runs are tops in the league, explosive pass plays. They’re playing good football.”
The defensive coordinator concurs.
“I think that Stafford is playing at a Hall of Fame-type level,” Martindale said. “They have gelled offensively. I think that Matthew is - I mean, he's making throws that you just sit there and go, ‘wow.’ From all different kinds of arm angles, no looks, all those things you've heard about, you're seeing him do it and they're playing at a very high level.”
Aside from the passing, Martindale also pointed to Rams head coach and play-caller Sean McVay running the ball more.
“I think that the thing that Sean has done is that they've made a commitment to the run game and changing their offensive line this year,” he said. “Now, it's a two-headed monster that you have to deal with. So, they put you in a bind of what you want to try to do and how you're going try to do it.”
But it all comes down to the quarterback and the Giants DC believes Stafford is playing at an MVP level.
“Stafford is playing unreal," Martindale said. "I mean, he's a great football player, but I think that he and [Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson] should be up for the MVP candidate. That's the kind of year he's having."
