Giants’ defense shows implementation of the Patriots Way

A plan does not have to be inventive to be effective. Some teams — few, but some — are able to line up and win on defense simply by relying on players’ talents and skills — their guys beating the other guys more often than not. The 2020 Giants are not going to be one …

A plan does not have to be inventive to be effective.

Some teams — few, but some — are able to line up and win on defense simply by relying on players’ talents and skills — their guys beating the other guys more often than not. The 2020 Giants are not going to be one of those teams. If they are to achieve moderate success, or beyond, they must be able to blend all of their parts into a comprehensive scheme and rely on superior coaching, game plans and attention to detail.

None of that was present in the Giants the past two seasons. There is a new coaching regime in place, and if you look closely, how and what the Giants are building on defense is heavy on the secondary, fortifying in many ways from back to front.

If you look closely, it is the Patriots Way.

Which comes as no surprise, considering the new head coach, Joe Judge, and the new defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham, have their NFL roots firmly planted in the New England forest cultivated by Bill Belichick.

The Patriots only twice in Judge’s eight years with the team had a player reach double-digits in sacks in a season: Chandler Jones in 2013 (11.5 sacks) and Jones again in 2015 (12.5). It was more about stifling work in the secondary forcing the opposing quarterback to hold onto the ball a second or two longer than intended, allowing the collective pass-rush precious extra time to percolate.

“When you don’t have that one guy who’s transcendent, you do this,” Carl Banks, former star Giants linebacker and Belichick disciple, told The Post. “Look, not many people have a Von Miller or a Khalil Mack who you just line up and they’re a problem every time they’re on the field. A lot of teams have good pass rushers but nothing consistent. Nothing that you can’t take out of a game.”

The most intriguing and potential-filled unit on the team is the defensive backfield, with cornerbacks James Bradberry, DeAndre Baker, Sam Beal, Corey Ballentine and rookie Darnay Holmes and safeties Jabrill Peppers, Julian Love and rookie Xavier McKinney. The oldest player in this group, Bradberry, is only 26.

The Patriots favor man coverage more than any other team. Figure the new Giants coaching staff, remotely, will get to work hammering home the concepts of man coverage.

The concepts are simpler than most teams’. How the players are used, on a game-to-game basis, separates the Belichick defense from all others.

“I can tell you this from experience, and understanding the philosophy, it really gives offensive coordinators things to think about,” Banks said. “Guys will come in the game and you don’t know a lot about them, next thing you know, they’re either getting an interception or a sack or something like that. They’re notorious for doing that type of stuff.”

To learn what a team prioritizes, look what it spends money on. The Giants have to outlay the franchise tag sum of $16.1 million to Leonard Williams, a base salary that will come down significantly, if a long-term deal is worked out. Otherwise, the other two starting defensive linemen, Dexter Lawrence ($1 million) and Dalvin Tomlinson ($1 million) are easily affordable.

Remind you of any other team? The Patriots last season were 26th in the league in what they spent on defensive linemen. Their two highest-paid players, after Tom Brady, were both defensive backs, Devin McCourty and Stephon Gilmore. No NFL team spent more on safeties than the Patriots.

Similarly, the Giants are building from back-to-front on defense, taking McKinney early in the second round of the draft to pair with Peppers. General manager Dave Getteman handed out a three-year, $45 million contract for Bradberry to fill the role of a No. 1 cornerback. Three years ago, the Patriots gave Gilmore a five-year deal worth $65 million as their top corner.

See a pattern?

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“All of these kids we drafted last year and now Xavier this year, we’re putting together, I think, a very talented young group that just has the ability to play football at the NFL level,” Gettleman said. “We’ve just got to get them rolling.”

So, there is an easy-to-see plan?

“No, no, no, we see the possibilities,” Banks said. “The plan will evolve. If you can allow yourself to think for a second of a defense that looks like it’s all defensive backs on the field. But when you’ve got good tacklers like Peppers and you’re got good tacklers like Julian Love then all of a sudden, they’re not just defensive backs, these guys are gonna be their linebackers in some configurations. The possibilities are endless once these guys learn how to play a football game.”