Giants defense capitalizes on chance to seal win: 'We ask to be on the field when it matters most'

On Sunday at MetLife Stadium, all the Giants' defense had to do was keep the Chargers out of field goal range when they took over at their own 16-yard line with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

A stop and New York would grab a three-point win, helping rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart get a victory in his first NFL start. It was a situation they had been in before.

Two weeks ago in Dallas, all the Giants' defense had to do was keep the Cowboys out of field goal range when they took over at their own 33-yard line with 19 seconds left in the fourth. The Cowboys, with three timeouts at their disposal, managed to get 21 yards, which was enough to set up the game-tying field goal.

This time, with Los Angeles out of timeouts, Big Blue's defense forced an incompletion and allowed a 22-yard gain in the middle of the field that saw the final seconds tick away.

Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said the chance for the defense to close out the win was everything."

"We asked for that. We ask to be on the field when it matters most and this week we just took advantage," Lawrence said. The whole game we were on each other about, speaking throughout the game about situational awareness, and understanding what plays need to be made right here, and giving the offense short fields to play on.

The whole game we were speaking, and when you speak on stuff like that, things actually happen."

Brian Daboll said the defensive side of the ball did their job."

They played hard," the head coach said. Again, it wasn't perfect, we gave up a big one at the end of the half, we gave a big one backed up. But, I thought, it starts up front, controlling the line of scrimmage, getting pressure on the quarterback. They had a couple big runs that hurt us. Now we have to get that fixed, because that'll get you."

The big plays from the Giants' defense came in the form of a pair of interceptions, both of which set up Dart and the offense on the three-yard line. The first one by Lawrence, the first in his 96th career game.

"I got my hand on the ball earlier in the game, but it got called back," Lawrence said. And this one, he just threw it right over my head. I put my hands up.

In Dallas, I missed it, and this week I got it and tried to go score."

Herbert managed to bring the defensive tackle down after a 37-yard return.

"I thought I was going to score. I knew he was going to go low, but I can't catch my feet quick enough, but then I just went down," Lawrence said.

The Giants only managed a field goal for a 10-0 lead. Dru Phillips' pick in the second half, led to a Dart touchdown pass and a 21-10 lead.

Aside from the turnovers, the defense harassed Herbert, sacking him twice, hitting him 10 more times, and generating 27 total pressures.

It's all about competition, especially in our room," Kayvon Thibodeaux said about the linebacker room. All of us want to be great. [Brian] Burns has his goals, and I have mine. Abdul [Carter] is trying to make a name for himself in this league, so competition is what is breeding this excellence."

We got a lot of guys that's getting paid to do this: to go out there and dominate every game," Lawrence said of the defensive line. We put that pressure on ourself, we want it and we embrace it and we don't shy away from it. And we just gotta continue to be consistent and show up every week."

Daboll said that is what he expects from them: A lot of good players up there. I told them that the night before. That's the biggest thing in this game is going to be how our guys play."

Aside from a few big Chargers runs, the critical mistake came from another rookie when Carter was flagged for offside on a 4th-and-2 that took a Deonte Banks interception off the board late in the second quarter. The Chargers tossed a 37-yard touchdown pass on the next play.

I never wanna make the critical mistake like that, I put that touchdown on me," Carter said. "If I do my job and stay onside that don't happen. Obiously, I learned from it and use it as motivation."

We just have to do a better job of that," Daboll said of Carter's offside. Some of our young guys, and keep on working with them. I thought the defensive coaches did a good job. I thought the players played hard.

They made some plays in terms of the back end, breaking up plays, and they got after the quarterback a little bit, which always helps."