It appears like the New York Giants’ tenure as defensive coordinator under Wink Martindale is coming to an end. Rather than getting bogged down in all the speculation surrounding his exit, it seemed like a good time to consider his time with the squad and his impact on the defence.
His defence looked promising in 2022, and we heard his name brought up in discussions about head coaching jobs. In 2023, there was a decline in overall performance, particularly in the first half of the season, as a result of personnel changes and offensive regression.
The team that many thought had the potential to rank among the NFL’s top five units appeared to be replicated in the second half. Martindale’s defence had many admirable points as well as some unanswered questions.
Since it would be impossible to go over each one individually, let’s examine the positive, negative, and ugly aspects of Martindale’s defensive strategies, just like we would with players.
Most people associate Wink Martindale defences with ferocity, but during his time as the Giants’ defensive coordinator, he also shown his capacity to disguise and mix up coverages.
Numerous pieces of evidence attest to their disruptive nature during the blitzing. A standout feature of Martindale’s blitz package is his ability to apply pressure from one side, drop that side as the ball snaps, and then apply pressure from the other side or up the middle.
He also had greater success when defensive backs were sent on blitzes by the Giants. There have been multiple instances over the last couple of seasons where defensive backs have been more active behind the line of scrimmage, and seven defensive backs have recorded sacks over his two seasons with the Giants.
The capacity to create pressure from the first, second, and third tiers is quite outstanding.
