Wink Martindale isn’t getting much shuteye this week.
How can he when it’s his job Sunday as Giants defensive coordinator to slow down a Dolphins offense that scored 70 points — most in an NFL game since 1966 — just two weeks ago?
“My wife called me [Wednesday] night before she went to bed,” Martindale said. “She said she was worried about me: ‘Are you getting any sleep?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m sleeping like a baby. Every two hours, I wake up and cry and go to the bathroom.’”
Martindale is big on comparisons, whether it’s tackle-breaking Titans running back Derrick Henry and Hall of Famer Jim Brown or Bears quarterback Justin Fields to physical dual threat Cam Newton.
For the Dolphins and their collection of speed weapons, Martindale chose the “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams, who set NFL scoring and yardage records and went to back-to-back Super Bowls in 1999 and 2000.
“I told our staff because we’re all old enough to remember ‘The Greatest Show on Turf,’ this is like that,” Martindale said, “[but] 2023 supersonic.”
After the Giants’ special teams committed an uncharacteristic six penalties against the Seahawks, Thomas McGaughey vowed to “tighten the screws.”
“I can deal with those effort penalties, but the illegal shift and holding penalty at the line of scrimmage, that wasn’t necessary,” McGaughey said. “It’s hard enough to win games in this league. You can’t overcome yourself and then try to beat your opponent. So, it’s obviously a point of emphasis all the time, but especially this week after we had that type of performance.”
Head coach Brian Daboll threw his hands up in disgust after one of the penalties cost the Giants a chance to regain possession late in the first half.
“He’s always on my a–,” said McGaughey, who has worked for the Giants under Tom Coughlin, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge and now Daboll. “That’s part of the job. I’m good with that. I have no issue.”
Rookie Eric Gray will return punts again after veteran Adoree’ Jackson replaced Gray following a fumble.
Jackson made one fair catch but let two of Michael Dickson’s punts bounce, and the rolling ball pinned the Giants’ offense with worse starting field position.
“We were pressuring [Dickson], and he was inconsistent,” McGaughey said. “His ball when it hits the ground, it averages probably 10 to 15 yards of roll yards. You plant [returners] at 50-54 yards and he hits it 40 or 42, and it’s hard because you have a gunner that’s coming down the field, a jammer is coming down the field. You don’t want to run up and make a bad decision. It’s a double-edged sword. It was just kind of a perfect storm.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka took the blame for the “miscommunication” with Daniel Jones that led to the Giants running a draw on third-and-11 before a punt against the Seahawks when Daboll wanted to be more aggressive.
“I’ve got to make sure that I communicate that clearly to him,” Kafka said, “so that there isn’t any of that.”
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