The New York Giants fell apart down the stretch, with three losses in their last four games after blowing out the Green Bay Packers by 28 points in Week 12. The defending Super Bowl champions were outscored 67-14 in the last two games and now have the 30th-ranked total defense in the NFL.
Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said the players didn't take advantage of opportunities.
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"It's frustrating for me and for the defense to give up the big play, and that's been our nemesis all year," Fewell said Thursday, via the New York Post. "Have we worked to eliminate the big play? Yes we have. Have we been able to do that? No we haven't.
"So I can't tell you why, but that could be a point of frustration."
Fewell said the unit prepared during the week better than it performed on Sundays.
"We preach them, we work on them," Fewell said. "They say turnovers come in bunches, and sometimes they come in bunches, but we're in the dry spell the last two games. And we're going to work like the dickens to get turnovers in this game.
"I think they've been playing hard, but they have to make up in their mind that we have to make some plays. We have to get a spark from somebody. Somebody has to go through and make a football play and get everybody going. Either offensively, defensively, special teams -- we need somebody to make a big play for us to get us rolling."
Big Blue still has a slim playoff chance (the Giants need to beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, plus get losses from the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings), but Fewell's frustrations are understandable.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
