Week 1 of the NFL season is upon us and the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants are both in a precarious spot with questionable quarterback situations as Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones each have the pressure to prove they can be a true franchise QB.
Ahead of Sunday’s matchup, one Vikings defender straight up said that his defense isn’t worried about the Giants’ offense at all.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson asked Vikings linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. how good of a matchup this is for his defense, and he replied, “Oh, we’re about to go crazy, man.” and when asked about specific standout players they are slated to go up against, he said, “Yea, they look good but I know our defense, I know what we got here in this locker room.”
The second-year LB posted 102 tackles last year along with 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception as a rookie undrafted free agent.
Pace will once again be a starting inside linebacker and noted that Daniel Jones, Devin Singletary, and Malik Nabers didn’t strike fear in this defense at all during this media session.
It’s a bold dismissal of what was a poor Giants offense last season, but that offense is slated to look much different now that Saquon Barkley is in Philadelphia and Nabers is here to hopefully add a new element of explosiveness to their wide receiver room.
It all hinges on Jones, who is likely in his last chance to solidify his job long-term, otherwise, other teams are going to scoff at this offense again just like Pace did.
