The first commercial spacewalk happened more recently than the Giants’ last interception.
It has been 68 days and nine games since the Giants’ one and only interception of the season — made by rookie linebacker Darius Muasau in the meaningless final three minutes of a season-opening 22-point loss to the Vikings.
“The statistic alone is a head-scratcher,” safety Jason Pinnock told The Post. “In [10] weeks? This is crazy.”
How crazy?
The 2017 Raiders defense set the modern NFL record (since 1933) by going 10 straight games — a span of 357 passes — without an interception, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
One year later, the 49ers and Cardinals each endured an eight-game drought that has been eclipsed by the Giants, who will return from this week’s bye trying to avoid tying dubious history Nov. 24 against the Buccaneers.
Are the opportunities there to be had?
“Not enough. I think we need more,” defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said. “It’s something we have to continue to work at. We have to find ways.”
To add salt to the wound, former Giants captain Xavier McKinney is tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions in his first season with the Packers. The Giants, Browns (one) and Jets (two) have four combined, but the Browns’ and Jets’ active droughts only cover four and five games, respectively.
Asked this week about losing McKinney in free agency, general manager Joe Schoen pointed to his replacement, second-round pick Tyler Nubin.
“He’s one of the only rookies playing 99 percent of the defensive play time,” Schoen said. “He’s leading rookies in tackles. So, I’m excited about him.”
On the surface, the dearth of interceptions makes no sense.
Not just because fluky plays happen — a receiver slips, a tipped pass, a Hail Mary at the end of a half — but because the Giants lead the NFL with 36 sacks, and accepted football logic states that the pass rush and secondary go hand-in-hand.
So, if the Giants are knocking around quarterbacks, shouldn’t there be bad decisions and hurried throws?
“They’re just throwing good balls. We’re not getting to them. That’s the best way I can answer that,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said. “I think we need to create more [takeaways] to have the offense have a short field and not worry about driving a long field. It’s our responsibility to go get the ball, so that’s what we have to do.”
The Giants have defended 251 passes since their last interception — or more than 100 fewer than the Raiders defended over their record-setting streak.
Opponents have decided that it is not worth the risk of putting the ball in the air when the NFL’s worst-ranked rushing defense offers little resistance (5.3 yards per carry).
“It starts with making sure we stop the run,” Bowen said. “We have to get them in some passing situations. Get in some favorable situations for us where we can rush, we can cover. Play with vision, affect the quarterback.
“Hopefully get some balls tipped in the air that we can catch. Just have to create those opportunities for ourselves. And when they present themselves, we have to be able to make them.”
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is throwing interceptions on 2.6 percent of his passes — his highest mark since 2021 and the 11th-highest number among NFL starters.
So, maybe next game is the game.
The Giants led the NFL in takeaways and finished third in interceptions (18) last year with similar late-season personnel to now except for McKinney.
The rookie Muasau has been a healthy scratch twice this season and is no more recognizable to most Giants fans than Jared Isaacman — the billionaire who made history as the first non-astronaut walking 460 miles above Earth on Sept. 12, four days after Muasau’s interception.
Of course, this year’s Giants play significantly more zone coverage (63 percent of snaps, per Pro Football Focus) and blitz less frequently (28.2 percent) under Bowen than they did under Wink Martindale.
Still not reason enough.
“It’s hard to figure,” cornerback Cor’Dale Flott said, “but there’s no doubt about it: We’re close. They’re going to come. We aren’t going to rush them. We are going to be here when they come to make plays on them.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
