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Why should Tim Lewis be fired? The defense has played pretty well for the past two years despite tons of injuries to the front seven and total garbage at both CB spots.
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We're talking about the Giants here right? Have you watched the team at all? They had one good stretch early this year after the first 2 games.
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Alright, "pretty well" might be overstating it, but they've been about average. This season they're
12th in total DVOA, 13th in weighted DVOA. The team is something like 23rd in points allowed, but keep in mind that a lot goes into that besides the quality of the defense: starting field position courtesy of the offense and special teams, luck on fumble recoveries, schedule difficulty, etc. The Giants have faced the 5th toughest schedule in the league, according to FO. Last season the Giants were
11th in total Defensive DVOA.
If you prefer more traditional stats, look at their
Drive Stats. This season the Giants defense is 17th in yards allowed per drive, 17th in takeaways per drive, and 23rd in points allowed per drive. That last one sounds bad at first, but remember the hard schedule, and also this: the Giants defense, on average, had the 4th worst average starting field position in the league this year. Teams were set up to score points before the Giants defense even took the field.
Last year their defense was somewhat above average: 12th in yards allowed per drive, 5th in takeaways per drive, and 11th in points allowed per drive. (Granted, last year was the opposite of 2006 as far as starting field position was concerned: the Giants defense had the 3rd best starting field postion.)
Now, one average year and one slightly above-average year might sound pretty pedestrian for a defensive coordinator, but remember that the Giants defense has had
huge injury problems the last two years. Last year it was literally cause for celebration when the 3rd string OLB was healthy enough to start. Combine the injuries with a secondary whose talent level is solidly below-average (and not immune to injuries themselves), and you've got a very tall order for a coordinator. Average and a little above average is probably about as well as the Giants defense could have played given the state of their roster.