The New York Giants' defense has the potential to be elite.

On paper, the New York Giants' defense looks pretty good, especially when it comes to the pass rush. The triumvirate of Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter is absolutely nasty, and let's not forget Dexter Lawrence in the middle.

We saw flashes of what the Giants' front seven can do during the team's win over the Los Angeles Chargers this past Sunday, but for as well as New York's defense played, it still only recorded two sacks.

That brings us to the one thing the Giants defense needs to do in order to take that step to the next level this season: start finishing plays.

Burns leads the NFL with five sacks, so he is exempt from this. He has been an absolute monster and is an early frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year. But beyond him, New York's pass rush has actually been pretty disappointing, totaling just 10 sacks thus far.

Thibodeaux has 2.5 sacks. Elijah Garcia has one. Carter has half of a sack, and that's it. Lawrence hasn't gotten to the quarterback once, nor has any other Giants player other than the aforementioned names.

Here's the thing, though: Big Blue is getting into the backfield. Burns, Thibodeaux and Carter have combined for 25 quarterback hits. But outside of Burns, no one else is finishing plays consistently enough.

For example, Carter was a menace against the Chargers in Week 4. The rookie edge rusher racked up five quarterback hits, eight pressures and three hurries. But he didn't log a sack and is still sack at 0.5 sacks through four games.

At some point, the Giants need to start bringing the quarterback to the ground. They have to start actually completing these defensive sequences.

It's still early in the season, so there is obviously time for New York to get this right. If and when it does, the Giants defense should be wreaking havoc every week. But there is no reason why the G-Men should only have 10 sacks — again, half of them coming from Burns — with that defensive front.

This will also make the job of the secondary considerably easier, and we saw that in Week 4 with struggling cornerback Dru Phillips enjoying his best game of the year.

New York's defense ranks 29th in the NFL. That is far too low considering how talented the unit actually is. Having someone other than Burns start racking up some sacks would be a great way to get things jumpstarted.

Of course, this won't solve all of the Giants' defensive ills. They are still being gashed for 153 rushing yards per game, and offseason additions such as Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo have yet to really establish themselves. But it would still represent a major boost.