Giants DE Osi Umenyiora had the only sack on Saints QB Drew Brees. (US Presswire)

The Giants' pass rush only got to Saints QB Drew Brees once last week, which would be a surprise if New York wasn’t already a mid-tier team when it came to sacking the quarterback this season.

Coach Tom Coughlin’s unit has only 31 sacks, which puts it in a tie with the Vikings and Bills for 12th in the NFL.

But although the Giants finished third in the NFL with 48 sacks last season, the coaching staff isn’t entirely disappointed with the production they’ve been getting out of the pass rush. The coaches and the players agree: A successful pass rush is about more than just sacks.

“The results speak for themselves in terms of some of the positions that [Brees] was in and had to throw the ball and had to get rid of it, that type of thing,” Coughlin said Thursday. “Those are not necessarily found on the stat sheet.”

Brees was definitely rattled in Sunday’s loss to the Giants. He threw two interceptions and was 26 of 43 for the game.

And the Giants' pass rush can have other effects as well. Other teams have kept more guys in to block while many teams have utilized the three-step drop to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands as quickly as possible.

That’s why, DE Osi Umenyiora said, the Giants pass rush isn’t really being judged fairly.

“It’s just like a guy who’s a slugger and every single time they’re throwing him balls,” Umenyiora said, making an analogy to baseball. “They’re trying to walk him, and then you’re asking why he’s not hitting home runs.”

Even defensive coordinator Perry Fewell admitted that Sunday’s win wasn’t a real opportunity for defensive ends Umenyiora, Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck to get sacks. 

“I always want sacks,” Fewell said. “Sometimes I don’t always put them in the best position and last week I didn’t put them in the best position to always accumulate multiple sacks. Should we have had sacks? Yes, we should’ve had sacks, but I did not put them in the best position to accumulate multiple sacks last week.”

 Fewell said that doesn’t “exonerate” his players from getting sacks, but the overall message is that he and the rest of the coaches aren’t worried about the lack of sacks as long as the pressure is there.

Who are these dirt bags? Before beating the Falcons in the playoffs last season, Tuck suggested that there were those who thought that Atlanta’s offensive lineman could be considered “dirt bags” for their after-the-play activities. For the record, Tuck never called the Falcons “dirt bags” directly, but he did suggest “most people” would call them that.

Anyway, the perception no longer seems important because as Umenyiora said, those days are over.

“They’re not playing the way that they played,” Umenyiora said. “They’re just trying to straight up block you. That’s what they’re trying to do. None of that dirty after-the-play… stuff they were doing last year. I didn’t even know they had a new offensive line coach [Pat Hill], but he’s definitely cleaned that up now. I think he’s just more interested in winning and blocking people than trying to hurt people.”

The Falcons have allowed 27 sacks this season (sixth in the NFL), so this year’s approach seems to be working.

“They mix it up,” Umenyiora said. “A lot of times they’ll leave you one-on-one. They chip sometimes. They slide the line. … But we’ll have our opportunities to get there and I think we just have to take advantage of them.”

Can KR David Wilson do it again? If you’re counting on Wilson to repeat Sunday’s performance on kick returns, think again. It’s one thing for the rookie to accumulate 227 yards and a touchdown on four kicks against the Saints, who rank 24th in terms of opponents’ field position on kickoffs. But Falcons' opponents have an average starting position of the 21-yard line on kickoffs, and that figure has a lot to do with K Matt Bosher’s ability to kick the ball deep into the end zone at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.

“They’ll kick it deep,” Giants special teams coordinator Tom Quinn said.

Meet Kregg Lumpkin: If Wilson does start for RB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot/knee) on Sunday, expect to see more of RB Kregg Lumpkin in a backup role. 

“We’ve used him in third-down situations primarily because he’s absorbed the blocking responsibilities pretty well,” offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. “He seems to be physically capable of fulfilling the things that are required at that position. So far, he’s done a reasonably good job.”

Lumpkin was signed two weeks ago with RB Ryan Torain, although the latter has yet to be active in a game.

Who didn’t practice? Bradshaw, S Kenny Phillips (knee), S Tyler Sash (hamstring), CB Prince Amukamara (hamstring) and LB Michael Boley (back) did not practice Thursday.

WR Hakeem Nicks (knee) and DE Pierre-Paul (back) were limited, and C David Baas (shoulder) and TE Travis Beckum (knee) went full.

When asked how Nicks looked, Coughlin said, “not bad,” adding that he’s still “working his way back.”

Follow the Giants and Alex Raskin @CBSGiants and @AlexRaskinNYC.