WEEK IN REVIEW
The New York Giants held onto a narrow victory against Washington on Sunday in a game that was truly a tale of two halves. New York went into halftime with a 20-3 lead and barely held on to a 23-20 final score. The Giants defense was very impressive in the first half, keeping Washington’s playmakers, Terry McLaurin and Antonio Gibson, in check in the first half, before allowing them each to score in the second half.
As previewed in this series last week, Daniel Jones was abused by the Football Team’s pass rush, falling victim to four sacks and nine QB hits. Jones was without Golden Tate following his benching for the game. Tate did not even travel with the team this past weekend, and his contributions were clearly missed in the 2nd half. As an offense void of any stars (Saquon Barkley is out for the year), the Giants need their full arsenal of contributors to be a threat against better teams.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
The Giants will try to build off the momentum of their successful first half against Washington. Alfred Morris was a pleasant surprise and could be due for more touches going forward. Austin Mack did an impressive job creating yards after the catch with his combination of size and speed. He could provide some nice size to a smaller pass-catcher group, including Evan Engram who is an undersized tight end.
Reinforcements are also on the way. Golden Tate returned to practice after a conversation with the coaching staff about his grievances. Dante Pettis was activated on Tuesday after being claimed last week and completing the COVID-19 protocols. Finally, and possibly most importantly, Will Hernandez was also activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list on Tuesday. Hernandez will provide some much-needed stability on the offensive line. Hopefully, he can provide some extra protection for Daniel Jones and a boost for the run game as well.
THE WEEK AHEAD
This week, the Giants will host the Philadelphia Eagles this week in an opportunity to make up major ground in the division. New York opens the week as 3.5-point underdogs with an Over/Under in the low-mid 40s. Both offenses have been inconsistent throughout the year and the Giants are only 1.5 games behind the Eagles in the division standings.
This weekend’s game is likely to be won in the trenches. Both teams boast some of the best defensive tackle groups in the league, and both have struggled to handle interior pass rush. Dexter Lawrence, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Leonard Williams all have a significant size advantage over Eagles center Jason Kelce and the Birds have had a revolving door at the two guard positions due to injuries. On the other side, Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, and Malik Jackson are the highest paid trip of DTs on any roster, and they are made extra dangerous by the way Jim Schwartz moves them around the defensive line. Watch these battles throughout the game to get a feel for which way this game will go.
