WEEK IN REVIEW
The Giants lost their momentum and Sunday’s game against the Cardinals 26-7. The offense fell completely flat on all facets. The offensive line struggled mightily, allowing five sacks to New Jersey native Haason Reddick as well as three more between Dennis Gardeck and Markus Golden. The running backs never had a chance to get into a rhythm as the Giants were playing from behind from the first quarter onward. Worst of all, the quarterbacks combined for four of the Giants’ five team fumbles and three of the five were lost to the Cardinals.
Daniel Jones returned to action after missing the Seattle game and it looked like he returned too soon. His mobility was clearly hindered despite reports from the team that his hamstring injury was no longer bothering him. Jones, whose best trait is his mobility, did not record a single rushing stat and looked painfully stagnant in the pocket. Daniel Jones is going to need to regain his mobility if the Giants are going to stand a chance in the tight NFC East race. If he can’t get back to that level by next week, it may be wise to turn to Colt McCoy.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
The Giants now stand one game behind the Washington Football Team in the NFC East standings and now, no longer control their own destiny. Thankfully for them, they own the tiebreaker with Washington because of their two head-to-head victories earlier in the season. The Giants will need to pick up one game on the Football Team over the final three weeks of the season. Their remaining schedule is Cleveland (9-4), Baltimore (8-5), and Dallas (4-9) compared to Washinton’s: Seattle (9-4) Carolina (4-9), and Philadelphia (4-8-1).
There is a case to be made for Colt McCoy to take the lead for the remainder of the season if the sole mission is making the playoffs. Daniel Jones showed little reason to be confident in his ability to lead this team while he remains hobbled. Meanwhile, McCoy led the team to their biggest victory of the year against Seattle. Jones is a naturally high-variance player and there is value in him playing in high-stakes games, but it could be to the detriment of the team in the short term.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Giants opened this week as 4.5-point home underdogs against the Cleveland Browns, who are coming off a wild Monday night matchup with the Baltimore Ravens that resulted in a 47-42 loss. Despite the loss, Cleveland showed off the prowess of their dynamic pair of running backs, Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. The two combined for 213 yards from scrimmage and four total touchdowns. Quarterback Baker Mayfield also had his best game of the year, throwing for 343 yards and two touchdowns while adding a third touchdown on the ground. After such an explosive game, it will be interesting to see how the Browns will follow up that performance.
The Cleveland Browns have been an extremely high-variance team over the course of the season. They have scored over 40 points three times so far this year, including their two most recent games, and they have also scored 10 or fewer points four times this year. This Giants team, whose foundation is a strong defense and a ball-control offense, would be best suited to take on the low-scoring version of the Cleveland Browns. Based on the season struggles of the offense and the limitations Daniel Jones showed against Arizona, The Giants would struggle to keep up with Cleveland in a high-scoring affair.
