The New York Giants have the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in a matchup between two of the NFL’s “have-nots.”
The Giants are favored by 3.5 points in this game and we think they are in a great spot to win this week. Here are five reasons why…
The Giants don’t have much luck these days
Which means they won’t get the No. 1 overall pick. It’s just the way things have been falling for them the past few years.This game, should they win, basically takes them out of the running for the top pick because a) they’ll be two games up on Cincinnati (who is 1-12 and plays New England this week) and b) by beating the 3-10 Dolphins, they’ll be tied with them and will lose the tiebreaker.
For the record, the Giants have only drafted first twice. In 1951, they selected SMU end Kyle Rote and in 1965 they took Tucker Frederickson, a running back from Auburn. They have selected No. 2 three times (Skippy Minisi, 1948; Lawrence Taylor, 1981 and Saquon Barkley, 2018). They have selected third only twice: John Hicks in 1974 and Carl Banks in 1984.
Eli could be playing his final home game
Not that the Giants have much to play for, but if the Big Blue faithful comes out in force to say one final goodbye to the most prolific quarterback in franchise history, the Giants could ride this emotional wave to victory.
Eli Manning is filling in for rookie Daniel Jones and will not be back next year. Jones was running this week on his injured ankle and could be thrust back into action as soon as next week’s game in Washington. That means Eli is in charge this week and whatever fans didn’t ditch their tickets on the secondary market will be on hand to give the future Hall of Famer a proper sendoff.
The defense is coming together
Since the arrival of defensive lineman Leonard Williams, the Giants have been much more formidable up front. The linebackers have begun to step up their games as well.
The Giants have been tightening up against the run the past month and Miami is last in the league in rushing, averaging only 67.3 yards per game. That means they’ll have to pass if they want to win.
Not that the Giants are world beaters against the pass (they’re not), but this will be an opportunity for them to pin their ears back go after veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick who has been sacked 33 times this season.
Saquon has to have a staple game this season before it ends
The NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year has fallen flat in his sophomore campaign and much of that tail off can be blamed on the high ankle sprain he sustained back in Week 3. He hasn’t gained more than 83 yards on the ground since he came back in Week 7.
Granted, the Giants haven’t more than 19 attempts in any single game this season. We have no idea what they are saving him for. This week, against the Dolphins’ 30th ranked run defense, we expect to see a lot of Barkley, early and often. If he can’t crack the century mark in this game, then something is very, very wrong here.
The passing game is ready to roll
The Dolphins have allowed opposing passers to rack up a rating of 103.7 over them and with a pass rush that has a league-low 17 sacks this year, Manning should be able to put up some numbers.
We saw last week against the Eagles that he found rookie Darius Slayton be “an easy target.” With veterans Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard healthy, the Giants might just have their biggest offensive output of the season this Sunday.
