The New York Giants venture into Sunday’s MetLife Bowl matchup with the New York Jets trying to put an end to their five-game losing streak.
The Jets are also looking to get back in the win column for the first time since they knocked off the Dallas Cowboys in mid-October.
Both coaches are essentially playing for their jobs and a loss could push one of them closer to the unemployment line.
Let’s look at five reasons the Giants will take care of business against the Jets and finally snap their losing streak.
Winning the battle up front on defense
While the Giants line has been bad, the Jets starting unit has been much worse this season. The Giants got mauled at the first and second level Monday night by the Cowboys’ line, but don’t expect the same result from a depleted Jets group.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Jets offensive line ranks 26th in the NFL. Their offensive tackles are in the bottom 20 in pressure allowed and star running back Le’Veon Bell is averaging a career low 3.3 yards per carry. While Zeke Elliot torched the Giants defense on the ground Monday night for 139 yards on 23 carries, expect the Giants big bodies to win the battle up front.
Leonard Williams will face his former team for the first time since being dealt to the Giants last week. Williams had five pressures, one quarterback hit, and two tackles in his debut with the G-men. It can be assumed that Williams will have something to prove against the team that traded him away and he could potentially feast against a weak line.
Against the Cowboys, James Bettcher’s timely blitzes on third down to get his defense off the field. The Jets have allowed the second-most sacks in the league (37), so you can expect Bettcher to bring the heat regularly once again this Sunday.
Adam Gase
After being heavily endorsed by the great Peyton Manning as an offensive guru, Adam Gase has not gotten off to the hottest start with the Jets since taking over as head coach. Despite being considered an offensive minded coach, Gase’s offense is ranked last in the NFL in total offense averaging 223 yards per game.
Although the Jets were without Sam Darnold for four games, the offense has not faired well since his impressive first game back (23-32, 338 yards, two touchdowns, one interceptions), where they beat the Cowboys 24-22. Since then, Darnold has thrown nine interceptions and the Jets have suffered embarrassing losses to the Patriots, Jaguars and Dolphins.
During this span, Gase’s offense has averaged 11 points per game. They have also failed to eclipse the 20-point mark against the 28th ranked Dolphins defense last week.
The calls for Gase’s scalp have skyrocketed after the team’s debacle of a loss against the “tanking Dolphins.” Despite being in his first season as Jets head coach, Gase has been a disaster and could lose his job in the coming weeks if things don’t get turned around quickly. The Jets have a defective roster and Gase has allowed second year quarterback Sam Darnold to regress. If Gase continues to hinder Darnold’s development, the Jets will have no choice, but to make a change.
Pat Shurmur
Like Gase, Shurmur’s offense has not particularly fared well during this five-game losing streak. While the Giants were able to move the ball consistently with five red zone trips against the Cowboys, these chances only amounted to one touchdown.
This must change and Pat Shurmur knows it. If the Giants are going to finally get back in the win column, it starts with Shurmur developing some creativity in the red zone. Although Giants receivers aren’t necessarily getting much separation on opposing secondaries, it is up to Shurmur to design specific routes that are winnable for his players.
One example of how he could do this is by correctly utilizing Saquon Barkley in the passing game. Barkley is devastating in space and averages over 30-yards per reception on non-screen passing plays. If Shurmur lets Barkley run seam, angle, and wheel routes there are not many linebackers that can account for him.
Although the Jets have the sixth best run defense allowing only 87 yards on the ground per game, Shurmur must stick to a balanced attack specifically in the end zone. The Giants offense needs a consistent game plan for 60 minutes and it starts with Shurmur this week.
Daniel Jones
In his seventh NFL start, Jones’ turnover issues continued as he lost two fumbles and threw an interception before half time. Jones now leads the league with 16-turnovers (eight interceptions, eight fumbles) and has arguably regressed in the ball security department since taking over under center.
If Jones wants to lead the Giants to victory, he must keep two hands on the football to prevent giving the ball away. On a positive note, Jones has done a better job at decision-making when throwing the football by not forcing the ball into as many tight windows, while knowing when to throw it away.
Jones has thrown five touchdowns and one interception in the last two weeks, but he still has more room for improvement as his offense was only 1-for-5 in the red zone on a touchdown pass to Cody Latimer.
Jones also needs to take less risks with his body. On multiple occasions, Jones put himself in harms way on a lead block, where he took a hit from Cowboys safety Xavier Woods. He also scrambled on a third-and-6 diving forward into three defenders in the hope to pickup a first down. Instead, Jones lost his first fumble of the game after absorbing a big hit.
Jones is facing the 24th ranked pass defense that gives up 263 yards per game. Against a depleted Jets secondary, you can expect Jones to have a similar performance to the clinic he put on in Detroit two weeks ago with 322 yards and four touchdowns.
Jets depleted secondary
Speaking of the Jets secondary, not only are they ranked 24th in the league, but may be without starting cornerback Darryl Roberts, who injured his calf in practice on Wednesday.
Without Roberts, the Jets would only have three healthy corners on roster after placing Trumaine Johnson on IR. This leaves Brian Poole, Nate Hairston, and Arthur Mallet left in this group.
When facing the Lions in week eight, the Giants found themselves in a similar situation, where Detroit was without star corner Darius Slay and safety Quandre Diggs. As a result, Daniel Jones went off for 322 yards on 28-of-41 pass attempts while setting a career high with four touchdowns through the air.
If Jones can find similar success and stay away from star safety Jamal Adams, it will be another long day for a Jets secondary that surrendered 24 points, 288 yards, and three touchdowns to Ryan Fitzpatrick last week.
