Coming off a brutal loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1, here are five reasons why the New York Giants will bounce back in their home opener against the Buffalo Bills.
Saquon Barkley as the focal point
Reason number one is an absolute no brainer. After ripping off a 59-yard run on the first drive of the game last week, Barkley only carried the ball 10 more times on the day.
White it is easy to point out the fact that Big Blue was essentially trailing the entire game, the game teetered within seven points until the last three-minutes of the half. Leading up to this point, Barkley had merely five carries.
Again, this offense should be centered around Barkley’s talent especially with an improved offensive line. It is up to Pat Shurmur to get his best player the ball and ride him against the Buffalo Bill’s defense.
Barkley rushed for 120 yards on 11 carries. With wide receiver 1 Sterling Shepard out this week wioth a concussion, look for Barkley to get at least 20 touches this week.
Evan Engram. Period.
As previously mentioned, Sterling Shepard will not play this week. Cue tight end and dynamic receiving threat Evan Engram to step up as the number one target on the Giants offense.
Engram is coming off a big first week as he caught 11 balls for 116 yards and the game’s opening touchdown in Dallas. The tight end was targeted 14 times last week, but you can assume that this number will increase with Shepard out (7 targets).
Cody Latimer hauled in three catches for 74 yards in Week 1, but his status is also up in the air (calf) on Sunday. If Latimer can’t go that leaves an extremely inexperienced group in Russell Shepard, Bennie Fowler, Cody Core, and the newly re-signed TJ Jones.
While the G-Men are certainly thin in the receiving department this week, they should be OK if Barkley and Engram are utilized correctly in their offensive scheme.
Winning the battle up front
The Giants’ new offensive line played their first game together against the Cowboys and they did not disappoint.
Their PFF offensive line grades vs. Cowboys for each starter were ranked as following: Nate Solder (76.9), Will Hernandez (70.2), Jon Halapio (69.2), Kevin Zeitler (61.4), Mike Remmers (56.0). They also scored a 70.9 overall in pass blocking, along with an 82.6 in run blocking. This score in the running game led all NFL Week 1 PFF performances prior to the Saints game on Monday night.
It will be up to tackles Nate Solder and Mike Remmers to protect the edge against rushers Jerry Hughes and Lorenzo Alexander, who collected a combined two sacks against the Jets on Sunday. The Bills racked up four sacks as a whole last week taking advantage of a weaker offensive line. It can be expected that this Giants unit should give them more fits this week with their 70.9 pass blocking grade.
Although the Bills only allowed 68 rushing yards to the Jets, you can anticipate Barkley having another big day if Pat Shurmur gets him the football behind this brick wall of a line.
Changes on defense
Despite coach Pat Shurmur telling the media that there will be “changes” this week on defense, defensive coordinator James Bettcher insisted that Deandre Baker is still the starter at corner, and Antonio Hamilton will be used situationally.
Both defensive backs struggled mightily in their debuts allowing 15 combined completions along with Antoine Bethea and Grant Haley. It can be assumed that fellow rookie corner Corey Ballentine will see more snaps this week (only nine in the first game). If Baker struggles, Ballentine will most likely step in and hopefully replicate his preseason success, where he recorded an interception and batted down several passes.
Outside linebacker Kareem Martin was placed on I.R. during the week with a knee injury, so the Giants picked up Steeler edge rusher Tuzar Skipper. Skipper tallied five sacks and seven hurries in three preseason games with Pittsburgh. He will probably see some snaps on pass rushing situations depending on how comfortable he is with the playbook so far.
Getting to the quarterback
The Giants defense generated little to no pass rush in their first contest. Granted they were facing one of the league’s best offensive line’s in Dallas, Big Blue only knocked Dak Prescott down twice and one of those was on an offsides penalty from Markus Golden.
If Bettcher wants to take off some of the pressure from his inexperienced secondary, he will have to get creative with his blitz schemes. This could potentially come from his safety tandem of Jabrill Peppers and Antoine Bethea, who thrive near the line of scrimmage.
The Giants will need to make the pocket as uncomfortable as possible for second year starting quarterback Josh Allen. Allen had four turnovers against the Jets last week and has notoriously struggled in this area thus far in his young career (14 interceptions, 10 fumbles).
Look for Bettcher to try and expose this blemish in Allen’s game this week.
