Coming off their second straight loss, the New York Giants (2-4) head back home to face rookie quarterback Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals (2-3-1) on Sunday.
After a disappointing defeat in Foxborough last Thursday night, the Giants had a 10-day break in between games and hope to have some of their star power back in Saquon Barkley and Evan Engram, who both practiced this week.
Let’s look at five reasons why the Giants will snap out of their losing ways and get back into the win column this week.
A bounce-back performance from Daniel Jones
It starts and stops with the rookie, who is coming off the worst statistical game of his career thus far, which saw him go 15-of-31 for 161 yards and one touchdown, along with three interceptions against the Patriots’ No. 1 ranked defense in the NFL.
It was a tall task to go up against the Patriots on the road without his top two running backs, No. 1 receiver and tight end, which showed with Giants receivers averaging a mere 1.10 yards of separation per pass play. This saw the rookie Jones trying to fit nearly every pass into tight windows against the lock down secondary resulting in three turnovers and a career low 48% completion percentage.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has a reputation as the best game planner in the history of the league and that showed as he was able to confuse Jones throughout the game disguising coverages on a consistent basis. One play that particularly stood out came on the Giants first drive of the second half when Stephen Gillmore collected the third interception of the game when selling man coverage to Jones on a Rhett Ellison out route, only to cut it off in his zone. This arguably was the turning point of the game and credit to Belichick for drawing it up. Gillmore had a big game defending three passes, one of which resulted in an interception, while picking off a pass of his own.
This week, Jones will have to face veteran corner Patrick Peterson, who is returning from a six-game PED suspension. The hope is that the rookie will stay away from Peterson, as opposed to the previous week against Gillmore.
You can expect Jones to bounce back on Sunday against the Cardinals 30th ranked passing defense that allows 28.5 points per game. The expectation is that his running back Saquon Barkley returns from a high ankle sprain that sidelined him the past three-games, along with tight end Evan Engram (sprained MCL) being back on the field.
Return of the Barkley
Prior to suffering a high ankle sprain the Giants’ third game, Saquon Barkley was averaging 6.4 yards per carry on 37 carries for 237 yards and a touchdown. In his return, Barkley will face the 28th ranked rush defense that gives up 134 yards on the ground per game.
Not only can you expect Barkley to have a big game running the ball, but he will contribute in the passing game, as well and hopefully take some of the pressure of Jones. Barkley has 11 receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown on the season.
The Giants’ running game has been non-existent the past two weeks following Wayne Gallman’s concussion. Both rookie Jon Hilliman and fullback Eli Penny averaged just 3.2 yards per carry and 127 total yards in Barkley and Gallman’s absence. Now with the return of Barkley and potentially Gallman, along with the signing of veteran running back Javorius Allen, the Giant offense could get a major boost and once again establish a balanced attack that they have been badly missing as of late.
Evan Engram
It was as clear as day that Daniel Jones missed his No. 1 target Evan Engram last week in the passing game. Despite missing the previous game, Engram leads the Giants in every receiving category with 33 catches for 373 yards and two touchdowns on 48 targets. Engram also is third in the NFL in receiving for tight ends behind Travis Kelce and Austin Hooper.
The speedy tight end should provide a major boost to a Giants passing game that was flat for most of the game last week when down Engram and Shepard. As previously mentioned, Giant receivers averaged 1.10 yards per play against New England. It can be expected that the return of Engram will open the aerial attack a bit and take pressure off Jones, who will have his favorite pass catcher back.
Keeping Kyler Murray in check
This will certainly be a challenge for the Big Blue defense that has yet to play a quarterback with Kyler Murray’s set of athletic skills this season. Their only comparable match thus far was in their Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills, where dual threat Josh Allen passed for over 250 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 21 and a score.
Murray is coming off an impressive win over the Atlanta Falcons going 27-of-37 for 340 yards and three touchdowns, along with accumulating 32 yards on the ground. There is no question that he is dangerous, and the Giants pass defense has been inconsistent to say the least this season ranking 31st with 285 yards in the air allowed per game. Murray will yield a tough test for big blue, but their secondary held their own against the Patriots and it is fair to expect a similar performance against the rookie Murray.
Continued pass rush
James Bettcher’s defense has recorded at least three sacks in their last five games in a row. It was a similar story against the Patriots last Thursday as the Giants sacked Tom Brady three times including a Lorenzo Carter strip sack that was returned for a touchdown by Markus Golden.
Despite having the 11th ranked passing offense, the Cardinals have also given up the 6th most sacks in the league (21). Look for the Giants front seven to continue to get pressure centered around edge rusher Markus Golden with his team leading five sacks, along with impressive rookie defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, who improves every week creating consistent pressure up the middle (two sacks, eight pressures, three hurries, and one knockdown).
