The Giants are coming off another victory against the Houston Texans that brings the team to 8-2. On Monday, the Washington Commanders managed to upset the Philadelphia Eagles. That Eagles loss brings the Giants within 1 game of the NFC East lead. For the love of God, did I miss being relevant this late in the year. Now, in order for the Giants to keep up their current pace, they obviously need to continue to win games. The way the Giants have been winning games, is by holding teams to minimal points and pounding the rock. That’s all well and good, but depending on how this game against Detroit unfolds, they may need to take a different approach.
The Giants best offensive playmaker is Saquon Barkley, and they have been using him as much as the possibly can. This was especially true last week, when they ran him 35 times. 35 TIMES. On the surface, it may look like their may be more of the same this week. The Lions are the 31st ranked run defense in the NFL. I’m sure the Giants are going to want to play old school football, by running the ball, controlling the clock, and holding the Lions on defense. The last part of that recipe may be a problem this week though. Say what you want about the Lions, but they can put up points. The Lions are the 9th ranked scoring offense in the NFL, and are the 6th ranked total offense in the NFL. Now, the Giants defense has been playing well, but a lot of that is due to limiting teams to field goals. The Giants defense still gives up a decent amount of yards. If the defense ends up letting the Lions score, then this game has the potential to land on the right arm of Danny Dimes.
Daniel Jones has played awesome this year. He has done everything that has been asked of him and has led the Giants on multiple game winning drives. With that being said, the Giants have yet to have to fully rely on Jones. They have kept most games close. If the defense ends up giving up points, the Giants will have to throw the ball more. Jones has yet to have a huge game passing this year, and if this game falls a certain way, this could be the one where he has to.
The Giants are going to try and do exactly what they did last week against the Lions, and they should. If all goes well, hopefully the Giants end up winning this one handily. But, if the defense finally does give up more points, then the Giants may have to throw the ball more.
We’ll find out this Sunday how the game will unfold, either way I believe the Giants are coming out of this one 8-2.
(Photo: Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
