The New York Giants are in a spot where they need to win to have a chance at making the playoffs. Here is why the Giants will and won’t win.
It is not a secret that the New York Giants are in a “must-win” situation right now. They are dead last in the NFC East, sitting at 2-3. Losing this game would only make it that much tougher to compete for the division and potentially make an awaited return to the playoffs.Lets take a look at why the Giants will win, and why the Giants will lose their week 6 contest against the Baltimore Ravens.
Why The Giants Will Win
The Giants are simply due for a win. They are coming off of three straight losses, two of which came against great teams. Now, with what may be the easiest matchup of the season thus far, the Giants host the Ravens at home.
From players like Steve Smith Sr to Elvis Dumervil to Ronnie Stanley to Marshal Yanda to CJ Mosley, the Ravens will likely be missing some of their best players. This makes it so much easier for the Giants to come out victorious.
The offensive line will hold up and make Manning’s job much easier. Meanwhile, Manning will regain confidence in his offensive line and gain his comfortability in the pocket back. Manning will connect with Odell Beckham Jr many times throughout the afternoon and continue to build their chemistry. Not to mention, the return of Rashad Jennings behind an improved offensive line would make stopping the Giants’ offense a much tougher task for the Ravens.
On the other side of the ball, Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon will finally get a pass rush going. They will bring Joe Flacco to the turf numerous times and put him under pressure throughout the entirety of the day. Turnovers will be created in the secondary with Flacco under pressure all day. The defense will get a rhythm going and prove that the Giants didn’t make a mistake by investing over $200M into their unit this past offseason.
Why The Giants Will Lose
The Giants have shown a major lack of chemistry this season, and that will not change against the Ravens. The Ravens are a well-disciplined team and will capitalize on the Giants’ mistakes. Expect the Giants to be out-coached by the Ravens in route to a GIANT loss.
The Ravens defense has excellent cohesiveness as it is lead by veterans who have been in Baltimore for years. On the other hand, the Giants’ offense has been very disappointing this season. Eli Manning will continue to struggle behind his weak offensive line. This will lead to forced throws that will ultimately be intercepted as they have been these past few weeks. Beckham will continue his 2016 decline while Cruz repeats his catch-less performance from last week. The running game will be unable to get any momentum and the offense will be a train-wreck as a whole.
Not much will change on defense as Steve Spagnuolo’s unit will let up 23+ points for the fourth week in a row. The defensive line will once again fail to record a sack which means that the secondary’s job will continue to be twice as difficult. Flacco will destroy the Giants’ defense through the air and Terrance West will dominate the Giants run-defense just as Eddie Lacy did last week.
Due to a mixture of poor offensive and defensive play, the disappointing GMEN will fall to 2-4.
My Prediction
I see the Giants offense having a “breakout” performance this week. The Ravens defense is depleted due to injuries. I believe that McAdoo has made sure the offensive line is ready to protect Manning after doing the opposite last week. The run game will be “just ok” with the return of Jennings. Eli Manning and company will score points through the passing game and Beckham will have his second 100-yd game of the season.
On defense, Big Blue will struggle once again. This defensive line, for whatever reason, has been unable to pressure opposing quarterbacks. I don’t see a reason that that will change against a very solid Ravens offensive line. The secondary will do enough to limit the Ravens’ offense despite the lack of help from the defensive line.
Again, I see this being a close game. Ben McAdoo’s offense will put up points, but the Ravens will return the favor scoring points of their own. It won’t be pretty, but I see the GMEN coming out victorious in this one.
