Entering NFL Week 7 with a 5-1 record, the Giants are one of football’s biggest surprises so far in 2022. Head coach Brian Daboll’s club has shown resiliency on many occasions while playing in close games each week.
Even with winning five of their first six games, it’s interesting to see how small New York’s point differential is. Overall, they’ve scored 14 more points than they’ve allowed thus far. There are three other NFL teams with a record of 5-1 or better at this point in the season. Here’s what their point differential looks like ahead of Week 7:
- Philadelphia Eagles (6-0): +56 points
- Minnesota Vikings (5-1): +21 points
- Buffalo Bills (5-1): +95 points
Of course, a small point differential doesn’t mean the Giants haven’t earned those five victories. They’ve gotten here without a robust passing game. Quarterback Daniel Jones has recorded five touchdown passes against two interceptions while completing 107-of-159 pass attempts.
As a squad, the Giants are averaging 154.3 passing yards per game. That ranks 31st in the league (only the Chicago Bears are worse at 122.8). Lack of manpower has something to do with that, as New York’s receiving room has dealt with a fair number of injuries.
One dude who’s been healthy this year is running back Saquon Barkley. He’s among the league leaders with 616 rushing yards off 119 attempts. The Giants’ running game has produced 163 yards per game, which is fourth-best in football.
The script will have to flip to some degree when Big Blue travels down to face the Jaguars this Sunday. Jacksonville boasts the NFL’s third-best rushing defense, allowing 89.3 yards per game. This has been possible because the Jaguars are loading the box on 53.3% of rushes from opposing teams so far this year, according to NFL’s NextGen Stats.
They might be doing that because Jacksonville’s pass defense isn’t nearly as effective. The Jags are allowing 244.5 yards per game through the air, which ranks 21st in football. They’re especially susceptible to the big play, allowing 20 passes of 20-plus yards so far this season.
Jones has made plenty of things happen with his legs this year, but it certainly seems like this will be an opportunity to use his arm. That’ll be a sight for sore eyes since the signal-caller has recorded just one game of 200-plus passing yards in 2022. That happened in London during New York’s Week 5 comeback win against the Green Bay Packers.
Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney are still not practicing, but Wan’Dale Robinson returning in Week 6 could be something to watch this Sunday. Let’s not forget about those reports of the Giants potentially dangling Toney in trade talks prior to the November 1st deadline.
So, there’s a chance this weekend’s performance in the passing game could have an impact on what New York does with its roster in the immediate future.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
