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Giants (5-4) vs Patriots (8-0)
Last
Sunday the Patriots won 27-10 playing against the Redskins in New England. They
led the whole game by a wide margin and only a touchdown in the last few seconds
made the score look slightly better.
The Giants played their game in Tampa
Bay and came away with a 32-18 win. That victory insured they'd lead the division
for at least one more week.
Giants
- Bucs Wrap-Up New
England Patriots
The defending Super Bowl
Champions are off to a strong start, and by now it's almost expected. They have
shrugged off Deflategate which cost them a first and fourth round draft pick,
and have paid a $1 million fine. It could have been worse, but they did not lose
their starting quarterback for the first four games which was was also part of
the NFL's ruling. A week before the season started there was a court decision
that reversed Tom Brady 's four-game suspension for any involvement he may have
had in the Deflategate issue. The NFL has since filed an appeal on the decision
to nullify the suspension and that's where things currently stand.
The
Patriots have taken the division title the last six times in a row. They've actually
won the 11 of the last twelve and it shouldn't be too surprising to learn that
the one miss was when Brady was hurt in the first game of the 2008 season and
missed the entire year. Right now the team is unbeaten with an 8-0 record as head
coach Bill Belichick and Brady continue to churn out wins. Brady's numbers
are everything a head coach could want. He has thrown 22 touchdown passes, has
only 2 interceptions and a 68.6 completion percentage which is the second highest
of his long career. Patriots
Offense
Last
week's win over the Redskins came with a cost to the offense. They lost tackle
Sebastian Vollmer from their offensive line, and pass-catching running back Dion
Lewis. Vollmer has a concussion and Lewis is out for the season with a torn ACL.
Lewis is the second leading rusher behind LeGarrette Blount and the third leading
receiver on the team. Blount is averaging 4.6 yards a carry and has 5 touchdowns.
You would think that the Patriots would rank higher than 26th in rushing yardage
per game, but they pass the ball more than 60 percent of the time.
That works
well for them as they rank first in the NFL in passing and in points scored. Tight
end Rob Gronkowski can't be stopped. He was limited to less than 50 receiving
yards just once this season and has caught over 100 in half the games played.
He's the leading receiver averaging almost 16 yards a carry and Julian Edelman
is next. Both receivers are tied with 7 touchdowns. Danny
Amendola would be slotted next with Lewis out
for the season. Patriots
Defense
Defensive
end Chandler Jones leads the NFL with 9.5 sacks and his team has 27. Jones was
drafted in 2012 along with a number of other defensive players over the past few
years as the Patriots decided to strengthen this area of the team. Eleven of the
thirteen players selected over that time play on their defense. Currently the
unit rankings are better in all major areas compared to their numbers last year
when the team won the Super Bowl.
The Giants are improving, but have not had
a strong consistent running attack and it will be hard to establish one on Sunday.
The Patriots keep improving and are ranked third in the NFL against the run allowing
89.3 yards per game. Over the last three games teams have averaged just 2.4 yards
per carry against them. The Patriots have given up only 143 points over the season,
and about half were scored when they had the game well in hand. Giants
offense
It would be nice to have a bye week
to prepare for a team like the New England Patriots, but the Giants don't get
a break until next week. Against New Orleans the Eli Manning to Odell Beckham
Jr. connection was at its best, good for 8 completions out of 9 passes thrown
and with three being touchdowns. Against Tampa Bay's coverage last week Manning
had to throw 17 times to get one more completion to Beckham for totals that amounted
to less yardage and with no touchdowns. The other receivers were covered better
as well, and Manning ended up with two interceptions to go along with his two
touchdowns, one to Rueben Randle and the other to Shane Vereen.
The four running
backs, Rashad Jennings, Andre Williams, Orleans Darkwa and Vereen combed for 113
yards on 32 carries. Vereen spent his first
four seasons with the Patriots and was instrumental
in their Super Bowl win, and now they will have to defend against him. Vereen
and Beckham will be two of their main areas of concern. There were no sacks on
Manning last week. Rookie Ereck Flowers is doing well in his first year and he
will be up against Chandler Jones. Keeping Manning protected will be key if the
Giants want to win this one. Giants
defense
Jason Pierre-Paul gave the Giants
a boost last week in Tampa Bay. He was able to get pressure on the quarterback
and in his second game back he can only do better. Right now the Giants are last
in the NFL with nine sacks and are looking to improve that number by getting to
Tom Brady. The Giants lost starting tackle Johnathan Hankins for the season when
he was hurt last week in Tampa and it will be hard to duplicate his efforts on
the field. Tight ends have done well exploiting the Giants weak secondary and
Landon Collins will have to play at his best against Rob Gronkowski.
Overall
the Patriots have been playing well despite having multiple offensive line starters
out for the season. They have had to shuffle things around quite a bit and this
would be the weak area on this team. Having Brady, a quarterback with a quick
release as your quarterback, is a great benefit and that's another reason they've
made things work. The Giants passing defense has been more bend don't break and
they have been better in the red zone area. They have had breakdowns and Dominique
Rodgers-Cromartie can't be all over the field. He has done just about all he could
do, and the defense will still be without Prince Amukamara for this game. Overall
The
Giants and Patriots are two division-leading teams just about at the midpoint
of their seasons, and overall the Patriots look to be the better team. When they
meet head to head though football stats and records seem to go out the window
and it's more like a contest of paper-rock-scissors. It's hard to say when or
if Tom Coughlin ever took his team into one of these matchups holding the upper
hand, but he is 5-1 going up against Bill Belichick and his team has won in the
last three meetings. As usual this will be a tough game for the Giants to win
against the unbeaten Patriots and if they do, or even come close, you'll be glad
you saw all the action. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Dolphins (3-5)
at Eagles (4-4).
Sunday at 1:00pm Saints (4-5) at Redskins (3-5).
Sunday
at 1:00pm Cowboys (2-6) at Buccaneers (3-5).
Sunday at 4:25pm Patriots (8-0)
at Giants (5-4).
The Eagles are favored to win, the Cowboys and Redskins are
even and the Giants are underdogs.
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Notes
- Giants.The Giants started 0-2, and
have won five of the last seven games to lead in the NFC East. The
Giants defense has linebacker Jonathan Casillas, who helped the Patriots win the
Super Bowl.
Shane Vereen won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots last season and now
plays for the Giants. Shane Vereen holds
the Super Bowl record for a running back with his 11 catches in that game. Notes
- New England. The Patriots have
scored in every quarter this season except for the first one in the first game. The
Patriots are tied for the NFL record of scoring in 31 straight quarters. The
Patriots have won their first eight games for
the second time in their history. The
Patriots became the first team to go 16-0 by winning 38-35 at the Meadowlands
on Dec. 29, 2007.
Next Games
Nov 29 - Giants at Redskins
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