Giants (5-6) vs Jets (6-5)
Last week the Jets played a balanced game against Miami on both sides of the ball. They were up 35-7 in the fourth quarter and finished up with a 38-20 win over their division rival.
The Giants didn't start scoring points until the fourth quarter in their game against the Redskins last week. By then it was too late to come back and they took a 20-14 loss.
Giants - Redskins Wrap-Up

The Jets
It's tough to be in the same division with New England. Bill Belichick's Patriots have dominated the AFC East with 12 division titles over 15 years. The rest of the teams start the season hoping to best them or at least get a shot at the playoffs as a wildcard. Rex Ryan did just that with the Jets when he started his head coaching career with them in his first two years, but in the four since then his team never posted a winning record.
Their worst was a 4-12 season last year when the Jets were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention before Thanksgiving. That gave ownership plenty of time to decide where the Jets would be headed in the 2015 season and it no longer included Ryan or general manager John Idzik. Currently Idzik is a consultant for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Ryan moved on to become the head coach of a division rival, the Buffalo Bills.
The Jets new head coach is Todd Bowles, who has worked in several coaching positions with various teams, the last being the defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals. Bowles was once the interim head coach of the Dolphins in 2011 for three games (2-1), so this is his first opportunity to run the whole show from start to finish.
Bowles collaborated with new general manager Mike Maccagnan to spend more in free agent signings than any other team to bring cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Buster Skrine and safety Marcus Gilchrist to the Jets. For the offense they acquired journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick from the Houston Texans for a conditional seventh-round pick, and traded a fifth-round pick with the Chicago Bears for nine-year veteran wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

Jets Offense
Geno Smith was put on notice by the new head coach that the starting quarterback spot was his to lose during training camp. The main competition would be Ryan Fitzpatrick, playing for his sixth team in his 10-year career. Before that ever got started, Smith was involved in a physical one sided fight, a sucker punch from a linebacker on the team. Fitzpatrick became the starter and right now the team ranks 20th in passing compared to dead last in 2014.
Fitzpatrick has thrown 20 touchdowns against 11 interceptions on the year. He had a hot hand last week, throwing four touchdowns and two of them went to Brandon Marshall who has nine on the year. Marshall ranks in the top eight in the NFL in both receptions (71) and yards (931). Eric Decker has eight touchdowns, so he and Marshall account for almost all of Fitzpatrick's touchdown passes.
Running back Chris Ivory has caught one touchdown pass and he's the third leading receiver on the team in yardage, but he makes his living on the ground. Ivory has 766 rushing yards with 7 touchdowns. Who's the second leading rusher? That would be Fitzpatrick with 187 yards and two touchdowns on 43 carries.

Jets Defense
They finished with a strong defense last year and it only got better with the offseason moves that they made. They improved in points allowed, passing defense and the Jets are the top team in the NFL with their rushing defense. Second year linebacker IK Enemkpali has shown some talent, but he was dismissed early on as it's a big no-no to punch out your starting quarterback. He's found a home with his former coach Rex Ryan in Buffalo and has served out his four game suspension.
The Giants will have some offensive linemen returning, but that doesn't mean they'll be able to run the ball against the number one run stoppers in the league. Sheldon Richardson, Leonard Williams, Muhammad Wilkerson and nose tackle Damon Harrison are a tough group. Wilkerson has eight sacks and getting to Eli Manning will be a priority as Manning will be looking for some big plays against their secondary, weakened by the absence of cornerback Darrelle Revis. That would leave Antonio Cromartie for single coverage on Rueben Randle or Hakeem Nicks, who should see more passes coming his way this week. Odell Beckham Jr. will draw double coverage with a safety and a corner, possibly Buster Skrine or Darrin Walls.

Giants offense
Mistakes can cost you a game and this offense made three big ones last week in Washington. With three Eli Manning interceptions, two drives ended before they even got started and the third one thrown in the endzone kept points off the board. The running game has offered no support and maybe it's time the Giants rethink using four running backs throughout the game.
Rashad Jennings should be the feature back and be allowed to get in a rhythm. Shane Vereen should line up at times as well with Jennings as either an alternate ball carrier or as a receiver. Let the Jets defense try to figure out if it's going to be a run play to either of the backs or if it's a pass to Vereen.
Dwayne Harris has done a commendable job. He and Rueben Randle average about as much per catch as Odell Beckham Jr. Manning will continue to seek out Beckham as much as he can and all the receivers will benefit from the fact that Darrelle Revis is out for this game and that his backup Marcus Williams is listed as doubtful and likely will not play as well.

Giants defense
They did a great job twice last week against the Redskins when suddenly called to take the field after two of Eli Manning's interceptions left the ball on the Giants side of the field. The Redskins were held to three-and-out and on the next turnover they missed on a long fieldgoal attempt. The one Manning threw in the endzone gave the ball to the Redskins on their own 20 yard line and they got to near midfield and punted.
The Giants defense was caught flatfooted when Kirk Cousins threw a pass on the first play on one drive and hit DeSean Jackson for a 63 yard touchdown. That and allowing the Redskins to dwindle the clock away at the end of the fourth quarter, were their two big mistakes. This week their big challenge will be stopping Chris Ivory on the ground or getting caught if Ryan Fitzpatrick takes off. Dominique Rogers-Cromartie and Prince Amukamara should be able to handle the receivers.

Overall
The Jets are coming off one of the best games they've played this season and the Giants one of their worst. Both teams really want to win this game, more for playoff hopes over any kind of drummed up Rex Ryan headlines that you would have heard if he was still around. After witnessing their hard fought battle with the Patriots in the game before last, the Giants loss in Washington was hard to take. Turnovers were a killer and if Eli Manning had gotten the ball to his receivers without those mistakes it certainly would have been a different story. They may even have had time to establish a running game for a change. The Jets field a better defense than the Redskins, especially against the run, but not having Darrelle Revis in the secondary puts them at a big disadvantage for this game.

NFC East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Jets (6-5) at Giants (5-6).
Sunday at 4:25pm Eagles (4-7) at Patriots (10-1)
Monday at 8:30pm Cowboys (3-8) at Redskins (5-6)
The Redskins are the only NFC East team favored to win in these games. Check out.
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Notes.
Giants and Jets have both lost four of their last six games.

Giants have an 8-4 record with the Jets.

Jets are 5-0 when Chris Ivory gets 20 carries or more in a game.

Jets Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brandon Marshall, despite long careers with numerous teams, have never played in a postseason game.

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