The Miami Dolphins are halfway through their New York doubleheader after yesterday’s narrow loss to the New York Jets. This upcoming week, the Dolphins will catch the New York Giants, who play tonight on Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles. And the Dolphins will need to pay close attention to tonight’s contest against Philadelphia, but because New York is facing a change under center that will significantly impact how their offense plays for the rest of the season.
The Giants started this season with long-tenured veteran QB Eli Manning behind center, only to transition to 2019 1st-round pick Daniel Jones within the first month of the season. But New York is being forced into an impromptu farewell tour for Manning, as Jones is suffering from a high ankle sprain that could realistically keep him off the field for the remainder of the season.
#Giants QB Daniel Jones, out tonight vs the #Eagles with a high-ankle sprain, is expected to miss from 2-4 weeks, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo, who is covering the game for us tonight. That means expect Eli Manning to get at least 1 home start before 2019 ends, maybe more.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 9, 2019
Jones’ first missed game will come tonight, meaning that the Dolphins are firmly in the timetable of facing off against Manning. It is difficult to predict exactly how Manning in the lineup is going to impact New York’s offensive play, but it will be difficult for the Giants to play much worse than they have been with Jones at the helm. New York has found the ball easy to move but difficult to protect this season and currently ranks dead last in the NFL with a -14 turnover differential.
Could the Dolphins fall victim to a bit of late career magic for Manning? If that were to be the case, the Dolphins could stand to benefit from it in the form of NFL Draft order positioning — the Giants are currently 2-10 and could pull into a tie in the standings with the Dolphins with a head to head win next week.
For now, this situation needs to be monitored to get a feel for how differently Manning is going to run the offense versus what New York’s young rookie has put on film.
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