Cleveland heads to New York for the first of two straight games in the same stadium. Up first is a meeting with the Giants in Week 15.
New York is 5-8 but still very much alive for the NFC East title. The Giants have some injury issues under head coach Joe Judge, but they’ve proven successful over the last few weeks after a miserable start.
Where are the Giants at now, and how much of a threat are they to the Browns? For answers to those questions, as well as an update on some former Browns now on Big Blue, I turned to Giants Wire and editor Dan Benton for a few questions about the matchup.
New York rattled off four wins in a row before falling to Arizona last week. What was the biggest key to the successful surge?
It was really all about steady improvement from the entire team. The Giants had been grinding away all season and felt like they were always this close to winning games, and that four-game stretch was when things finally came together. They were outcoached and outclassed against Arizona, but that may have been an exception to the rule rather than the rule itself. They’re the youngest team in the league and have a first-time head coach, new staff, new systems and were thrown into the fire without a full offseason and no preseason — it was a recipe for disaster so for the team to even be where they are is a testament to Joe Judge & Co. They need to shake that Arizona loss off and get back to focusing on the fundamentals and playing disciplined football.
What’s going on with Daniel Jones at QB, both short-term and for the future?
Prior to that terrible game in Arizona where the offensive line surrendered nine QB hits and six sacks of a one-legged quarterback, Daniel Jones had been performing at a high level. Analytically, he was a top 10 quarterback league-wide and had strung together some of the highest-graded games of his career. He was among the league’s most elite rushing quarterbacks and his actual completion percentage was higher than his expected completion percentage, which speaks volumes about his accuracy considering Giants wide receivers average league-low separation (over 1.20 yards below the league average per route run).
What Jones needs to do now is swallow some pride, sit on the bench and heal up. And what the Giants need to do is find him some wide receivers that can create more than 1.55 yards of separation and actually catch the football. Hard to find success in this league when your skill position players can’t separate and then are top seven in dropped passes.
How are the former Browns, Jabrill Peppers and Kevin Zeitler, faring for the Giants?
For Kevin Zeitler, it’s about what you’d expect. He’s a consummate professional and his play is consistently above average. He’s never really going to blow anyone away as the elite of the elite, but he’s a reliable rock at right guard and by far the team’s best offensive lineman. As far as Peppers is concerned, phew… Where do we begin? Thank goodness general manager Dave Gettleman demanded him as part of the Odell Beckham Jr. trade. Paired with Logan Ryan, Peppers is having his best season as a pro and deserves consideration as both a Pro Bowler and All-Pro. He’s just an absolute wrecking ball on the field defensively, contributes on special teams and has evolved into a locker room leader. He’s really everything you’d want in a player across the board.
What matchup with the Browns favors New York the most, and which one scares you from a Giants perspective?
Prior to James Bradberry landing on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, I would have said Patrick Graham vs. Baker Mayfield was the Giants’ best matchup. As physically gifted as Mayfield is, he’s still adjusting to reading defenses and no coordinator disguises his defense better than Graham. That will still be the case come Sunday night, but having a true lockdown CB1 really helps things along. Without Bradberry, the Giants’ corner depth is nearly nonexistent and limits what the team can do in the secondary. As far as the Browns’ advantage, that one is simple: Myles Garrett vs. Andrew Thomas and Cam Fleming. Good luck to whichever quarterback is under center for New York.
Who wins and why?
Without James Bradberry, optimism has left the room. Add in that Daniel Jones now has two bum legs and things are not shaping up well. If he can’t play, Colt McCoy steps in and I simply don’t have enough faith in him to carry the team in a potential shootout. It’s a bad situation for the Giants. Going with Cleveland in this one and it has the potential to get ugly.
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