After a win this past Sunday over the Titans, along with some help from Cincinnati and Miami, the Indianapolis Colts will head into a Week 17 matchup against the New York Giants with their playoff hopes still alive.
Now, as I’m sure you can imagine, while their playoff hopes may still be intact, the Colts’ odds of reaching the postseason are still small and requires a fair amount of help needed from a few different teams.
However, step No. 1 to all of this is the Colts being able to take care of their own business against a two-win Giants team. Let’s preview the upcoming matchup and get to know this 2024 version of the Giants.
Last week: Giants lost to Falcons 7-34
Quarterback play
In part due to injuries and in part due to poor play, there has been a lot of instability at quarterback for the Giants since moving on from Daniel Jones. However, reports suggest that Drew Lock will get the start this week, marking the fourth time in five weeks that he will be under center.
The Giants’ offense ranks last in scoring this season, and while there are always a number of contributing factors to that, the quarterback play hasn’t helped.
On the season, Lock has appeared in five games and made three starts. He’s completed 53% of his throws at just 4.8 yards per attempt with one touchdown and four interceptions.
Line of scrimmage
If there’s two areas where the Giants have found some success this season it’s in running the ball, where they rank 14th in yards per rush, and it’s in getting after the quarterback, where they rank 14th in pressure rate.
However, on the flip side, their run defense ranks 28th this season, setting up another potentially run-heavy approach from the Colts, while their offensive line ranks 31st in pressure rate allowed.
Turnovers
As is the case for most struggling teams, the Giants turnover differential isn’t great. They are minus-10 on the season, which ranks 29th in the NFL. Their defense has generated the third-fewest takeaways while the offense is top-10 in giveaways.
Injury updates
Giants Injury Report. pic.twitter.com/VMoVePP3m2
— Patricia Traina (@Patricia_Traina) December 25, 2024
Stats to know
I recently put together a stats comparison between these two teams, taking a closer look at how the Colts and Giants stack up in several key metrics. For more on that, click here.
Players to know
RB Tyrone Tracy: The rookie leads the Giants in rushing with 721 yards at 4.6 yards per attempt this season. Tracy is also fairly active in the passing game.
WR Malik Nabers: It’s been a big year for Nabers, the sixth overall pick in this past April’s draft. Even with the up and down quarterback play, Nabers has 969 receiving yards and is the focal point of the passing game with 149 targets.
DE Brian Burns: The Giants acquired Burns in a trade this offseason and he leads the team in pressures with 52.
DE Kayvon Thibodeaux: Opposite of Burns is Kayvon Thibodeaux, who has 36 pressures this season. The two form a formidable duo and are big reasons why the Giants rank in the top half of the league in pressure rate.