Sep 192014
 
Eli Manning, New York Giants (August 16, 2014)

Eli Manning – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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Houston Texans at New York Giants, September 21, 2014

It’s normally ridiculous to talk about “must win” games in September, but the 0-2 Giants find themselves in that situation against the Houston Texans on Sunday. An 0-3 hole would be extremely difficult to overcome if this team has any serious playoff aspirations. The problem for the Giants is that while the passing game did look sharper last week, the lack of overall talent at wide receiver (as demonstrated by the fact that Preston Parker and Julian Talley are now the #3 and #4 receivers on the depth chart), continued issues on the offensive line, and key injuries on defense (Jon Beason, Walter Thurmond) may sabotage the season.

FOUR DOWNS:

First Down
Can the defense get off of the field on 3rd down?
Everyone knew the Giants offense would struggle early this year. What everyone was counting on was for the defense to step up and carry the team while the offense adjusted to the new system. While the defense hasn’t been “bad,” it certainly hasn’t been “good” either. The biggest issue is defense can’t get off of the field on third down. The Lions were 67 percent on 3rd down against the Giants. Against the Cardinals, the New York offense only had the ball three times in the first half as the Giants defense allowed Arizona to maintain possession on drives of 11, 10, and 8 plays.

Second Down
Can the defense force some turnovers?
Somewhat related to our “first down” point, even better than forcing three-and-outs, force some turnovers. The Giants defense was supposed to thrive on turnovers this season. They have none in two games. Create a short field for the offense, or better yet, score some points of your own.

Third Down
Can the Giants finally get the ground game going?
The Giants have not been able to run the football yet this season against two very good defensive lines. This has made the Giants dangerously one-dimensional, something completely contrary to Tom Coughlin’s desires.

Fourth Down
Can Eli Manning build on his positive performance from last week?
Eli Manning played well enough for the Giants to win last week. The key now is to keep it going and build off of last week’s positive performance. Consistency is the key.

BREAKING DOWN THE TEXANS:

OFFENSE – Eric Kennedy
Strength?
The Texans can run the football. Arian Foster is a big, physical productive football player. He already has 241 yards on 55 carries in just two games. Foster can also catch the ball. And he is helped by a very solid offensive line, anchored by Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown. The offensive line has not given up a sack this season.  WR Andre Johnson, though older and affected by injury issues in recent years, is still a stud.

Weakness?
It’s tough to call a quarterback with 118.4 quarterback rating a weakness. But Ryan Fitzpatrick is with his fifth NFL team for a reason – historically-speaking, he’s been a very average to below-average historically in this league. If the Giants can shut down the Texans’ running game, the pressure will be on Fitzpatrick to make plays in the clutch. Fitzpatrick has not thrown an interception yet. He’s due.

DEFENSE  Connor Hughes
Strength?
There are things the Houston Texans do well defensively, but it starts entirely with J.J. Watt. The NFL’s newest $100 million man is a force against the run, the pass and just about everything in between. One of the things that makes him so difficult to defend is the fact he can overpower near anyone that gets in front of him.

This season, Watt is tied with Jurrell Casey as the No. 2 ranked 3-4 defensive end by Pro Football Focus, grading out with a positive 7.2 score. Rushing the passer, Watt is ranked No. 1 despite only bringing the quarterback down once. On 76 passing snaps, Watt has hit the quarterback eight times and hurried him six others. Group that with his one sack and he himself has applied pressure on 15.1 percent of an opponent’s pass plays.

During his four-year NFL career, Watt has never faced the Giants. Back in 2012, he faced the Green Bay Packers when Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo was the team’s quarterback coach. Watt recorded six tackles and two sacks in that game.

Weakness?
One of the bigger weaknesses for the Texans defense over the last several years as been its secondary. That hasn’t change in 2014.

Through the first two games of the season, Houston’s two starting cornerbacks (Johnathan Joseph, Kareem Jackson) are ranked No. 104 and No. 67 respectively by Pro Football Focus. Joseph has been thrown at 12 times, 10 of which were caught by the opponent’s receiver gaining 116 yards. A quarterback’s rating when testing Joseph is a staggering 106.9. Jackson has been thrown at 14 times, allowing seven completions for 63 yards. He intercepted his first pass of the season last week.

The safety position hasn’t been much better. Starter D.J. Swearinger is the No. 46 ranked safety.

If the Giants are able to slow down J.J. Watt, there are plays to be made in the secondary. The key is going to be giving Eli Manning enough time to throw the ball.

PLAYER TO WATCH:

Connor Hughes –
Corey Washington
There was one constant throughout the entire preseason, and his name was Corey Washington. The game-winning touching-catching machine reached the hype and myth level of Jonas Seawright during his first year with the team. On Sunday, there’s a good chance he’s given the opportunity to transition his training camp play onto the game field.

With Odell Beckham Jr. still sidelined with a hamstring injury and Jerrel Jernigan on the IR, there’s just one player ahead of Washington on the depth chart to see significant playing time. In fact, it could take just one hit for Washington to suddenly become a starter. Whether he’s the first on the field in a three-wide set, there’s a very good chance Washington sees meaningful snaps as a receiver.

If those snaps come, and Washington plays well, he could supplant Preston Parker as the Giants No. 3 receiver until Beckham returns from injury.

Eric Kennedy –
Antrel Rolle
The highest-paid member of the defense has been far too quiet. Rolle has been playing his “natural” position – a position that was supposed to lead to more impact plays. That hasn’t happened. Rolle called a player’s only meeting on defense this week and challenged his teammates to play with more aggressiveness and confidence. He wants them to make plays. Rolle needs to lead by example.

FROM THE COACHES’ MOUTH:

Tom Coughlin – “(The Texans) have led in their two games six of the eight quarters. Ryan Fitzpatrick has played very well, managed the game extremely well for his team. As you know, three touchdowns, no interceptions, he has a quarterback rating of 118 and he’s played very, very well. They run the ball extremely well. Arian Foster has 55 carries for 241 for 4.4 with a long of 40. He’s an exceptional runner, plus the offensive line has given up one sack throughout the course of the two games. Their defense is a physical front eight. Versus Oakland they did provide the ball for their offensive team at the plus-21 and plus-28 with turnovers, one fumble and one interception. Against Washington, Niles Paul had a 48-yard catch, run after the catch, was stripped, lost the ball inside the 10. Their defense provided, again, the Houston defense provided the ball, turned it over inside their own 10-yard line twice in that particular game.”

Bill O’Brien – (On if the Giants are a trap game for 2-0 Houston) “Absolutely not. I was just saying something to someone downstairs here, every week is a big challenge in this league. There are great coaches and great players on the other side that we have to be prepared for. Every week is a different matchup. Houston versus Oakland is a lot different than Houston versus New York. New York versus Arizona is a lot different than Houston versus New York. It is a matchup that is very difficult because of all the players that they have and the schemes that they run. It is a very difficult challenge for us on the road.”

FINAL WORD:

Connor Hughes – I took a leap of faith last week that the Giants would pull out a victory over the Arizona Cardinals despite everything telling me the wouldn’t.

Despite Arizona starting a quarterback that hadn’t played since I graduated high school, the Giant still managed to find a way to give away the game. With 10 minutes left, the Giants led by four points. When the game ended, the Giants lost by 11 despite allowing the Cardinals to gain just 37 yards offense those final 10 minutes.

Despite the fact the Houston Texans were the worst team in the league last year, they’re talented. They have J.J. Watt, one of the best receivers (Andre Johnson) in the game and a running back that is a threat both running and out of the backfield. Last year, the Texans simply quit on their head coach. The team wasn’t drafting No. 1 for lack of talent.

If the Giants want a chance in this game, they’re going to have to avoid the turnovers, get after Ryan Fitzpatrick and force turnover. If they do all three, they have a chance at winning. Offensively, I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but if they can avoid the turnovers, the Giants still have a shot at the victory.

With that being said, I took a leap of faith last week and fell flat. Despite Antrel Rolle’s pleas to fans, I think the Giants drop to 0-3. Texans: 21 – Giants: 13.

Eric Kennedy – Until proven otherwise, the Giants simply are not a very good football team. The offense is averaging 14 points per game and can’t seem to run the ball. There are not a lot of weapons in the passing game. Defensively, the losses of Walter Thurmond (for the season) and Jon Beason (for at least this game) are going to hurt. The defense flashes, but can’t finish. Special teams continue to remain a sore spot. It’s going to be a long season. Texans 28 – Giants 14.

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Eric Kennedy

Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.

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