Wow!!! What a big win last week. This time last week, the Giants were going into a stretch of 6 tough games and they were a huge underdog going into New England. It looked like Bradshaw and Nicks would be out and New England was coming off a loss. All the world was talking about how the Pats haven’t lost a regular season home game in 3 years and the Giants would be lucky to keep it close. So what do the Giants do….They outplay the Pats for 60 mins and win the game. Not only do they win it, but after Tom Brady drives for a leading score with 1:18 left, Eli takes the team down the field and wins the game. And although it wasn’t a conference game, it was huge for the Giants mentally. They won a game no one thought they could win and they started the brutal 6 game stretch with a ‘W’.
So what’s next…The 7-1 49ers. Another tough game that odds makers say Giants will lose. Good news is that the Giants are getting Nicks and Baas back. Bad news is that Bradshaw is likely to sit out another week.
If the Giants are for real, they can win this game. I just think that besides the linebacker position, the Giants have more talent than the 49ers. 49ers are well coached team and they play hard so expect this to be a battle. And those of you who hope to see Giants running game breakout…It isn’t likely to happen on Sunday as 49ers lead the league in rushing defense. If Giants want to stay on top they need to build off the momentum from last week and beat a top tier NFC team.
Keys to the Game:
- Control the run. Notice I didn’t say ‘stop’. Gore is having a hell of a year and the Giants have struggled against the run. So I don’t expect the Giants to stop Gore. If we keep him under 125 and let him run between the 20s we should be able to prevent Alex from throwing TDs.
- Let Eli be Eli. Giants go as Eli goes. Weather should be fine and it looks like Nicks will be on the field. Let Eli drop back and find his receivers. I don’t want to abandon the run, but we don’t need to force it against the 49ers stout run defense.
- Limit turnovers. 49ers usually play very close to the vest, so don’t expect them to turn the ball over. They are the type of team that takes advantage of a muffed punt of turnover in their own zone. We can’t give them opportunities. I am ok with Weatherford having another good game and pinning the 49ers deep. No need to take chances.
As I stated in previous posts, I will not predict the score due to some bad karma. But I will predict this. It should be a fun game against a tough competitor. And get use to it Giants fans…we can expect tough competition for the next 5 weeks and for most of the remaining season.
Solid blog
ReplyDelete