6 rings: 3 crucial clashes in patriots matchup vs. giants
The 2-8 Patriots are on the road this weekend taking on the 3-8 Giants in, seemingly, a battle of ‘who wants it less?’ in 2023.
As we do every week, both here at WEEI.com and on the 6 Rings and Football Things podcast feed (listen here), here are three crucial clashes to watch in this weekend’s matchup from The Meadowlands:
- Patriots offensive line vs. Giants front seven
One of the few the strengths of the Giants this season has been their front seven. Manned by linebacker Bobby Okereke, defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, New York gets after the quarterback in a variety of ways and can make life a living you-know-what for the opposing offense.
Okereke is not only the Giants’ leading tackler (and tied for fifth in the NFL) with 105, but he’s also the NFL’s leader in forced fumbles with four. He’s their biggest disruptor outside of Thibodeaux, who’s tied for fifth in the league with 10.5 sacks.
As for Dexter Lawrence, he has 41 tackles and has also tallied four sacks on the season. He’s widely considered one of the best defensive tackles in football.
“He’s really a three down player when you look at it,” center David Andrews said when asked about Lawrence this week. “I think he does a great job in all aspects of the game, being disruptive. He’s not just a first and second down player, run player, he’s in there on almost all of the third downs. He’s a really good player. He’s big, physical, can rush the passer, stop the run. Anytime you’re playing someone like that you definitely just wanna try and not let them wreck the game, right? And understand his strengths, his weaknesses. He’s a really good player. One of the highest paid players, first round draft pick. Living up to all of that.”
Behind the play-calling of defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, the Giants are one of the top blitzing teams in the NFL, something the Patriots are well aware of:
Yeah, it’s tough,” Patriots tight end Hunter Henry, an extension of the offensive line, said on Tuesday when asked about the Giants and their blitz pressure. “They give a lot of different looks on every down. Where a lot of teams, sometimes, can just mix that in on third down, they do it throughout the whole game, no matter the down or distance… It’s a tall task. They do it with different personnels as well, and with the front they have too, that makes it very very hard, and because of that they cause a lot of turnovers.”
Patriots tackle Trent Brown returned to practice this week, so their “usual” lineup of Brown - Cole Strange - Davis Andrews - Sidy Sow - Mike Onwenu should be in tact to start this one. Whether that’ll be enough is the question.
- Saquon Barkley vs. Patriots defense
The best player in Sunday’s football game at The Meadowlands is Giants running back Saquon Barkley, and everybody in Foxborough seems to know it.
“Offensively,” Bill Belichick said on Wednedsay when addressing the Giants as a unit. “Obviously [Saquon] Barkley is a major force, a go to guy for them.”
"They have a really good back in Saquon,” said linebacker Jahlani Tavai. “We're going to make sure we do our jobs in the front end."
Barkley is, really, the one threat New York has on the offensive side of the ball. Through 11 games this season, the former No. 2 overall pick has 651 yards and a touchdown on 153 carries (4.3 yards per attempt), and has also added 27 receptions for 162 yards and four touchdowns through the air.
Defensively, the Patriots have been great at stopping the run this season, allowing just 3.4 yards per carry, a league best, but Barkley’s ability in the pass game is what can kill teams. Not only will their front in Christian Barmore, Deatrich Wise, and Davon Godchaux need to be on their A-game, but linebackers Jahlani Tavai and Ja’Whaun Bentley will need to play out of their mind against the pass if they want to contain him.
A tall task, to say the least.
- Patriots vs. Giants (in the race for NFL Draft supremacy)
Both of these teams are bad, so let’s have fun with this one.
A “must lose” game to both fanbases this weekend will have both the Patriots and Giants faithful refreshing Tankathon.com by the minute.
As things currently sit, here’s the 2024 NFL Draft order:
1 - CAR Panthers (via CHI) (1-9)
2 - AZ Cardinals (2-9)
3 - NE Patriots (2-8)
4 - CHI Bears (3-8)
5 - NY Giants (3-8)
Obviously, the current players on the field are going to try and win the football games, that’s a given. It’s impossible to actively tank in the NFL. Too much goes into it.
However…
Might both Bill Belichick and Brian Daboll play some younger players (perhaps for the Patriots, even a completely different quarterback) to find out what they have on their roster? Perhaps. And that's where the fun starts.
As much as it may hurt to say, the wins don’t really matter at this juncture of the season for either team. The performance on the field may help current players and current coaches keep (or lose) their jobs ahead of next season, but at the end of the day the result is merely an encyclopedia statistic at this point.
Keep scoreboard watching and following the path to the pick. It’s more fun than you’d think.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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