5 New York Giants to Watch vs. the Houston Texans

The 0-2 New York Giants will play host to the 2-0 Houston Texans this weekend.

So far, the Giants haven’t given their loyal fans much to smile about, turning in two lackluster games. While it’s still relatively early in the season, a third straight loss for the G-Men could potentially be catastrophic.

The players are no doubt well-aware of this, which is probably why defensive co-captain Antrel Rolle called a players-only meeting this past week, according to Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post, to urge his teammates to “play fast” and to “expect to win.”

As Cannizzaro also points out, the Giants have looked tentative in their first two games. Thus, in an effort to help them loosen up, fly around and have fun again, maybe that’s why head coach Tom Coughlin did something he has rarely done before. 

He pumped in some uptempo music for the team to enjoy during their warm-ups on Friday.

Will the music and the message preached by the team leaders be enough to help the Giants snap out of their funk?

Until we have the answer to that question, let’s look at the five New York Giants whose performance on Sunday could be key to getting that first win.

Receiver Preston Parker

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The Giants won’t say so in as many words, but the day that a healthy Odell Beckham Jr. returns from a chronic hamstring problem can’t come fast enough for this offense.

When that day comes, Beckham will automatically be inserted into the lineup as the third receiver, a role previously held by 2011 third-round Giants draft pick Jerrel Jernigan, who this week was placed on injured reserve with a mid-foot sprain.

Until Beckham is ready to go, the next man up will be Preston Parker, who has 45 career receptions for 625 yards and three touchdowns over his four-year career.

Although offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo won’t ever public disparage his available talent, right now, the lack of a solid and consistent third receiver in the Giants offense is a problem.

Receivers are having trouble separating and getting open in some cases, which is making it difficult for McAdoo to run the type of passing game that team ran during the spring.  

Parker hopes to change all that.

“It’s an opportunity. You just have to go and attack it,” he told reporters. “That’s why, as I said, I practice hard. Things happen like this in the NFL. When they do, you have to step up and do your best.”

So what is it that the 27-year-old feels he does best in a way that will complement Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle?

He thought about it for a moment and said, “I feel like I bring...like with young guys, I just teach them stuff that I learned when I was young. I’m kind of like a parent to the young receivers.”

The coaches are no doubt hoping that Parker plays like a parent, keeping his mistakes to a minimum and helping to open things up for Cruz and Randle when they go three-wide.  

If he can't, it’s going to be a long year for New York.

Linebacker Jameel McClain

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Although head coach Tom Coughlin has refused to tip his hand as to how he’ll be deploying his linebackers now that Jon Beason (foot) has officially been declared out of Sunday’s game, the logical choice would be to move strong-side linebacker Jameel McClain to the middle and play Spencer Paysinger on the outside.

McClain has kept a tight lid on the team’s plans, telling reporters this week that all he knows is that he’ll be playing linebacker.

The reason why he’s the likely choice to fill in for Beason in the base package is because he manned that spot all through the preseason while Beason was on the PUP list.

In those five games McClain had some ups and downs, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), which gave him a final overall grade of minus-0.8 and a final overall run defense grade of minus-2.1.

Last week, McClain, who had the worst grade of all of the Giants defenders, had his share of struggles, particularly in coverage where he finished with a 95.8 NFL rating after allowing one pass to be completed for 32 yards by the tight end. He was also victimized earlier in the game when he bit on the play action.

As the likely choice to be the man in the middle, he’ll have to be on his mark; however, when it comes to defending the run, he’ll have to do a better job of protecting the edges, where he was exposed last week by the Arizona running game.  

The Offensive Line

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Normally, this weekly in-season feature looks at individuals. For this slide, we're going to look at a unit.

A week after facing Arizona’s Calais Campbell, the top-graded 3-4 defensive end per Pro Football Focus, the Giants offensive line will see the second-best (by a hair, we might add) 3-4 defensive end in the league.

That would be J.J. Watt. Even if he’s not making the play, the one-man wrecking crew usually has an impact on what’s happening around him, as Giants radio analyst Carl Banks noted in his weekly strategy breakdown.

In addition to having the raw talent to be a disruptive force, the Texans move him around in order to gain the competitive edge. That's not good news for an offensive line that's still trying to jell.

“They do a good job of moving (Watt) around,” offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo told reporters. “They are not going to leave him in one spot, so you can put in one scheme and try to take care of him and double-team him every snap.”

The problem with double-teaming one player is that it leaves the Giants offensive line to try to deal with the Texans’ other seven defensive front men, all of whom have the ability to disrupt plays. 

McAdoo’s response to the question about what he can do to minimize the pressure that Houston is about to put on the quarterback sounded simple enough.

“Be smart the way you call things,” he said. “Be smart the way you scheme things. You have to minimize their impact.”

Of course, it remains to be seen if that philosophy is easier said than done given the Giants’ talent. If it doesn't get done, it's going to be a long afternoon for the Giants.

Special Teams

Uncredited/Associated Press

Special teams, an underrated yet important aspect of a football game, has been a disaster in the first two weeks of the Giants' season.

There was the blocked punt and the injury to punter Steve Weatherford in Week 1, and, of course, the backbreaking 71-yard punt return for a touchdown by Ted Ginn Jr. last week.

Whether those plays are a result of a single breakdown or because of the scheme, special teams is not helping the Giants in their quest for a victory.

What’s more, these issues appear to be carrying over from last season. Currently, the Giants are averaging 22.4 yards per kickoff return (19th in the NFL) and 7.5 yards per punt return (16th in the NFL).

It’s hard to win the field-position battle when you have a middle-of-the-road special teams unit, which is what the Giants appear to have so far.

That special teams coordinator Tom Quinn can’t seem to figure out how to get these players to perform at a higher level is concerning.

If the Giants continue to slide and special teams continues to be an issue, it would not be surprising if, in an effort to shake things up, Quinn is ousted before the end of the season.  

Receiver Victor Cruz

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Before Week 2, Cruz, a first-time NFL team captain, opined that the team needed to find ways to get the ball not only to him but also to the other playmakers a lot earlier in the game.

Here’s what Cruz told reporters on that conference call: "I think it is important. I think in order for us to be successful, there needs to be an increased number of targets in my direction and other playmakers’ directions, just like Rueben Randle as well, in my opinion."  

The problem is that quarterback Eli Manning did just that, targeting Cruz 10 times, according to Pro Football Focus.

The receiver’s response? He caught five of those passes for 50 yards, with two drops. One of the drops was a big third-down conversion attempt just before Ted Ginn’s deflating 71-yard punt return for the go-ahead score.

Whether he’s been targeted early in the game or late in the game, the fact remains that Cruz’s struggles (covered earlier this week) have carried over from last year. 

According to data gathered from multiple PFF pages, Cruz has caught less than 50 percent of his pass targets in seven out of his last 16 games (43.7 percent) since signing his new contract last year.

Cruz has admitted that his new role as a team captain has taken some time to get used to. "Yeah, it is something new for me. I have to be able to understand what comes with that role and understand what things are entitled of me to do. Some of it comes naturally, and some of it I have to force within myself."

If he’s going to fix his game, it all starts with the fundamentals: Getting open and catching the balls that are “catchable,” which he said he understands.

“I know what is expected of me, and I know exactly what we have to do to win and for my receiving corps to be successful and for the offense to be successful,” he said.

“We all have to catch the football, me in particular, to move the chains and to be successful on offense.”

Patricia Traina is the senior editor for Inside Football. All quotes and information obtained firsthand, unless otherwise noted. Follow me on Twitter, @Patricia_Traina.