Giants vs. Dolphins: Full New York Preview
It probably shouldn't be on Monday Night Football, but the flailing New York Giants will head down south to take on the Miami Dolphins in Week 14.
Since apparently nobody wants to win the NFC East, there's now a three-way tie atop the division. The Giants, Redskins and Eagles are all 5-7 and putrid football teams, while the 4-8 Cowboys are just a game behind.
Though all games this late in the season have meaning, a win here would be enormous for the struggling G-Men, who are coming off yet another embarrassing fourth-quarter collapse. They'll look to get back in the win column this weekend against a Dolphins team many believed would be better.
Here's everything you need to know leading into kickoff.
Location: Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Time: Monday, Dec. 14, 8:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Week 13 Results and Recap
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An awful decision by head coach Tom Coughlin led to an Eli Manning interception inside the 5-yard line, ultimately allowing the Jets to get back into the game and send it to overtime.
After the Jets scored a field goal on the first possession of overtime, the Giants had a chance to kick one of their own and knot the game up, but kicker Josh Brown pulled it just enough for it to be wide left. It was his first missed field goal of the season. Fittingly, the Giants dropped another close one, 23-20.
The three-way tie atop the NFC East is truly a battle of futility, as the division should realistically forfeit its right to have a playoff team. Unless one of them wins out and goes 9-7, this year will be seen as a joke for a division once considered very strong.
News and Notes
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Eli gets the nod for the Walter Payton Award
For the fifth time of his illustrious career, quarterback Eli Manning was the Giants recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. The honor is given annually to a player who demonstrates "excellence on the field and in the community," something for which Manning has been known.
The representative of each team is now up for the league award, which will be announced on Feb. 6, the night before the Super Bowl.
Manning has never won the league award, and no Giants player has ever taken home the league honor since its start in 1970.
Giants get a replacement for DeOssie
With news that iron man long snapper Zak DeOssie is done for the year, the Giants have found their replacement.
That man is Danny Aiken, who was on the Carolina Panthers this season but didn't appear in a game. From 2011-14, however, Aiken played 63 games for the New England Patriots.
Latest Injury News
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Larry Donnell placed on IR
It's finally over. No more week-to-week status updates that show no improvement. No more waiting patiently for the injury report to be released to see if Donnell will suit up.
The tight end's season is officially done, his neck injury sidelining him for the rest of the year. Rookie Will Tye will be given four more games to prove his worth and make a case for playing time next season.
In eight games, Donnell had 29 catches for 223 yards and two scores.
S Brandon Meriweather, LB Devon Kennard out
The Giants defense will be missing at least two players on Monday night, with Meriweather (knee) and Kennard (hamstring/foot) both ruled out, according to the team's official injury report.
Meriweather was signed in the preseason after a rash of injuries depleted what little depth the Giants had, and they're back to that level now. Kennard did not play last weekend against the Jets either, after recording a season-high 10 tackles the week before.
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Key Matchups
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Giants CBs vs. Jarvis Landry
Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry may not be Odell Beckham Jr., but he's still quite good.
The 23-year-old sophomore is coming off two games on the opposite end of the spectrum. The first came two weeks ago, when he set career highs with 13 catches and 165 yards against the Jets. The next came this past weekend, when he set season lows with just two catches for five yards against the Ravens.
My bet is that the better version of Landry will show up on Monday night against the Giants, but if they can contain him, Miami's offense would truly be crippled.
Giants offensive line vs. Dolphins defensive line
The Giants offensive line has now allowed three sacks in consecutive weeks, an alarming trend that needs to be broken on Monday.
The makeshift group will have its work cut out for it, however, as the Dolphins possess a strong defensive line that will surely give the O-linemen a run for their money.
Defensive end Cameron Wake has seven sacks on the year and Olivier Vernon is right behind him with 6.5. Prized offseason acquisition Ndamukong Suh only has four, but he's a behemoth of a man and a force to be reckoned with each week.
Matchup X-Factors
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Giants X-Factor of the Week: Rueben Randle
Generally the No. 2 wide receiver who plays opposite a star has a good year because of the heavy attention that the No. 1 guy gets. It was the case with Golden Tate and Calvin Johnson last season for the Detroit Lions, but it hasn't been this way for the Giants in 2015.
Rueben Randle has been a major disappointment, and the 24-year-old is quickly playing himself out of a position on someone's team next season.
With Beckham Jr. commanding so much attention from opposing defenses, Randle still hasn't been able to capitalize, as he has topped 60 yards receiving in a game just twice this year.
He hasn't done it since Oct. 25, but if the Giants are going to win this game, he needs to accomplish the feat on Monday night. The Giants can't survive another lost game from Randle, who needs to show up against the Dolphins.
Prediction: Dolphins 22, Giants 20
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What do you know, another close loss.
At this point in the season, there's really no reason to expect that the Giants will win any game. While they may be the better team on paper some weekends, they'll usually find a way to choke it up anyway.
Monday night they'll face another 5-7 team that lost to the Cowboys, got killed by the Jets and barely squeaked by a poor Ravens team over its last three weeks. It doesn't matter. The Giants aren't a good football team and, outside of the quarterback and one wide receiver, lack weapons on both sides of the ball.
With no running game or reliable No. 2 receiver, the Giants will struggle to put up points against an unspectacular Dolphins squad that has vastly underachieved to date.
Still, they have a decent enough quarterback, solid run game and some good wideouts, making them a formidable opponent for the poor Giants.
Running back Lamar Miller will likely have a good night, carrying his team up the field frequently enough for the Dolphins to come out with a victory.
Prediction: Dolphins 22, Giants 20
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