Giants Must Avoid the Trap

When the NFL season schedule is released, any fan worth his authentic team jersey goes through each week and gives their team “wins”.  We’ve all done it: “they should definitely win that one, I can see them losing this one, that game could decide the season”.  When the New York Giants‘ schedule was released, you can bet that every fan circled “Week 2 @ Rams” as a win.    If there were any fans on the fence before the season began, the Eagles removed all doubt with a 38-3 beatdown of the Rams in week 1. Throw in the Giants road winning streak and all things point to an easy Giant victory.

Smells like a trap to me.

This has all the makings of a game where the Giants sleepwalk through for the first half.  I can see it now; the Rams home crowd comes out fired up, there is blown coverage in the Giants secondary, maybe there are a few penalties, and then things get dicey….     On to the key match-ups:

Giants Offensive Line vs The Rams Front Seven

The Giants should own the line of scrimmage against the Rams undersized defensive front. While the Rams have speed on defense, they cannot hold up to the Giants physical, power running game with Brandon Jacobs. Expect Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward to combine for over 150 yards on the ground.

Giants Linebackers vs. Steven Jackson

The Giants’ outside linebacker, Danny Clark and Gerris Wilkinson are still a question marks. Steven Jackson is a duel threat who will put pressure on the edge of Big Blues’ defense.  With the Giants tendency to bring pressure, Jackson could spring for some big plays on screens and check downs against man to man coverage.

I don’t think the Giants lose the game, but it will be much closer than it should be.

Final: Giants 24 Rams 16